How Does Jamboard Work for Education and Distance Learning?

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Now that the educational sector is also disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the traditional conduct and setup for youth education are temporarily put in the backseat for now. Hence, a better alternative is being sought and the use of learning tools like Jamboard Google interactive whiteboard is seeming perfect for this role. 

Before we delve deeper into this, we need to know first what Jamboard Google is all about. We need to see first how it can help in the continuity of education of our students despite the pandemic and without having to expose them to the risk of COVID-19 with face-to-face learning?

So, first and foremost, what is Jamboard? What’s in it for us in terms of education and online learning?

Jamboard Google is an interactive whiteboard device that makes it possible for teachers to remotely collaborate and interact with their students in real-time in a whiteboard-style experience. And since the Jamboard app is considered as the G Suite core app, it follows suit that it will nicely and seamlessly integrate with the other apps on Google such as the Google Classroom. 

What makes Jamboard online distinct though and appropriate to use amid the ongoing coronavirus scare is that things here are done digitally. Therefore, both students and the instructors can go about their business without being in the same room. Thus, eliminating the risk of exposure to coronavirus, in the safety of one’s home. 

This device is essentially a digital whiteboard, and teachers can use it for any subject. It is one indispensable tool that educational institutions can take good advantage of. Both teachers and students can make their own boards, and they can also decide whether they want to share it with others and collaborate on them or not. Classes that conduct their session with a physical whiteboard, can simply broadcast the same into the big, major Jamboard.

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You can save your created Jamboards either as a PDF or as an image file. As opposed to the usual maneuver of scrolling, you can manage to go through your boards by pages and you can view them as a slideshow.  

Since there are various ways Jamboard can be taken advantage of, it can certainly help an awful lot in enhancing learning in a variety of situations as well as in many different content areas. You can utilize it if you have teacher-led lessons, small group presentations, collaborative class interactions, and discussions, or individual planning and organization. 

The whiteboard versatility of this magnitude, alongside the ease and convenience of the process of Google platform integration, make Jamboard one of those tools that Google educators would be so keen on implementing and students are likely to enjoy using.  

But we know and understand that the experience of distance learning is far beyond comparison to what usually happens and can be absorbed while inside the four walls of a traditional classroom setup. But try, as we may, teaching tools like Jamboard interactive whiteboard devices, which can help an awful lot in keeping the ball of learning collaboration going, are crucial during times like this that we are now in the middle of a pandemic. 

What Is It About Jamboard Google That Makes It Ideal for Virtual Classroom Learning?

Effective online learning starts with the efficient laying of its foundations, and this usually begins with identifying the right tools to use and the method of instruction to follow. 

Jamboard Google is a qualified interactive digital whiteboard that is primarily designed for cross-platform collaboration. Google made it part of its G-Suite family offering for better flexibility and ease of access to the Jamboard app. Officially launched in the online whiteboard market in May 2017 to directly vie with Microsoft’s Surface Hub. 

There are several other online whiteboard offerings in the market, but  Jamboard online is a  stand out among others because it offers users lots of creative workspaces to use. Hence, this brings us to this one important question, how do we use Jamboard for virtual classroom use or online learning?  

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Use of Shapes for Highlighting Points

Jamboard allow users to draw a shape and set its fill color as transparent. As for the border, you can have them in different colors and assign to each one a value or to denote something relevant.

Students can duplicate the said boxes and use them when they need to emphasize  salient points or draw attention to the significant  parts or areas of the content on their frame.  

Labeling Text on a Jam and Annotating It.

Jamboard users can grab some text with a screenshot. This can be a part of an article, or a passage from a  book, etc. 

Educators can instruct their students to annotate the text by dragging the frames they created around the important parts or salient points of the content. Eventually, you can have them justify the responses they made. 

Allows Creation of Digital posters

For this, you can make use of images or text relevant to a subject or topic. From the very first day that we stepped into a classroom, we have learned what makes for a good and engaging poster. We can apply our past learnings from those years to here. 

Jamboard online is giving us good access to a myriad of images that can be taken advantage of for this purpose. By conceptualizing and designing a poster, students are given the chance to demonstrate their creative side. 

Whiteboard Teaching

You can make use of Jamboard Google to present your digital visual aids. It will  facilitate faster and more effective learning upon participating students. Thus, both students and educators will reap the rewards. 

In a remote learning setup, the whiteboard screen can be shared to a mobile device like cellular phones and tables, even  while there is an ongoing video call. 

Screen recording Feature to Describe Thinking Pattern

online learning

Are we ever interested to know what’s in the back of the mind of students when they are working on something with a Jamboard app? It has been shrouded in mystery but this groundbreaking technology in Jamboard Google will help us know something about that. 

Encourage your students to conduct screen recording when they have their hands on their Jams. Tools like screencastify can be used for this purpose. Such a tool will help them get on with a good narrative on what they have just done. Through their screen recording,  you will also learn how they executed their work and came out with the final results. If necessary, they can provide you the rationale behind their action, so you as an online educator 

Pros and Cons Discussion

One of the most creative ways to induce your students to learn how to process critical thinking and powerful observation skills is to provide them with a hypothetical situation. In a particular scenario, encourage them to engage in a healthy debate and talk about the pros and cons.

They will surely have different and opposing views, which is an indication that they are practicing critical thinking. Allow them to do this on their frames, or they can do it all together under one Jamboard big frame. 

Wrapping Up!

Described above are just a few of the learning techniques that educators can take advantage of when using a Jamboard interactive whiteboard system to instruct students under their tutelage. 

But space constraints for this content are a limiting factor here, thus we can’t have an exhaustive list of all the learning techniques that is possible with the Jamboard online app.