For this post, I chose Canva as my designated tech tool. I picked Canva because I have heard so much about it. Many people have recommended it to me over Google Slides or PowerPoint, but I could never quite get the hang of it. This time, I took some extra time to go through Canva and used it to create an assignment for another class. Initially, I didn’t like Canva. I found it very confusing due to the numerous sidebar menus, dropdown menus, and settings. I felt overwhelmed when trying to add information or create something visually appealing.

When I usually make a presentation, it goes very smoothly because I have used sites like PowerPoint and Google Slides for years. Using them has become second nature. However, this was not the case with Canva. I decided the best way to learn how to use Canva was to sit down and explore everything. On the left side of the screen, you have your main menus where you will do most of the edits to your project. Once you get the hang of where everything is, it becomes a much smoother process. At the top of the screen, there are a few more menus that I didn’t use much, but they seem to help your project move along or add cool transitions between slides. Finally, there is the bottom menu, where you can add speaker notes, change the length of each slide, and even time yourself when practicing for a presentation. As time went on, using Canva became much easier. Like everything else, it just took some practice. I found that spending time familiarizing myself with the layout and tools helped reduce my initial frustration.

Using Canva as a tool in the classroom is something I would highly recommend. In my short time with the tool, I discovered that you could bring much more life to your projects compared to PowerPoint or Google Slides. Overall, I think Canva takes some getting used to, but that’s because it seems to be targeted toward people who want to add extra creativity and flair to their assignments or presentations, rather than sticking to a basic slideshow format.