Four Things You Might Not Know about… Canva
Welcome to “Four Things You Might Not Know About,” a series of short posts on edtech tools and ways they can be used.
Canva is a web-based graphic design app with optional downloads for Windows, macOS and mobile devices. Although it features templates for different social media platforms, Canva is good for more than just marketing. In addition to offering templates for flyers, searchable freemium clip art and a variety of fun fonts, it’s user-friendly enough for teachers and students alike, although not without its quirks.
If you’re an educator in a K–12 school, you’re in luck! Canva offers an Education plan that not only expands its offerings to Pro-level content (unlocking even more assets, for example), but also can be integrated into a learning management system. To learn more, click this link.
If you didn’t know about the Education plan, that’s a freebie. Read on for four more things you might not know about Canva.
1️⃣ Canva Lets You Create Videos
Although Canva is known for its graphic design features, it offers more than just static image creation. You can create videos, presentations and more. Like with its image editor, the video editor offers templates to get you started.
You may have seen the Video button but haven’t bothered to explore what it does. Essentially, it offers a timeline where you can rearrange media and set them to audio. You can use shapes and fonts to add callouts to your videos. Video projects can be exported to either MP4 or GIF.
For more information on creating videos, check out the Design School page here. You’ll also find a number of tutorials on YouTube if you search for “canva video editor”.
2️⃣ Canva Helps You Create QR Codes
QR codes saw a rise during the pandemic, although they’ve been used in education for a while. They can be used to share feedback, to create links to exit slips or to share galleries of student work. Particularly for 1:1 device schools, it’s easy for students to scan codes.
While Chrome has made it simple to create QR codes from its browser, if you’re creating a flyer or a promotional image, you can create a QR code from within Canva just as easily. To create a QR code, go to the side menu, click More and search for “QR”. The QR Code app will be the only result. Just paste your URL and you’re good to go.
3️⃣ Canva Has Apps
Speaking of the QR Code app, it’s just one of many, many integrations that Canva offers. Apps can only be viewed if you’re logged in. You can see a list of available apps on the app directory.
It’s worth checking out the app list to see what might be useful for you personally. There are a lot of social media integrations — unsurprising, given that Canva is often used to create marketing materials — but there are also “apps” that act more as image filters. For example, “ColorMix” adds fun gradient overlays to your work, while “Frames” does exactly what you might imagine.
4️⃣ Canva’s “Tidy Up” Feature Helps You Evenly Place Your Items
Say you’re not interested in video or QR codes or apps. You only use Canva for graphic design. There’s still a small, near-hidden feature on the graphic editor that can help you evenly place items such as buttons or text without having to use a grid.
To use the feature, select at least three items either by dragging the selector over them or by clicking each item while holding the Shift key. Once you’ve selected your items, click Position at the top, then look for Space evenly. In the options, you’ll see Tidy up. Click to tidy!
About the blogger:
Jesika Brooks
Jesika Brooks is an editor and bookworm with a Master of Library and Information Science degree. She works in the field of higher education as an educational technology librarian, assisting with everything from setting up Learning Management Systems to teaching students how to use edtech tools. A lifelong learner herself, she has always been fascinated by the intersection of education and technology. She edits the Tech-Based Teaching blog (and always wants to hear from new voices!).
