Canva as A Media Creation Tool

Part of creating an engaging virtual classroom is making it both accessible and aesthetically pleasing. Canva can help do both!

What is Canva?

Canva is a virtual design tool to create media for both business, education and personal purposes. The website includes templates and design suggestions, or users can choose to start from scratch to create customized media. Users can also create a team on the platform to collaborate with others, and there is even an education program for use with students.

Example SeeSaw activity created on Canva

What are the benefits?

One of the advantages to Canva is the accessibility of design and use-friendly navigation. The design suggestions and templates are easy to modify for basic use, especially if a user is not looking for too much customization. There is also a large amount of media that can be integrated, although most of the premium tools require a paid subscription. The media tools that users can create are aesthetically pleasing and can be modified to work for any desired purpose.

What are the disadvantages?

A disadvantage to Canva is the limited options for non-paying users on the free platform. In order to access more material or tools, such as photos or fonts, users must sign up for the paid version, which can get expensive if you are not a business user. While it is also easy to navigate, some of the formatting options can be finicky. I would argue that the basic features of Canva are enough for a casual user looking to create simple media for free.