Genially is approved for teaching and learning use at USask. It is a self-supported, self-managed tool and is not integrated with USask Canvas. Free accounts are available with limited features. Educators are responsible for obtaining departmental approval for paid Genially subscriptions.

Students do not require a Genially account to view activities. If student account creation or costs are required, these requirements must be outlined in the syllabus and an alternative option must be available.

What is Genially?

Genially is a browser-based authoring and publishing platform for creating interactive presentations, infographics, images, learning activities, quizzes, games, and other click-to-explore resources.

What is the purpose of Genially?

In teaching and learning, Genially can be used to create interactive instructional materials and learner-created projects. It can support self-paced exploration, formative practice and feedback, and branching or game-like learning activities.

Why use Genially?

  • Create interactive learning resources that invite learners to explore, make choices, practise skills, and engage with course concepts.
  • Present complex information through multimedia, animation, interactive images, timelines, maps, scenarios, and other visual formats.
  • Add questions, feedback, and opportunities for self-checking to support formative learning and review.
  • Design branching activities, simulations, games, and case-based experiences that encourage active participation.
  • Support learner-created multimedia projects, individually or collaboratively, as alternatives to traditional presentations and written assignments.

Learning Technology Ecosystem (LTE) Principles

Genially most directly address these LTE goals:

Active and social - Learning is a process of meaning-making, constructed through learning with others, and as a part of an intentional, deliberate system within a course and across experiences.

Designed for students who are remixing or creating - Learning is most effective when systems are designed to help learners find, create, and/or repurpose significant content for the value of themselves and others.

Best Practices

DO

DON'T

 Design Genially activities around clear learning outcomes and purposeful interaction.

 Do not make Genially the only way to access essential course information.

 Keep required instructions, deadlines, and essential course information available in Canvas.

 Do not rely only on colour, sound, motion, hovering, dragging, or visual discovery to communicate information.

 Use headings, alternative text, descriptive links, captions, sufficient contrast, and a logical reading order.

 Do not require learners to create an account simply to view or interact with instructor-created content.

 Use low-stakes questions and feedback to support practice and self-checking.

 Do not enter sensitive, confidential, or unnecessary personal information.

 Use only the personal information needed for the learning activity.

 When creating a Genially account, do not use the same password as your USask account.

 Share instructor-created activities by link or embed them in Canvas.

 

Support for Genially

Technical Support

(Why isn't this working?)

Vendor Supported

Training Support

(How do I learn to use this tool?)

Vendor Supported

Teaching Support

(How do I teach with this tool?)

Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning Supported

  • Email GMCTL for support with appropriate uses of Genially, interactive learning activity design, accessibility, and inclusive design.

Tool Evaluation

Technologies are evaluated based on their alignment with the Learning Technologies Ecosystem Principles.  Click to see explanations of each principle and a justification of the rating. You can also view a complete blank rubric to see more details or read about the assessment process.

Learning must be found easily at any time, and all learners and teachers have equitable access, regardless of culture, language, ability etc. 
More Information

Rating: Moderate concerns

  • Accessibility standards
    • Accessibility depends on how each resource is designed. Authors should use appropriate text structure, alternative text, captions or transcripts, descriptive links, sufficient contrast, a logical reading order, and alternatives to interactions that depend on colour, sound, motion, hovering, dragging, or visual exploration.
  • Cost of use for USask students
    • Students can access instructor-created Genially activities without an account. Some content-creation features may require an account or paid subscription. If students must create an account or incur costs, communicate this in the syllabus and provide an alternative option.
  • Platform/device
    • Published resources open in a web browser without specialized software. Complex layouts and interactions may be more difficult to use on mobile devices.
  • Offline access
    • Genially is primarily web-based and requires internet access for creating, editing, collaborating, and using most published resources.

Learning is a process of meaning-making, constructed through learning with others, and as a part of an intentional, deliberate system within a course and across experiences.
More Information

Rating: Works well

  • Collaboration
    • Genially supports real-time collaborative editing. Collaborators can leave comments, reply to threads, mention contributors, and review shared drafts. Education workspaces can organize projects into classes, groups, or spaces, depending on the plan.
  • Sharing
    • Published resources can be distributed using a link.

