Google Jamboard

Description: Part of the Google suite of products that can be accessed via a Google/Gmail account. Jamboard is a digital white board with features that enable insertion of images to create activities.

Cost: Free for teachers and students; sign up via Gmail/Google account to create, but can be used with just the shared URL.

Demo: To learn more about this technology tool and how it can be used as a teaching tool, watch my demonstration of Google Jamboard.

UDL

Jamboard fits UDL guidelines across all principles; however, it best fits as part of engagement or representation depending on how it is used in the classroom.

Representation: Students can participate in a variety of activities, depending on how the instructor uses the Jamboard. If used as a whiteboad, it can give the instructor an opportunity to draw or depict information for visual learners. This fits UDL guidelines with providing options for comprehension, language expression, and perception.
Engagement: When used as an interactive activity, this tool can promote engagement for students helping them become more motivated and self-assess how well they understand the concept. In an synchronous mode, this can also create community as the class works together on the activity. This fits UDL guidelines with providing options for self-regulation, sustaining effort and persistence, and recruiting interest.
Action & Expression: Jamboard can be used as a a formative assessment tool, in synchronous settings, which would give students an option with how to show their knowledge of the content and see how well they understand content. This can lead to students setting goals for continued learning and provide tools for a way to study the material. This fits UDL guidelines with providing options for executive functions and expression and communication.

For specific areas that Jamboard fits the UDL principles, please see infographic below with highlighted areas showing the specific integration of Jamboard with UDL guidelines.

Curriculum and Examples

This technology tool can be used as an interactive white board during synchronous lectures or as an asynchronous activity for helping students assess their understanding of concepts and improve engagement.

In my A&P class, I have used this in both synchronous and asynchronous formats. I typically would use these with pictures of the anatomy models in the lab for students to practice labeling the structures. I have also adapted this for lecture activities other than labeling diagrams, such as comparison/contrast and Venn diagrams to compare concepts and flowcharts for analyzing steps in a process or connecting key concepts together. Students could also use this tool as an option for creating their own flowcharts, Venn diagrams, or labeled diagrams. Using this activity during synchronous modalities allows for formative assessments of the concepts with anonymous student interaction in the activity.

Examples: Select the links to copy and practice using examples of different types of Jamboard activites used in my class. (NOTE: To make a Google document where students can copy it instead of editing the document, after the last / type the word copy instead of edit.)

Venn-Diagram Example: ENDOCRINE VS EXOCRINE GLANDS

Labeling Diagrams: ARM MUSCLE MODEL

Compare and Contrast: NERVOUS VS ENDOCRING SYSTEM

Flowcharts: BLOOD FLOW THROUGH THE HEART

SWOT Analysis

Context: Online/hybrid college science (anatomy and physiology) course, but can be used in other situations.

S-This is a free platform that can be easily shared with students. It allows for incorporation of images or can use free drawing to create a variety of activities. Images can also be inserted with a URL, from your computer, or Google drive/photos. When interacting without a Gmail or Google login, students are anonymously assigned an animal, which can help students feel more comfortable about participating.

W- Students can edit the original drawings or delete images accidentally in edit mode, which can affect the activity for others. This can be partly helped by changing the shareable features to copy, but only in edit mode can the entire class work together on the activity. The pen drawing feature can be difficult to use with just a mouse, but is easier to use with a stylus. There are no drawing tools (arrows, lines, etc) to make creating drawings easier.

O-This tool can also be used as a whiteboard to visually represent information or as a formative assessment tool depending on how it is used. Students are engaged with interactive content to learn concepts in a variety of ways due to the flexibility of activities possible. This tool is effective both in an asynchronous or synchronous classroom for the same activity with synchronous activities allowing for immediate feedback of whether the concept is understood by the instructor.

T-If used as an assessment tool, students can make changes on the document as long as there is access which can pose a challenge when grading documents by a deadline. When students are completing the activity, there is no immediate feedback whether the answer is correct in an asynchronous mode.

Comparison to Other Tools

Jamboard can be compared to other technology tools that have white board capabilities. There are numerous paid and free white board options available online, but I will only highlight a few of the free options as a comparison in this review. Microsoft whiteboard is part of the MS suite of products for those with Microsoft software. MS Whiteboard also has drawing features, can insert diagrams, and can save these as well; however, MS Whiteboard has a moveable whiteboard space that can be both a positive and negative depending on the application as it moves away from the central image; whereas, Jamboard is a fixed page. There is an updated version of MS Whiteboard that will have enhanced features that can be accessed on the MS website for Microsoft users, but requires Microsoft account access. Draw Chat is a free interactive meeting white board and is only stored for 1 month, so it is great for interactive synchronous activities, but not for repeated us in an asynchronous modality.

Reflection

Jamboard was critical for me during the pandemic for synchronous Zoom class activities to allow students to participate in labeling models when they were unable to attend lab making the lecture more active and engaging. It was a helpful formative assessment that allowed students to participate anonymously, which give me a sense of how well the class understood the concepts and students learned from the process when done synchronously. With students returning to the lab, I can still utilize the same tools in the online lab for practice activities or for students who are unable to attend lab. This extra practice with labeling anatomy outside of the lab also gives students practice with expensive models they do not have access to at home, providing equity for students unable to come to open lab hours or missing lab.

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