How to embed a ChalkLab exercise in Canva
Copy one link in ChalkLab, paste it into a Canva design, and the exercise becomes a live, playable block on the page. Students answer the questions inside your Canva presentation, with no extra tab, no login, and no download.
Create an exercise freeWhat a ChalkLab embed link is
Every lesson and exercise you build in ChalkLab has a public player address. It looks like this:
https://www.chke.xyz/lessons/v9/your-lesson-id
That address serves the exercise on its own, without the ChalkLab editor around it. It is deliberately stripped down so it can sit inside somebody else's page. Open it in a browser and you get the exercise a student would see. Paste it into a tool that supports embeds and you get the same thing, running inside that tool.
The link is not a screenshot or an export. It loads the current published version of the lesson, so a fix you make in ChalkLab shows up everywhere the link has been embedded.
Step 1: copy the link from ChalkLab
- 1Open the lesson or exercise in ChalkLabGo to your ChalkLab library and open the lesson you want to share. Any lesson or standalone exercise you have created can be embedded.
- 2Click ShareThe Share button sits in the editor toolbar. ChalkLab saves any unsaved changes, makes the lesson shareable, and copies the link to your clipboard. The button briefly reads Copied so you know it worked.
- 3Check what you copiedThe link looks like https://www.chke.xyz/lessons/v9/your-lesson-id. That address points at the ChalkLab player, which is the version built to run inside another page.
If you are working from the lessons list rather than the editor, the copy-link action on a lesson card gives you exactly the same address.
Step 2: paste it into Canva
Canva embeds pasted links automatically. There is no ChalkLab app to install and nothing to configure.
- 1Open your Canva designUse any design type. Presentations and whiteboards give the embed the most room, but a document or a worksheet page works too.
- 2Paste the link onto the pageClick on the canvas and paste with Ctrl+V or Cmd+V. Canva reads the link, recognises it as embeddable ChalkLab content, and offers to embed it.
- 3Choose to embed rather than to insert as textCanva shows a short prompt after the paste. Pick the embed option and the link becomes a resizable block on the page instead of a line of blue text.
- 4Size and place the blockDrag the corners so the exercise has room to breathe. ChalkLab exercises are designed for roughly 900 pixels of width or more, so give the block most of the slide rather than a small corner.
- 5Present or share the designClick Present, or publish the design as a view link and send that to students. The exercise runs live inside the Canva page.
If Canva inserts the link as plain text instead of offering the embed, delete it and paste again into an empty area of the page rather than into an existing text box. Canva only offers the embed when the paste lands on the canvas itself.
Why the automatic embed works
Canva does not guess. When you paste a link, it asks the site behind that link to describe itself using a small open standard called oEmbed. ChalkLab answers that request with the title of the exercise and the frame that should be shown, and it allows its player to be framed by other sites. Canva takes the answer and builds the embed block for you.
The same mechanism is why a ChalkLab link expands into a live exercise in other tools that support oEmbed, including Notion and many learning platforms. One link, many places.
What students see
In the Canva editor the embed shows a preview so you can position it while you design. It becomes interactive when the design is presented or opened through a shared Canva link. At that point students read the slide and answer the exercise in the same place, with feedback appearing as they go.
Students never sign in to ChalkLab, so there is nothing to set up for a class and nothing to hand out beyond the Canva link itself. If you would rather they worked outside Canva, the same ChalkLab link opens on its own in any browser.
One thing to plan for: ChalkLab exercises are built for a laptop-sized area, around 900 pixels wide and up. Give the embed most of the slide. A small block in a corner will feel cramped for whoever is answering.
Frequently asked questions
- Do I need a Canva Pro account to embed a ChalkLab link?
- No. Embedding a pasted link is part of Canva's standard editor and works on free accounts. You only need a ChalkLab account to create the exercise and generate the share link.
- Why does Canva turn my link into an embed automatically?
- ChalkLab publishes an oEmbed endpoint. When you paste a ChalkLab link, Canva asks that endpoint what the link is, and ChalkLab responds with the embed details. That is why Canva offers to embed instead of just inserting text.
- Can students answer the questions inside Canva?
- Yes, when the embed is live. In Canva's present mode and in a published Canva link, the embedded exercise is interactive, so students type, select, and get instant feedback without leaving the page. In the Canva editing canvas the embed shows a static preview.
- Do students need a ChalkLab account?
- No. A ChalkLab share link opens for anyone who has it. Students do not sign in, install anything, or create an account.
- What happens if I edit the lesson in ChalkLab after embedding it?
- The embed always loads the current published version. Edit the lesson in ChalkLab, share it again, and the Canva design shows the updated exercise without any change in Canva.
- Can I embed the same link in more than one place?
- Yes. The same share link works in Canva, in Google Slides and Notion, in an LMS, or pasted straight into a chat during an online lesson.
- Does the embed work when I export the Canva design to PDF?
- No. A PDF is a static file, so the embed becomes a picture of the exercise. Share the Canva design as a link, or present it from Canva, if you want students to interact with it.
Build the exercise first
Describe a topic and a level, and ChalkLab writes an interactive lesson you can share in a couple of minutes. Then copy the link and drop it into Canva.
Try ChalkLab free