Wonderful Ways to Make Educational Graphics

Created with Canva

Canva - I love Canva so much that one day I tweeted about it and a stranger said, "Wow, are you getting paid by Canva? If not you should be!" Canva allows me to quickly make graphics for the top of handouts, for blog posts, for Twitter posts, for creating business cards, etc and I don't have to be a great graphic artist to do it because of all the templates. I have always used the free version of Canva, although I will say that is getting harder to do as it seems harder to find free graphic options on their platform but I do it! Create your free account today and give the things you create a more polished, professional look. The graphic above was created with Canva.

Typorama - Do you often take photos using your iPhone or iPad and want to turn them into a graphic? I do. I could always upload them to Canva but Typorama has become my recent "go to" when creating graphics from photos on my phone. They also have an endless free supply of stock photos that are easy to search by keyword that allows me to make inspirational graphics for my instagram edu account https://www.instagram.com/juliedavisedu/

Google Draw - Looking for a way to create diagrams and charts? Google draw is the bomb diggity! With a grid on your blank canvas and the ability to constantly save and backup to your Google Suites accounts, Google Draw is a natural for creating things like school maps, seating charts, scientific method steps, etc.

Red Stamp -

Made with Red Stamp

I will be honest, I didn't even know there was a website for Red Stamp until I started this blog post. I've always used the iOs app to create my personalized cards. Red Stamp is a great way to send a thank you note digitally to students and families, create party invitations, encourage someone, etc. Are you in a 1:1 environment? Imagine yourself daily affirming a student through a personalized Red Stamp card. Everyone loves "mail"!

Created with CariCartoon

CariCartoon - Most of the things I use are free but I just couldn't resist this iOs app for $1.99. You upload or take a photo of your face and it turns it into a cartoon. I've used it to create buzz for speaking events and as a way to create safe versions of students on the web that protects them.

Sticky AI - I haven't used this iOS app yet except to play with it but I see if becoming part of my graphic arsenal. Tony Vincent (learninghand.com) recently shared about it on Instagram. It allows you to turn selfies into stickers that you can upload to messaging platforms or save them and use them anywhere. what I like is the fact that the app automatically detects the background of the photo and cuts it away...something that takes forever to do in the past.

Introduction to Canva- a fast graphic arts option for educators!

Canva makes me look good! I love good visual graphics and believe they help draw readers in. I use canvas to support my weekly #ChattTechChat Twitter chat. I also sometimes use canvas to create graphics to go along with blog posts to support visually what I am discussing.

All the free options of Canva have allowed me to do anything I have wanted to do for quick graphic arts options. Its easy to use, allows you to be creative and adjust "canned options" to become your own. It could be used in a classroom setting for teachers to create graphics associated with units or lessons, it could allow teachers to create a "classroom logo" for correspondence as well. Students could use  Canva in app-smashing opportunities within slide presentations, Canva could be used for branding your school on social media. The possibilities for educational use are endless!

I do suggest going to the website using a laptop/desktop computer- I found trying to navigate the browser on a tablet device cumbersome. Overall, I believe Canva is a quick alternative to add a little umph to your communication!

(Click below to watch my introduction video to Canva)