Google Jamboard offers an online whiteboard that is available to everyone as part of the google workspace. It has several user functions that allow for interaction in a small group as well as presentation to a larger one. It integrates with Google Meet but can be used outside of Meet too. A small amount of careful set up allows for creative individual, small group and larger group work.
Find your jam by visiting jamboard.google.com
You can download and use the learning object groups that we have made available for specific purposes (anatomy labelling exercises, sorting walls or group evaluation: see below) or use the technical specifications to create your own Jamboard baseboards. Our downloads all have the images you need and a shared Jamboard for you to see how we have set it up. Make sure you save your own copy.
Once something has been made it can be downloaded as a pdf or saved as a picture. Students as well as tutors and teachers can do this, allowing for submitted work to include these documents and allowing for the capture of learning in-the-moment. Jamboard is easy to learn how to use and the possibilities for sharing learning and for individual and group activities are manifold.
Technical information
To make your own jamboard backgrounds you need to make images in the ratio of 16:9 (or 1920px x 1080px). JPEG and PNG files are best to use for jamboard backgrounds. If you want your background to have transparency then make sure you save your file as a.png file type.
Uploading
Open a new jamboard and use the ‘set background” to upload your own image, one you have downloaded from here or jam board offers you your gdrive, your camera or a google image search.
Pitfalls
Beware of the “clear frame” button, it will remove any pictures that you have put on as drag and drop items. If you do this by accident then the undo function at the top left of the page will restore them (command Z /control Z will also work).
Tips on using our resources in your own Jamboards
Make sure when you have perfected your jamboards and are ready to share them that you share a copy of your original, that way you will always have your original if someone changes the copy. If you set the jamboard as individual work you may want to consider students saving their own version of it before they start work.
Using Jamboard inside Google Meet and sharing with others
If you're a Google Workspace for Education user, participants are given view-only access by default. You'll need to grant them edit access to the Jamboard.
Share a jam from a Jamboard
To let people view or edit your jam:
Start or open a jam.
Tap Menu and then Share this Jam.
Enter an email address and tap Add.
To send your jam as a PDF file or a single frame as a PNG file:
Start or open a jam.
Tap Menu and then Send a copy.
Tap All frames (PDF) or Current Frame (PNG).
Enter an email address and tap Send.
Presenting a computer screen to Jamboard:
Join a meeting on the Jamboard.
Join the same meeting on your computer.
In the bottom-right corner on your screen, select Present now.
Select Your entire screen or A window.
Select Share.