Three Technologies for Creating

Below are descriptions, evaluations. and tutorials of three online platforms that educators can access for free to create materials, activities, and lessons that are visually appealing and that increase engagement: Powtoons, Genially, and Canva.

#1: Powtoon

Powtoon is a web-based software that allows you to create engaging videos with ease. While the scope of the program markets to a variety of fields, it offers a range of easy-to-use templates for all those who work in education--teachers, students, and administrators. You can upload a PowerPoint and set it to music, create your own animated characters, add graphics from Canva, and Powtoon can also be integrated into the Cavas LMS.

As a first-time user of Powtoon, I was able to create a short video with ease. I could pull from a selection of stock images, upload my own, type in text, and set it all to animated backdrops that, with the right touch, could be synced up with the rhythm of music for added effect. I simply began by selecting one of the many templates and manipulated it according to my preferences. If there was any one struggle that I had with creating this Powtoon video presentation, it was selecting the music. While there were several options, most sounded, well. . . real corny. But with some patience, I did find the right one. While I assume more options and capabilities are available with paid subscriptions, the free version offers plenty for the novice to work with.

While I can imagine creating explainer videos as a teacher, replete with my own created characters, would be a valuable addition to both in-person and online classes, I believe Powtoon can also be useful for other types of activities, such as capturing faculty and student events in an easily viewable format to present at meetings or simply share over email. But I do see its most empowering potential on the student end, as it would allow students to tap their creativity for a variety of purposes, such as presenting introductions, research, essay outlines, book reviews, reflections, abstract concepts, and the like. This alternative format to traditional written assignments can engage students in both individual and group projects, and it can be a powerful tool to motivate students and instill a sense of pride that comes with completing projects that center creativity and self-expression.

#2: Genially

Genially offers a wide range of tools for you to create, design, and facilitate lessons, from presentations to infographics, and from video presentations to games. While its video presentations may not offer character options like Powtoon presentations, Genially offers a broader range of tools and, most importantly, the ability to make your lessons interactive. You can add a tooltip, a window, a go-to page, or link to any image on the slide. There are, of course, many templates with built in interactive points for you to choose from and make it your own. While Genially may be valuable to students, teachers, and administrators alike, I believe it to be most valuable to assist teachers in creating interactive materials for class and the virtual classroom in particular.

I happened upon Genially when another student posted an infographic in one my courses. I clicked on the watermark icon and was henceforth introduced to the world of Genially. As an English teacher, I immediately thought about how useful this would be to create essay prompts. Students could click on an image or a description in the prompt to receive further information, resources for support, examples, tips, and/or explanation videos. Embedding this type of context and support into a prompt is definitely a best practice.

As I explored Genially further, I realized that its gamification templates and features allow for all types of interactive information delivery and formative assessments, which can be of particular value to facilitate content heavy lessons. There is a lot to explore and work with in Genially, but this is one program that you may eventually consider using beyond the free version, especially since its student subscription is only $1.25 a month and educator subscription $5. There’s also the “Master” upgrade, which comes to just under $21 a month.

#3: Canva

Canva may be the most well-known of these three technologies for creating, and there’s a reason why it has become so popular. It is an online graphic design tool that makes design accessible to non-designers. You can create graphics to spruce up your personal or business websites, your social media posts, or your online courses. You can also create logos, business cards, invitations, presentations, the list goes on. The service is free, but as always, you can unlock new features and templates with a paid subscription, which will run you just under ten dollars a month. But there are actually plenty of templates, backgrounds, images, and the like to work with in the free version.

While Powtoon and Genially are completely new tech finds for me, I have been using Canva to help create my online courses for the last couple of years. The most common feature I use is to create banners for my Canvas pages so that titles and quotes that are important to “take away” stand out to students and catch their eye before they move on to the next page in the module. I also use Canva to create graphics that make the course pages more appealing (tip: the “Etsy” banner works great with Canvas pages).

There are a lot of features to access, and as a student I’ve found myself using Canva to design presentations and infographics for my recent school projects. It’s really the first valuable design tool that I’ve latched onto since converting all my classes online in 2020. The presentation features outdo PowerPoint by a long shot, so this can come in handy when running workshops as well as presenting at meetings and in the classroom. It’s the graphics that are key with Canva; they just make things look better.