What is it?
As I have mentioned in many blog posts previously I really believe the digital skills are as important as Maths and English if not more so for our students, for them to be effective and successful in future careers.
A key element in relation to digital skills is that of collaboration regardless of which industry your students will go into when they graduate they will invariably need to be able to collaborate with colleagues across the globe. so it's great to get them started while still with you in lessons collaborating with peers tutors and employers.
That's where Jamboard comes in, its a collaborative space that users can contribute to.
How does it work
Jamboard can be accessed in the browser or via the app,a saved Jamboard can be found in Google Drive. Down the left hand side of the screen you have a toolbar. From the toolbar You can access, a pen, a marker, a highlighter and a brush, there is also an eraser. You can erase either an element that you've written or you can clear the whole screen. You can also add sticky notes of different colours, the move tool that allows you to move components within your screen. Images can be inserted from Google Drive, via Google image search or from your photos.
It’s possible to add additional frames so if the first frame is full or you want to have students contributing to number different categories you can have different frames and they can contribute to those different frames. This is done via the additional frame button at the top of the screen it also allows you to navigate left and right between the different frames.
A recent addition to the browser based version is the ability to change the background, You can now choose between a grid, graph paper, lines, a blue screen or a chalkboard. You can share your Jamboard in the same way you share a Google drive file. Finished Jamboards can be downloaded as an image or a PDF.
How can it be used
Its a great way for students to contribute ideas to a project, or as a way of them demonstrating there knowledge of a subject that been covered during a lesson. For those familiar with Padlet, it could be used in a similar way.
Here is my video guide to browser version:
Here is my video guide to app version: