Two Online Graphics Design Tools

In a previous post I showed a graphic which I designed using an online tool at canva.com. This kind of tool can be very useful for busy teachers for a couple of reasons. First, it is inexpensive to use compared to other graphics tools. Many of the templates on the site can be used at no cost, and some cost only a dollar to buy one-time use rights. Secondly, it is quick and easy to find an appropriate template and modify it for your specific use. I have a background in graphic arts and years of experience with expensive graphic design tools, but it would have taken me much longer to put together this graphic about gerunds with those than it did using canva.com. I think most teachers can figure out how it works fairly quickly, but if not, they have an extensive set of tutorials. Once you have finished your design, it is stored in a personal library, and can be downloaded in a variety of file types and resolutions.

Another useful online design tool can be found at wordclouds.com. The tools on this site can help you quickly throw together a shaped, colorful graphic that is composed of words. The graphic I made for my Brazilian ESL class is shaped in the form of South America, and uses Brazilian national colors. The words are 87 "false friends" or false cognates between English and Brazilian Portuguese. I created this in high resolution to be printed out as a poster. It can be used as a search puzzle for teaching students about words in English and Portuguese that sound or are spelled similarly, but have very different meanings.

-Dan

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