Learning is refined and extended through prompted and supported opportunities to focus on understanding and next steps.
More Information

Rating: Moderate concerns

  • Reflection and revision
    • Learners can revise shared projects in response to instructor or peer comments.

Learning is most effective when systems are designed to help learners find, create, and/or repurpose significant content for the value of themselves and others.
More Information

Rating: Moderate concerns

  • Creating
    • Users can create interactive presentations, infographics, images, maps, timelines, games, quizzes, simulations, and multimedia artifacts. Projects can combine text, images, audio, video, animation, links, questions, hotspots, and drag-and-drop interactions. Templates and imported materials can be adapted by adding interactivity.
  • File format
    • Paid plans provide exports in formats such as PDF, JPG, MP4, offline HTML, QR code, and SCORM.

Learners create and control spaces for learning, understanding and retaining ownership, and purposefully choosing how and when they share.
More Information

Rating: Moderate Concerns

  • Archiving, saving, and exporting data
    • Genially automatically saves projects to the user’s workspace. Export options vary by licence, and the free plan provides fewer archiving and download choices than paid plans.
  • Data privacy and ownership
    • Users should not place sensitive, confidential, or unnecessary personal information in a Genially project.
  • Bias
    • Educators and learners should review generated or templated content for cultural assumptions, stereotypes, omissions, inappropriate examples, linguistic limitations, and inaccurate representations.
  • Sign up/sign in
    • A Genially account is required to create or edit projects, but not to view or interact anonymously with an instructor-created activity.
  • Customization
    • Users can adapt templates, layouts, media, navigation, animation, interactions, and sharing settings.

Learners need to work in a system that is fluid and requires a minimum number of steps in systems that are intuitive and integrated.
More Information

Rating: Moderate concerns

  • Interface
    • Genially uses a visual, template-based editor that supports content creation without coding. More complex activities require understanding of layering, navigation, triggers, animation, media, accessibility controls, and publishing settings.
  • Additional downloads
    • No additional software is required for browser-based creation and online viewing.
  • Functionality
    • Genially provides tools for authoring, presenting, publishing, collaborating, questioning, and tracking engagement. Complex browser-based activities may behave differently depending on screen size, input method, browser, or embedded content.
  • Environmental impact
    • Genially is a cloud-based authoring and publishing service used through a web browser. Its use requires network access and computing infrastructure so there is an environmental impact. Educators can reduce unnecessary resource use by limiting oversized media, reusing materials where appropriate, and avoiding avoidable duplicate versions.

Learners exist in accessible networks, and connect to the experiences, concepts, people, and ideas that they need.
More Information

Rating: Moderate concerns

  • Scale
    • Genially education plans allow educators to invite learners into a workspace and organize work using classes, groups, or project spaces, depending on the selected plan.
  • Communication flexibility
    • Projects can combine textual, visual, audio, video, animated, and interactive forms of communication. Comments and collaborative editing provide additional communication channels during project development.
  • Representation and inclusivity
    • Genially allows authors to choose the people, perspectives, examples, languages, and media represented in a resource, but inclusive representation is not automatic. Authors should review templates and created content for stereotypes, omissions, cultural assumptions, visual accessibility, and alignment with USask commitments to ohpahotân | oohpaahotaan and EDI.

Learning and feedback are iterative, and assessment comes from multiple sources, including self, peers, teachers, and outside experts.
More Information

Rating: Moderate concerns

  • Feedback
    • Quizzes and interactive questions can provide immediate, low-stakes practice. Comments allow instructors and collaborators to provide feedback within a project and respond to threads.
  • Sources for feedback
    • Feedback can come from instructors, peers, group members, or invited reviewers through comments and collaborative project review. Automated question feedback can also support self-assessment. Access to commenting and review features may depend on the plan and sharing settings.
  • Learning data
    • Genially Activity dashboards can report views, page views, interactions, learner progress, question responses, and quiz results. Data can be downloaded in CSV format. The availability and level of individual tracking depend on the plan and whether identification is enabled; collecting names, email addresses, phone numbers, or other identifiers should be limited to what is necessary for the learning activity.