Canva's study uncovers the importance of closing the AI knowledge gap for teachers

A new study from Canva reveals how teachers feel about the proliferation of artificial intelligence and its impact in their classrooms – the majority are enthusiastic and eager about the potential of incorporating this technology in the classroom, but remain unsure of where to start. Teachers recognize AI's transformative potential but still need support and professional development to effectively incorporate it into their teaching practices.

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(Graphic: Canva)

“These findings underscore teachers' genuine excitement about the promise of artificial intelligence and the huge potential this technology has in the classroom. Teachers are looking to supercharge their lessons, foster creativity, and cut down on manual administrative tasks. It’s no surprise artificial intelligence is top of mind for educators across the globe,” said Jason Wilmot, Canva’s Head of Education Products.

In response to this demand, last month Canva announced its biggest-ever education launch, which includes Classroom Magic, a suite of free AI-powered tools designed with teachers and students in mind. With more than 60 million teachers and students using Canva around the world, this was a sea-change event for AI in education. Unlike other AI tools for schools, Canva’s support educators with their day-to-day duties—everything from administrative tasks to writing lesson plans, designing presentations, and creating high-quality animations with the help of AI.

“We know Canva is likely to be the first interaction teachers have with this technology and we take that responsibility incredibly seriously,” said Canva’s Wilmot. “Above all, we’re committed to providing teachers with the support they need to harness the potential of artificial intelligence in a safe and practical way.”

Boosting Classroom Productivity, Creativity, and Workloads

Canva’s study found 78% of teachers are interested in using artificial intelligence, but their experience with the technology remains limited, with 93% indicating they know “a little” or “nothing” about it – though this lack of experience hasn’t stopped teachers quickly discovering and considering its benefits:

• 60% of teachers agree it has given them ideas to boost student productivity
• 59% of teachers agree it has cultivated more ways for their students to be creative
• 56% of teachers agree it has made their lives easier

Teachers are particularly optimistic about the positive impact of artificial intelligence on students with different learning needs with 72% percent of respondents agreeing the technology could help with language learning, and 67% agreeing it could support universal accessibility.

“This technology has the potential to have a profound impact on the way teachers are able to personalize content to meet the needs of individual students, no matter where they are in their learning journey,” Canva’s Wilmot added.

The Growing Role of Technology in the Classroom

The study affirmed the increasingly important role of technology in the classroom with 92% of teachers using apps or services in their teaching, and 78% using those apps at least weekly. When looking at the ways teachers are already using generative artificial intelligence, the most common uses were:

• Creating teaching materials (43%)
• Collaborative creativity/co-creation (39%)
• Translating text (36%)
• Brainstorming and generating ideas (35%)

“AI is something I'm learning alongside of my students. I know my students need to learn it and we need to tie the tools to pedagogy for it to be useful in the classroom,” said George Lee, a high school teacher in San Francisco, California. “It serves as the spark to ignite my students' curiosity and creativity to further ideate. This is especially true for students who lack resources and experiences. I see AI as a tool that levels the playing field for all my students.”

As this technology continues to develop, teachers remain optimistic about its various applications in the classroom. Canva’s study found teachers are most interested in using artificial intelligence for:

• Simplifying language (67% of teachers interested)
• Summarizing information (62% of teachers interested)
• Generative art (63% of teachers interested)
• Data visualization (66% of teachers interested)
• Image and video manipulation (63% of teachers interested)

“AI is transforming education, and teachers clearly see its value,” said Carly Daff, Canva’s Head of Teams and Education. “We are thrilled to meet this need by bringing AI features to Canva and training teachers to use it, all while modeling safe, responsible, and thoughtful AI implementation.”

Survey Methodology

This poll was conducted by Morning Consult from Aug. 6-11, 2023, among a sample of 1,004 educators in the U.S. The interviews were conducted online, and the data were weighted to approximate a target sample of educators based on age, race/ethnicity, gender, educational attainment, and region. Results from the full survey have a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

About Canva

Launched in 2013, Canva is a free online visual communications and collaboration platform with a mission to empower everyone in the world to design. Featuring a simple drag-and-drop user interface and a vast range of templates ranging from presentations, documents, websites, social media graphics, posters, apparel to videos, plus a huge library of fonts, stock photography, illustrations, video footage, and audio clips, anyone can take an idea and create something beautiful.

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