Keeping students engaged in every lesson is becoming more difficult every year. Students have a plethora of distractions that keep them from being immersed in everyday lessons. With technology on the rise, teachers have the unique opportunity to add more visual aesthetics to increase student engagement. There are various programs that are readily available to teachers to aid in making lessons more appealing to students.
I will admit, some of these software programs are intimidating and are the reasons that I and other educators steer away from exploring their use (Lawrence, 2022, p. 109). There are many benefits to using design software in schools whether it be for student use in higher grades or teacher use in lower grades.
While other applications such as PowerPoint and Google Slides also offer the opportunity to engage students, software design programs give professionals and students the chance to add a personal affect to their presentation (Bonnici et al., 2023).
There are many different design options available for professional and student use. Some of those include:
Adobe is one option for educators to use in the classroom. There is much more to Adobe than just a PDF viewer and photoshop. It offers a plethora of options to enhance professional and educational presentation and materials. Adobe can be challenging but there are many tutorials and tools to help you understand the program (Lawrence, 2022, p. 110). One of the options that would be particularly beneficial to me, as an elementary school teacher, is InDesign. InDesign allows you to create booklets, pamphlets, and flyers with a personal touch. As educators we are always sending materials home to help students and parents. While Adobe has many pros it does have some cons. The only con for Adobe ,in my opinion, is that it is a paid platform. If you are an educator, unless your district pays for it, most likely you are looking for something that isn't going to break the bank.
Canva is another great option for professionals, educators, and students. There is a free option that gives limited access to designs but there is also Canva Pro. Canva Pro is a paid option, but if you are an educator, you can access Canva Pro for free. It is a great resource to make presentations, booklets, flyers, and more. I have personally used Canva in my classroom to make presentations more engaging, posters for the wall, and learning centers for students. As an educator, I would highly recommend signing up for Canva for Education. It gives teachers access to many resources and is user friendly. I have recommended Canva to many others at school and they have been able to enjoy the creation of flyers, projects, and more.
There are many professionals and educators that are reluctant to try new things and stick to PowerPoint or Google Slides instead of trying a design software (Bonnici et al., 2023). As a beginner, I would highly suggest starting with Canva. There are many video tutorials that help educators learn how to properly use Canva for Education. If you have time, check out the video below and start your journey to digital design.
References
Bonnici, I., Greene, H., Azzopardi, R. M., Azzorpardi, J., Liu, R., & Bonnici, J. (2023).
Changing Pedagogy for Contemporaneity with New Design Platforms. ERIC. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1391590.pdf
Canva. (2022, December 19). Welcome to Canva for Education | Getting Started with
Canva for Education course [Video].YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIcFqbIFGa8
Lawrence, D. (2022). Digital Writing: A Guide to Writing for Social Media and the Web.
Broadview Press.
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