by Steve Woods, Instructional Technology Specialist
Jamboard’s deceptively simple interface hides a lot of its creative power, leaving it up to your imagination as to how best to share it with your class. You’ll start with a single document, or “Frame,” as Jamboard calls it. You can add up to a total of 20 Frames on a board.
You’ll find various tools, including a combination pen/marker/highlighter/brush tool with 6 simple colors, an eraser, post-it notes, image insert, shapes, text box tool, and a laser pointer. At the top center is an Expand Frame Bar button, used to add or remove Frames, or navigate through all Frames of your board.
How are Jamboards used in the classroom? As exit tickets, social-emotional learning tools, classification tools, mind maps, shout-outs, virtual manipulatives, storyboards, and more. It’s really up to you how you want to use your Jamboards.
You can find shared Jamboard templates and ideas by visiting:
- Esther Park
- Base 10 Manipulatives from Mathématiques
- Holly Clark’s Ultimate Jamboard Templates
- Place Value - Number Find
- Second Grade Collection
- DitchThatTextbook also has a variety of templates
- Games and Puzzles and more from GiftedTawk
- ControlAltAchieve has a bunch of activities and templates for Jamboard
- Using Chrome Extensions like Bitmoji and Giphy easily allow you to add your Bitmoji character or animated images to your boards. Your students will also enjoy adding theirs when responding to Jamboard-based collaborative work.
Because it’s a Google product, Jamboards can be shared with your students using the ubiquitous Share button, or in Google Classroom by searching Drive when creating an assignment. It’s recommended to use Classroom, as students won’t be able to post completely anonymously on your boards. Plus, Classroom allows you to share a copy of your Jamboard with each student if you’d like.