Canvastera

This multimodal approach makes Canvastera a valuable tool in language learning, where visual, auditory, and textual modes can reinforce meaning-making and communicative competence. 

These are the main features in Canvastera:

• Drag-and-Drop Editor: The platform is designed to be user-friendly, so it allows drag-and-drop functionalities to simplify the creative and design process.

• Interactive Design: The posters are interactive, allowing for clickable links, embedded videos, and other elements that make the content more engaging than a static image or plain text.

• Sharing and Embedding: Users can easily share their posters with a unique, permanent link or embed them on other websites. Since the content is live, any edits made later update instantly for viewers.

Pedagogical Benefits of Using Canvastera in Language Teaching

1. Developing Multimodal and Digital Literacies

The Multiliteracies Framework proposed by the New London Group in their influential 1996 article was looking to redefine literacy in response to two massive changes in the world:

• Globalisation and Cultural/Linguistic Diversity: The increasing movement of people and the need to negotiate diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds.

• Multimodal Communication: The rise of new communication channels and media, making meaning through multiple modes (visual, audio, spatial, etc), not just printed text.

Tools like Canvastera help promote multimodal literacy, which aligns with the multiliteracies framework previously mentioned.

Walker and White (2013) highlight that “language learning in the digital age must include awareness of how meaning is constructed across modes” (p. 44). By allowing students to design multimedia texts, Canvastera fosters this cross-modal competence, making learning more engaging and relevant.

In my lesson using Canvastera, students are encouraged to create their eco story by using different multimedia resources, such as audios, videos and images, among others. 

2. Enhancing Student Engagement and Motivation

Empirical studies consistently find that visual design tools increase student motivation and participation in EFL settings. For example, Fitria and Afdaleni (2022) note that Canva-based storytelling encourages creativity and sustained effort, as “students are inspired to put out more effort when presenting their creative work to peers” (p. 45).

Similarly, Nurhidayanti et al. (2023) found that 83.3% of students perceived digital design tools like Canva as useful for improving their writing, emphasizing that “students had positive perceptions of Canva’s usefulness, ease, and suitability for supporting English writing skills” (p. 72).

When students use Canvastera to create their interactive eco story, they are not only learning about the narrative elements present in any story, but they are also learning how to make use of the visual elements in their story. For example, students have to take into account the arrangement of the images and the text in their page, as well as where they should incorporate other multimedia elements in a way that helps them tell their story as they intended.

3. Fostering Collaboration and Communication

Language learning thrives on interaction and co-construction of meaning. Canvastera facilitates collaborative work by allowing multiple users to co-create multimedia posters or digital stories. As a result, learners engage in authentic communication to negotiate design decisions, wording, and visuals, which are key processes in communicative language teaching.

“Students described how they divided the work, generated ideas, and worked together to create visually beautiful storyboards” (Putri & Wahyuni, 2023, p. 89).

In my lesson, students are asked to create their eco stories in groups, so they can practice their communicative competence by negotiating meaning (when deciding the elements they want their story to have) and peer correction (when correcting each other as they are creating their story and when they have to provide feedback on their peers' stories)

4. Supporting Differentiation and Inclusion

Because Canvastera integrates text, audio, and visuals, it accommodates different learning styles and proficiency levels. Teachers can scaffold tasks with visual templates and audio explanations to support English language learners (ELLs).
As Google for Education (2024) suggests, “using visuals, colors, and organization tools helps ELL students process and retain information more effectively.” Thus, the multimodal nature of Canvastera supports Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles, ensuring accessibility for diverse learners.

By adding videos and audios into their eco stories, students could make their stories more inclusive to other students who may be visually impaired, and by adding subtitles to the audios/videos included in their stories, they could be helping students who are hard of hearing to understand the story better and interact with it in the most natural way possible.

5. Encouraging Higher-Order Thinking

Bloom's Digital Taxonomy is an extension of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001) that was developed by Australian educator and technology consultant Andrew Churches (2008). Its primary goal is not to replace the original taxonomy but to acknowledge and integrate the new behaviors, actions, and learning opportunities presented by the proliferation of digital technologies and the internet (Web 2.0 and beyond).

In line with Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy (Churches, 2008), using Canvastera encourages learners to analyze, evaluate, and create. The design process requires planning (analyzing), selecting appropriate media (evaluating), and producing an original artifact (creating) In this case, to create their own eco story, students will be expected to analyze the structure of a generic story, to then collaboratively evaluate what characters and setting they want their story to have (as well as the multimedia resources: audios, videos, pictures, texts, etc.) and finally to materialize their ideas on a Canvastera board.

CALL (Computer-Assisted Language Learning) is an interdisciplinary field that involves the use of computer technology (including the Internet, mobile devices, and specialized software) in the teaching and learning of a second or foreign language. As one CALL educator notes, such tasks move learning beyond comprehension toward creativity and synthesis, hallmarks of higher-order cognition (García, n.d.) In this case, by using Canvastera to create their own story, students would be moving towards a different way of expressing their ideas in a multimodel eco story.

Alignment with Educational Frameworks

SAMR Model (Puentedura, 2010)

SAMR is a framework used to evaluate how technology is integrated into a lesson. Developed by Dr. Ruben Puentedura, it’s not just about using technology, but about transforming the learning task itself. 

This model describes four stages:

• Substitution: At this stage, technology is used as a direct substitute for a traditional tool, with no functional change.

