Canva video tools: a quick-start guide for teachers

Curated from Midnight Music – by Katherine Miller –

There are always tremendous posts at Katie Wardrobe’s Midnight Music. Here’s one from one of her subscribers on how to take this wonderful tool for creating images and videos and use it for the classroom.

This is a guest post by one of our teacher-authors, Katherine Miller.

Canva isn’t just for creating graphics and images! You can also create video media for your classroom using the Canva website. The video tools within Canva allow you to record, edit, and add audio along with having access to all of the features that we fell in love with on the website.

There are some distinct features that help set Canva’s video tools apart from other video editing options out there as well. Of course, with your education account, all of the Pro features are FREE. If you do not already have your education account set up, you can visit https://www.canva.com/education/.

Using your education account to create a video on Canva, you can use the resizing feature to change any video format and dimensions instantly. You also can collaborate on video editing of the same video at the same time as a teammate, colleague, or even a student. Lastly, you can use all of these features and MORE from your mobile device.

With all of these great features, it might be time to check out the video tools inside Canva. It is super easy to get started with any project you have in mind for your classroom by following these simple steps.

Getting Started with the Video Tools Inside of Canva

Begin by Starting a New Project

From your Canva homepage, navigate to “Video” and pick out the video type you would like to create (ie: TikTok Video, Video Slideshow, Video Collage, YouTube Video, Instagram Stories, etc.). Once you have chosen your video style, you can choose from the many template options or start from a blank project.

Use Canva Ready-Made Template

Canva has a whole library of video images you can use for creating media, just like with still and animated images. That means you can create a whole video project using stock media without ever having to capture your own video footage. This might be really useful if you are making videos to show to students in your own classroom, making promotional videos for your ensemble or department, creating videos to introduce your group or each song at your concert, or even making advertisements for upcoming events.

You can easily search through videos that are available by using key phrases like “kid playing the flute”, “audience clapping”, “welcome” or other key phrases you might want to include. Make sure to filter your choices by choosing “videos”.

To see an example of creating a “moving poster” to advertise an upcoming concert completely from stock video options, check out this clip from Katie Wardrobe’s “5 Fantastic Designs Teachers Can Create With Canva Webinar” (or click the video below):

Add Your Own Content

You can also choose to upload your own video media (videos recorded on a separate device) or you can record directly in Canva. Either way, you will need to tap “Upload” on the toolbar located on the left-hand side of the design screen.

Like with other templates, you can personalize the footage to your liking and needs using the editing tools once it is added to your video timeline located at the bottom of the design screen.

Edit Your Content

here are so many options for making your video media perfect in the editing process with no editing experience required! In fact, if you are familiar with Canva, many of the tools work much the same.

Here are a few quick tips to help you get started.

To crop, trim, flip or animate your video:

Click on the video in the design space. A toolbar will appear at the top of the screen to make these adjustments.

To add a transition between clips or split, add, duplicate or delete a clip:

Select the clip to make the 3 dots appear in the corner. Click on the three dots to make the desired adjustment.

To add background music:

You can either upload your own audio or use any track that is available under the Audio tab on the left-hand toolbar.
To make any adjustments to the audio, you can select the button that appears just above the timeline on the design screen. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Volume
- fade in/out
- splitting (or duplicating) audio

To add text or other elements to your video:

Use the menu on the left-hand toolbar to add to any video clip, just like you do with other media in Canva! This includes any of the animated graphics available in the elements tab.

Preview and Share Your Video

When you are ready to preview your work, click the triangle, or play button, in the top, right-hand corner of the design screen. If everything looks great, you can share your video with others.

Some options for sharing are downloading as a watermark-free MP4, creating a link for others to view the video, or posting it directly to your linked social media accounts.

More Blogs About Canva from Midnight Music

About Katherine Miller

Katherine (Katie) Miller holds a Bachelor of Music in Education degree from Otterbein University (Westerville, OH) and a Masters of Educational Leadership from Antioch McGregor Midwest (Yellow Springs, OH). She has 15 years of professional musical experience as a music educator and performer.

She resides in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area where she teaches K-5 General Music and serves as a district model tech classroom. She was recognized in 2018 as a WPT Education Innovator by the Wisconsin Public Television Education team. Twitter: K8TMiller

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