Unlocking Classroom Creativity: Why Educators Should Use Canva

May 19, 2025 | Blog

(Hint: It’s Awesome & Free for Teachers!)

Barbara Oakley best-selling author

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We all know there’s no such thing as a free lunch. But sometimes, there are free-to-you resources—like Stossel in the Classroom—that are rock solid and valuable to teachers, saving you time and providing excellent materials for your classroom.

Canva is another free-to-teachers resource you’ll love!

If you’ve ever spent hours formatting a worksheet in Word or trying to make a presentation look halfway engaging in PowerPoint, you’re not alone. As educators, we’re expected to wear many hats—teacher, tech specialist, graphic designer, motivational speaker—and somehow make it all look effortless. But here’s the good news: you don’t have to do it all the hard way. Canva is here to help.  And even better? It’s completely free for teachers.

Whether you’re designing eye-catching classroom posters, streamlining your lesson presentations, or crafting engaging student activities, Canva is the creative companion you didn’t know you needed. And if you’re already using it? Chances are you’re only scratching the surface of what it can do.

Learning Resources for Teachers

Consider making Canva your summer professional development. Trust us, this one will pay big dividends in your classroom and workflow. Here are a few resources to get you started:

  1. Design with Canva YT Channel – https://www.youtube.com/@TeamRonDi 
  2. Canva’s Design School – https://www.canva.com/design-school/ (Particularly check out their AI in the Classroom course!)
  3. What’s New in Canva for Education – Feb. 2025 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuj1xyLKzj0
  4. What’s New in Canva for Education – March 2025 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwFMgawEhAo

    Here’s why Canva is quickly becoming an essential tool in classrooms everywhere—and why you should be taking full advantage of its free education subscription.

    1. Professional-Looking Materials Without the Hassle

    Let’s be honest: not all of us are born designers. But with Canva, you don’t need a degree in graphic design to create classroom resources that look like they were made by a pro. Canva offers thousands of templates for worksheets, slideshows, posters, flashcards, infographics, newsletters, calendars, certificates, and more—all customizable with drag-and-drop simplicity.

    Even better, most of these templates are already formatted for classroom use. You can filter by subject area, grade level, or activity type. Want a science vocabulary matching game? A persuasive writing rubric? A math challenge worksheet with a visual twist? It’s all there, ready for you to tweak and make your own.

    You can even make and edit videos in Canva!

    1. Collaborative Tools for You and Your Students

    Canva for Education isn’t just about making things look good, it’s also about working smarter. One of Canva’s most powerful features is real-time collaboration. You can share a worksheet with a co-teacher and edit together, just like in Google Docs. Or let students work in teams to design a presentation, create an infographic, or build a digital portfolio, right inside Canva.

    It’s also easy to assign projects and templates to students directly through Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams, or a shared link. No more juggling multiple platforms or emailing back and forth—everything lives in one place.

    1. Built-In Media Libraries and AI Tools

    Tired of searching the internet for royalty-free images, icons, or videos that are appropriate for school use? Canva has you covered. Its built-in media libraries include millions of free images, videos, icons, animations, and music tracks, all safe for classroom use.

    And with Canva’s new AI features (like Magic Write, an AI-powered text generator, and background remover for images), you can work even faster. Need a writing prompt idea? Let Magic Write help you brainstorm. Want to remove a distracting background from a student photo or a diagram? Just click a button.

    1. Support for All Learning Styles

    Canva’s visual approach makes it easier to support a wide range of learning needs. Students who struggle with traditional text-heavy assignments may thrive when they can show what they know through visuals, whether that’s a timeline, a labeled diagram, or a multimedia project.

    You can also create interactive materials, like choice boards or clickable slide decks, that give students more control over how they engage with the content. This makes Canva a valuable tool for differentiated instruction and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). You can also easily modify the text of a worksheet or assignment to provide differentiation.

    1. Did We Mention It’s FREE to Educators?

    Here’s the part that often surprises teachers: Canva for Education is completely free. No trial periods. No sneaky upsells. Just a full-featured design platform made available at no cost to verified K–12 teachers and their students.

    With the free Education plan, you get access to:

    • All the premium templates and classroom-specific content
    • Collaborative features for student groups
    • A content library safe for school use
    • Access management and privacy controls
    • Integrations with Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams

    To sign up, visit canva.com/education and register using your school email address. You’ll typically be verified within a day or two.

    Final Thoughts

    As teachers, we’re constantly searching for ways to save time, engage students, and elevate our classroom materials. Canva checks all those boxes—and then some.

    So whether you’re new to Canva or just haven’t explored its full potential, there’s never been a better time to dive in. Your future self—and your students—will thank you!