Medium Specificity

 I have successfully survived my 4 year college career without once using Canva. In fact, I wasn't even sure what Canva was until now (obviously). Since so many teachers and students use it, I thought it was about time to see what all the hype was really about. I must say, I am pleasantly surprised.

Canva exceeded my expectations regarding how much it was actually capable of doing, but let me down in other ways. As far as making a clean presentable graphic, Canva is excellent. It even has text features that can allow you to mimic specific styles or brands—although it is not an exact replica, for obvious reasons. This was my personal “celebration” of Canva’s potential uses, as seen in my project with the simulation of the iconic “Y” logo and recognizable fonts similar to other University posters. It took quite a bit of playing around with the website, but I think it looks pretty authentic.

Tools like erasers, editors, and markers that are often featured in composition websites familiar to students—like meme generators—are nowhere to be found (at least in the free version). I experienced first hand that this could prove to be difficult when using images uploaded onto Canva. In other words, Canva does great with the images it provides but it is less ideal for personal image editing. 

As far as students are concerned, using this medium would be an adjustment, but not anything overly challenging. It is likely they would be able to respond to a “medium specificity” sort og assignment like Ms. Cage’s quite well using canva. Challenges, if any, would mostly be with students who may not have had as much technology exposure as others. (This would include students who may not have a tablet/ laptop or internet access at home, to explore creative websites.) 

The task of responding to digital media art forms and responding with them are two very different things. As the Thevenin reading suggests, students have to first form ideas, opinions, and at least some level of understanding before they can consider creating something in response. As a prospective English teacher, the way to form ideas, especially about literature, is essentially what I teach for a living. In this pursuit, realizing that students need room to make mistakes and be hesitant can go a long way. Being the example for this process can help students realize that making discoveries through interaction and formation of a response, even a media based one, is a form of self expression. Once they realize it can be enjoyable and even fun, the classroom will be quite dynamic in regard to discussions and responses.