Using Canva in the Primary Classroom

Canva offers the full features of their graphics design suite to schools for free. In addition to this, teachers who use Canva for Education can set up classes so that they can share assignments and activities with children and allow children to hand their Canva work into the teacher. We will explore how Canva can be set up and used to benefit children's creativity and learning in the primary classroom.

Setting up Canva for Schools

Schools must apply for Canva for Schools, by visiting the Canva for schools website: https://www.canva.com/education/schools/

Schools submit information about their establishment and if successful, Canva will grant free access to Canva for Schools. Once a school account has been created, the whole school should be set up as a team. This is important. It is possible to create more than one team, but this should not be necessary.

Within a team, classes can be created. Each class would be used for a class in the school, i.e. a Year 5 class of 30 children and their teacher. Within a class, folders can be created for working in different subjects, such as Maths or History.

Classes can be set up and viewed by clicking on the 'settings' button (the cog in the lower left section of the screen.) This can be confusing with some users not knowing where to find classes that have been created.

To add children or teachers to a class, click on the class and press 'add new member' and then share this link, such as on Google Classroom. Ensure that new members have been added as the correct category - either teachers or students.

Finally, it is worth going into the 'Permissions' section and ensuring that members' email addresses are not visible, and that children do not have access to the Magic AI tools, if the teacher decides that they should not.

Using Canva in the primary classroom

One of the best reasons for children doing work using Canva is that it allows them to create high-quality digital work within the space of a lesson. Particularly if they start with a design template, children can create posters, documents, infographics and presentations that they are proud of and that can be displayed for the benefit of others. Children can modify templates before adding their own elements and text.

Canva allows children to work collaboratively on documents they create themselves, as well as class pieces of work shared by the teacher. A good example of this is with the 'whiteboard' tool. The teacher can create the template of a whiteboard and share a copy to each child in the class (different to assigning individual copies). The teacher must ensure that all children have permission to edit this when sharing. Children can then add their ideas to the digital whiteboard. This simple, but powerful tool can be used across all subjects. It could be used for children sharing their ideas in a brainstorm section of a lesson, for children sharing their opinions, sharing research or for voting. Children will need training on doing this effectively and the first time this activity takes place, the excitement of contributing to a shared digital board will likely surpass the learning that the teacher had planned!

Considerations for teachers

Children love using Canva, owing to the success they achieve and the collaborative elements. Teachers will need to train children in its use and establish ground rules for using Canva. Teachers should also be aware that children's work is only shared with the teacher when the child does this, so it will be necessary to monitor children's Canva accounts to check their use is appropriate.