Since the very beginning of Canva – founded by Australian entrepreneur and Canva CEO Melanie Perkins – the company has been public about promoting its ‘two-step plan’. Step one? “To build one of the world’s most valuable companies”. Step two? “To do the most good we can”.
That second step took a giant leap at the start of August this year when Canva celebrated an impressive philanthropic milestone: giving US$1 billion worth of annual product value donated through the brand’s education and non- profit programs. According to their official media release, that means that more than 70 million students and teachers, and 670,000 non-profits around the world now use Canva’s tools to design, collaborate, and learn, advancing their ability to increase engagement and shape powerful impact.
Canva for Education launched in 2019 to provide accessible technology for all students and teachers, regardless of school finances – and with today’s students stepping into an increasingly digital and visual world, where visual communication is a requirement in every industry and role, Canva believes it’s more important than ever for them to learn tech-driven knowledge and skills.
Empowering creativity in classrooms
EducationDaily spoke with Carly Daff, Head of Teams & Education at Canva, to find out more about why it is so important to create equitable access to tech resources – and why the company is so passionate about supporting the education sector.
Why is it important to Canva to share resources with the education sector?
“We truly believe that in today’s rapidly changing world, investing in creativity and digital literacy in the classroom has never been more important. We’ve always been passionate about providing equal opportunity and quality education for all and this starts with giving students and teachers the tools they need to bring their ideas to life. By providing our platform for free, alongside a wide range of free quality resources in many languages, we’re able to achieve this.
Every day, we’re inspired by the 70 million students and teachers using Canva every month, and we’re proud to be levelling the playing field to ensure everyone can access the tools they need to thrive.”
How does Canva support students and teachers?
“We’ve always believed that visual communication can transform how students learn and how teachers teach.
Our goal is to alleviate teacher burnout by taking some of the heavy lifting from lesson prep and making it easier for teachers to create engaging lessons that make learning more creative, fun and easier to retain. This is why we offer a dedicated library of ready-to-teach lessons and thousands of templates. We also aim to help students explore their creativity, collaborate effectively, and develop skills that will serve them well beyond the classroom.
With technology evolving rapidly and tools like AI becoming more prevalent in the workforce, it’s essential that students are equipped with the right tools and skills early on. Our Visual Economy Report shows that 90 per cent of Australian business leaders believe that employees, even those not in design roles, should have some design skills.
By providing these resources, we hope to set students up for future success in an increasingly digital world. For educators, we recently introduced a free Teacher Certification course to help them master Canva’s tools and transform their classrooms.”
Are all non-profits eligible to access the tools free – or is there eligibility criteria?
“We offer free access to our full suite of tools for all qualifying nonprofits. We know how hard nonprofits work to make the world a better place, and that they can often struggle with limited budget and resourcing. To ensure our resources reach those who can benefit the most, organisations need to be recognized as a charitable or nonprofit entity by their local regulator, operate on a not-for-profit basis, and work for the public good. Our full eligibility criteria can be found here.”
Why is it so important to create equitable access to tech tools?
“Our mission is to empower everyone to design and that means ensuring equitable access to design tools. By providing free access around the globe, we hope to level the playing field, allowing more individuals and organisations to acquire essential digital and visual literacy skills so they can multiply their impact. This not only fosters inclusivity and fairness but also drives innovation.”
What is Canva for Education?
Canva for Education is 100 per cent free for K-12 (primary and secondary) teachers and their students.
Educators and students can create and personalise their own designs from scratch, or choose from thousands of high-quality, educational templates to help support the creation of everything from presentations to posters, and infographics, to worksheets, project-based learning, and lesson plans.
And as a teacher, delivering impactful feedback to reach and motivate students all in one place is easy, with the ability to share, review, and give feedback on student work in real-time.
How to get started with Canva for Education
- Open the Canva for Education sign up page.
- If you can, sign up for Canva for Education with a verified educational email domain. You can also sign up with your school or district’s Clever, Microsoft, or Google account.
- Follow the sign-up prompts.
- After signing up, select that you are a Teacher.
- Click Get verified.
- If you signed up with a verified educational email domain, you’ll get access right away – congratulations!
- Or, upload a photo or scanned copy of an approved document, and Canva will review the application within 48 hours.
For educators that already have a free or Canva Pro account, they can upgrade that to Canva for Education, 100 per cent free. Canva for Education is also 100 per cent free for eligible school districts, departments of education, and other global school systems.
