Canva is a tool that I use nearly every day of my working life. Like some of the other tools in my daily work life, there are some features of Canva that I use far more than others. Canva seems to be constantly adding new features so my favorite ones might be a little different a year from now. For now, the following are my five favorite and most frequently used features in Canva. 

• Copying designs
• Image background remover and face touch-up. 
• Color match suggestions.
• Slide presentation recorder (with and without webcam video).
• Publishing and sharing slides as websites. 

Applications for Education

Of all these features the one that has the broadest appeal for educators is probably the option to record yourself talking over your slides with or without your webcam turned on. This makes it incredibly easy to create a short video lesson by using your existing slides right inside of Canva. The slide recording tool can also be used by students to make short video presentations or to simply practice giving a presentation then listening to or watching themselves to get better for their next attempt.

Speaking of presentation, Microsoft’s Presenter Coach offers a great way for students to get some immediate feedback on the pacing of their presentations. Here’s a little demo of how it works.