• Augmentation: This is the "substitution with a functional improvement" The core task is still the same, but basic technology features add value and efficiency.

• Modification: Technology allows a significant redesign of the task. The nature of the assignment begins to change.

• Redefinition: Technology allows for the creation of new tasks that were previously impossible to imagine.

Canvastera supports the Redefinition stage of the SAMR model. By using Canvastera to tell their eco story, students would be redifining what a writing task is. In this case, students aren't asked to grab a sheet of paper and a pen to write their story, instead they are asked to use Canvastera in creative ways and redefine the task as an interactive multimedia project that integrates language, visuals and sound. 

We could also say that my lesson plan using Canvastera supports the Augmentation stage of this model because multimedia elements can enhance students' storytelling. Also, when students use Canvastera’s text tools, they can instantly check spelling, use a digital dictionary/thesaurus to find better words, and easily change fonts and colors, which can scaffold and improve their writing practice.

TPACK Framework (Mishra & Koehler, 2006)

The TPACK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge) framework is a model that describes the specific knowledge a teacher needs to effectively integrate technology into their teaching. It was developed by Punya Mishra and Matthew J. Koehler in 2006, building on Lee Shulman's (1986) concept of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK).

The core idea of TPACK is that effective tech integration is not just about knowing how to use a tool. Instead, it requires a deep understanding of the dynamic relationship between three core areas: 

• Content Knowledge (CK): This is the teacher's knowledge of the subject matter itself. It's the "what" of teaching.

• Pedagogical Knowledge (PK): This is the teacher's deep knowledge of the processes, methods, and strategies of teaching and learning. It's the "how" of teaching.

• Technological Knowledge (TK): This is the knowledge of how to use and operate technology. This knowledge is always changing as technology evolves.

Effective integration of Canvastera requires balance among those core areas. A teacher with strong TPACK understands that you don't just "add technology" to a lesson, but you choose technology that helps achieve pedagogical and content goals. To successfully integrate Canvastera into my lesson, I included all these core areas: how to make use of Canvastera’s features (TK), design collaborative storytelling tasks (PK), and align them with linguistic objectives (CK). 

DigCompEdu and UNESCO ICT Frameworks

At its core, DigCompEdu (The European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators) is a framework that mentions the pedagogical skills educators need to effectively and innovatively use digital technologies in teaching and learning (Redecker, 2017) 

DigCompEdu is organized into 6 main areas and 22 different competencies:

The UNESCO ICT Competency Framework for Teachers (2018), is a globally-recognized framework designed to guide teacher education and professional development on the effective use of technology. This framework goes beyond a simple list of technical skills and, like TPACK or DigCompEdu, focuses on how technology can be integrated to improve pedagogy, curriculum, and the entire educational system.

According to Redecker (2017), educators should “select, create, and share digital resources that foster learners’ creativity and active engagement” (p. 21). By encouraging students to use Canvastera to create their eco story, my lesson would be positioning students as creators (not mere consumers) of content. Similarly, the UNESCO ICT Competency Framework for Teachers (2018) emphasizes that technology should “enhance creativity, problem-solving, and lifelong learning.”

Integrating Canvastera into language teaching enables educators to create authentic, collaborative, and creative learning experiences. The platform supports multimodal communication, encourages higher-order thinking and aligns with popular teaching frameworks like SAMR, TPACK, and DigCompEdu.

By transforming traditional writing or presentation tasks into interactive, multimodal projects, Canvastera empowers students to express meaning through text, image, and sound which helps students build both their language proficiency and digital literacy.

References 

Anderson, L. W., & Krathwohl, D. R. (Eds.). (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives. Longman.

García, O. (n.d.) Canva Old. In Technology in Language Teaching and Learning. https://esl5073call.wordpress.com/explaineveryting/canva-middle-school/ 

Fitria, T. N., & Afdaleni, A. (2022). Creating Students’ Worksheet Using Canva in English Language Teaching (ELT) https://jllte.stbapia.ac.id/index.php/jurnal/article/view/243

Fullan, M., & Langworthy, M. (2014). A rich seam: How new pedagogies find deep learning. Pearson.

Google for Education. (2024). Digital tools for ELL students: Canva and beyond. https://sites.google.com/view/digital-tools-for-ell-student/canva

Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. J. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge. Teachers College Record, 108(6), 1017–1054. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9620.2006.00684.x

Nurhidayanti, D., Sari, A., & Putri, R. (2023). Students’ perception of Canva in EFL writing class. ELT Worldwide, 10(1), 70–80. https://jurnal.fkip.unismuh.ac.id/index.php/eltm/article/download/1103/384

Puentedura, R. R. (2010). SAMR model: Transformation, technology, and education. http://hippasus.com/rrpweblog

Putri, R., & Wahyuni, I. (2023). Students’ engagement through Canva storyboards in EFL learning. Foreign Language Teaching Journal, 7(2), 85–93.

Redecker, C. (2017). European framework for the digital competence of educators: DigCompEdu. Publications Office of the European Union.

UNESCO. (2018). ICT competency framework for teachers (Version 3). UNESCO Publishing. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000265721

Walker, A., & White, G. (2013). Technology enhanced language learning: Connecting theory and practice. Oxford University Press.

The New London Group. (1996). A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies: Designing Social Futures. Harvard Educational Review, 66(1), 60–93.

Google. (2025, November 11). Quote some articles where the SAMR model is mentioned. Retrieved from https://gemini.google.com