Jamboard Basics

Google Jamboard is a virtual whiteboard tool that can be used in the classroom or in Google Meet.  Like a physical whiteboard, you can draw on it, but you can also import images, paste or enter blocks of text, and add sticky notes.  Not only can remote and in-person students view the jamboard, but you can also give them access to edit it as well.  Because each jamboard can have multiple frames (like slides of a presentation), you can use it as a replacement for PowerPoint or Google Slides if you’d prefer your presentations to consist mostly of annotating.

Leading a fully-online class session?

Maybe you’re teaching an online course, or maybe you need to hold a single online class session due to weather or your travel schedule.  This scenario presents the most straightforward use of Jamboard:  Share the link with your remote students and they’ll be able to follow along as you use Jamboard just as you would the physical whiteboard in the classroom.

Teaching a course with in-person students as well as remote students?

Even typical classes may have some students participating remotely, perhaps due to quarantining.  The remote students are harder to engage, especially if you’re using a whiteboard that’s difficult for them to see.  By using Jamboard and projecting the board into the physical classroom, you’ll ensure that your in-person and remote students are seeing the same thing.

Teaching a face-to-face course?

Even if you have a physical whiteboard in your classroom and all your students are in-person, Jamboard can still be helpful.  You can create a board in advance with material to annotate in class.  Or give the students a link to the board and have them annotate it.  When class is over, the entire board can be exported as a PDF so the students will have a copy of the information.

For more information on using Jamboard in the classroom, see this demonstration video.