You don’t understand anything until you learn it more than one way.
Marvin Minsky
Who says integrating AI into your teaching has to be a complex, time-consuming overhaul? Sometimes, the most impactful applications aren’t about revolutionary platforms but about simple, clever hacks that solve a real classroom problem. This is the first in a new series, AI Nibbles, where I’ll be sharing quick, straightforward ways to use readily available AI tools to enhance learning.
The Problem: A Concept That Wasn’t Landing
I noticed my students were struggling to grasp a key media concept: the power of typography. They understood on a theoretical level that font choice matters, but they weren’t connecting it to how a text communicates its genre, tone, and message to an audience. I needed a way to make this abstract idea tangible and immediate.
The 5-Minute AI Solution: Canva’s Magic Grab
Instead of creating a whole new lesson from scratch, I turned to a simple tool I suspect many of us already use: Canva. Specifically, I used its AI-powered ‘Magic Grab’ feature, and within that, the ‘Grab Text’ tool.
The process was incredibly simple and took less than ten minutes:
- Find the Assets: I saved a few classic, instantly recognisable film posters to my computer (Jaws, The Godfather, Star Wars, etc.).
- Upload to Canva: I dropped them into a new Canva design.
- Work the Magic: I selected a poster and used the ‘Grab Text’ tool. Like magic, it lifted the film’s title clean off the image, leaving the background intact.
- Create the Mismatch: I changed the font to something deliberately inappropriate for the genre. Imagine the iconic Jaws title rewritten in a delicate, flowing script, or The Godfather in cheerful Comic Sans.
- Reassemble and Print: I placed the new, mismatched text back onto the poster and printed them out.
The Outcome: A Killer Starter Activity
I dotted the manipulated posters around the classroom. As students came in, their task was simple: walk around, look at the posters, and identify what was wrong. They then had to write down not just what was wrong, but why the new font didn’t work.
The effect was instantaneous. The visual clash was so jarring that it sparked immediate discussion and debate. They weren’t just saying “it looks weird”; they were articulating why it felt weird, using the precise vocabulary of the subject. The concept clicked into place in a way a PowerPoint slide never could.
This is the kind of AI integration that genuinely excites me. It wasn’t difficult. It didn’t require specialist knowledge or a hefty budget. It was a quick, easy way for me to produce a high-impact starter to reinforce an idea my students were struggling with, using an accessible tool like Canva. It’s a perfect introduction to the practical, time-saving capabilities we now have at our fingertips.
What’s your favourite quick AI classroom hack ?