Shared whiteboard

Use it for mind maps, brainstorming, sorting ideas into groups or solving a problem together. Because everyone draws on the same board, students build on each other’s ideas instead of only answering you.

1. In the lesson, use the + inside a module and choose Whiteboard.

2. Open it and draw a starting point: a heading, a shape, a question. The toolbar has shapes, arrows and text.

3. In the top right of the board, set it to Collaborative. View only shows the board to students without letting them draw.

4. Present the lesson.

During the presentation, the Board panel controls the board on the current slide. Collaboration switches between Collaborative and View only, Student drawing turns drawing on or off for the whole class, and Force follow makes every student’s view follow yours; students cannot draw while it is on. You can also turn drawing on or off for individual students in the participant list.

Students see the board on their own devices and draw with the same tools: shapes and text for their ideas, arrows to show how ideas connect. Whatever one student adds appears straight away for everyone, including you. If a student loses the connection, the board says so and sends their changes once it is back.

The class’s board is kept with the presentation. It starts as a copy of the board in your lesson, so what students draw does not change your original, and the next class starts from your starting point again. Open the presentation again to see the board as the class left it.

• Prepare a clear starting point so students know where to add: a central topic, empty boxes or labelled areas.

• Give each group its own area or colour, so the board stays readable with many people drawing.

• Turn on Force follow while you explain, so everyone looks at the same part of the board, then turn it off to let them draw.

• A board has a size limit. When it is full, new additions are neither saved nor shared until something is deleted.