If you’re online teacher who can’t make it to your students. You want them to still feel like they are in the classroom with you, right? So you should use a virtual whiteboard or virtual board as much as you can, right? I couldn’t agree more than that. However, it is not always easy to find out what the best free whiteboard software for teaching is. That’s why we are here for.
If you are teaching online, you might find that using a whiteboard software is a great way to keep your students engaged and add an element of fun to your teaching. At the present moment there are plenty of free whiteboard software programs out there. However, most are not very good quality. In this article, we will take a look at the top 5 free whiteboard software programs and hopefully, these will help you decide which is best for your needs.
Mural
Mural is a great whiteboard software for design teams with geographical barriers between them. It is a collaborative whiteboard software for team brainstorming and mind-mapping. This whiteboard software is an easy-to-use whiteboard software where a team of people can draw, add notes, pin images and files. It is so user-friendly that teams can interact with one another in real time. The broad file support and templates of Mural whiteboard software is excellent.
But there are some weakness such as its high price and missing support for interactive charts and reports. Mural is a fast and flexible whiteboard software for collaboration, and some of its closest competitors offer more than just a virtual whiteboard software space and do not have specific differentiating features like Mural whiteboard software.
Mural whiteboard software is user-friendly and it is available on the web and for Windows and mac OS system. Mural whiteboard software offers mobile applications for iPad, iPhone and Android devices too, but they are not quite as fully featured as the desktop and web applications. For instance, you can view and edit Murals, create stickies, draw and run polls and timers on mobile whiteboard software, but you cannot get every feature for adding content to your whiteboard software as the desktop and website versions.
The mobile applications are more than sufficient for viewing content and participating in a brainstorming session, but if you are doing heavy-duty work with Mural whiteboard software, you are better to use one of the desktop or web applications.
Crayon
Crayon is a fancy whiteboard software that is quick and easy to collaborate on. There are many digital whiteboard software in the world, but among them, Crayon is one of the easiest whiteboard software to use application. To start drawing this whiteboard software, all you need to do is just simply to start drawing like any other drawing application. Crayon whiteboard software allows you to use a variety of colors, so you can use a simple tip, such as specifying a color for each person. For texting anything you want to text, you just need to double-click anywhere to open a text entry box and the text will be printed on the canvas.
Canyon whiteboard software is also perfect when you need to quickly use a whiteboard with your team and this is one of the great, unregistered collaboration tools that you should bookmark for future use. To use this whiteboard software, it is easy to use. All you need to do is just to go to their website, enter your name and meeting room name and share the link with your co-worker and voila and then you are in a live whiteboard session with your teammate. And you do not need to install or download any software or lengthy sign-up processes.
Crayon whiteboard software allows you to click and drag on the blank canvas to start drawing. You can also double-click anywhere to open a text box to type in. Crayon is one of the simplest digital whiteboards out there and is perfect for those quick and random brainstorming sessions.
Witeboard
Witeboard is also a whiteboard software as quick and easy to use as Crayon with some cool features. The biggest drawback of using a digital whiteboard software instead of a physical one is the difficulty of drawing shapes and designs using a mouse or a trackpad. Witeboard solves the problem as its “shape detection” feature which automatically turns your messy sketches into perfect circles and rectangles.
The drawing on the touchpad or mouse is incorrect by hand drawing on the witeboard. But when you draw the rough shape of a circle or rectangle on withboard, it automatically turns your drawing into a perfect circle or rectangle. Instead of a whiteboard software filled with ugly shapes, you will get a nice looking whiteboard software.
Witeboard also saves all the tables you have drawn in your browser’s cache, so you do not have to remember to link or search again. Moreover, these tables will be deleted if you clear your cache. Witeboard whiteboard software is easy to use like Crayon, even if you want to add other additional elements. However, it does not have the following notes, section or any system to record any comments.
There are some other features Witeboard whiteboard software is good at. And these includes changing languages, ability to turn the whiteboard into a blackboard, and save your whiteboard sketches as an image.
AWW APP
Image:source
A Web Whiteboard (AWW) App is a free browser whiteboard app. It is touch-friendly, making it ideal for drawing especially on touch-screen devices. AWW App has an intuitive interface with the tools tab on the left hand side, and the controls on the right hand side. Tools available include the basic markers, erasers, and a sticky note function. AWW App also allows you to zoom in and out or to pan across your whiteboard, freely navigating the space throughout lesson time. AWW App is convenient as it does not require any downloading or installation to use, and you can simply create a new whiteboard and share the link with your students.
However, after the lesson is completed, the free version only allows you to export your notes with an AWW watermark that cannot be removed, meaning that materials created during class cannot double as customised notes for each class of students. Alternative methods include taking screenshots of your whiteboard, which is time consuming. Furthermore, the free version does not allow you to manage your participants, posing a potential threat to class progress as just about any student can hijack their classmates’ work by erasing or drawing on the whiteboard. In order to enjoy other premium features on AWW App, you will need to create an account starting from $10/month. The free premium trial only lasts for 14 days. Demonstrations on how to use AWW App’s functions can be found on their Youtube channel.
WHITEBOARD.FI
Image: source
Whiteboard.fi is an online whiteboard created by a teacher turned developer to mimic the mini whiteboard individual students used to have in physical classes. On Whiteboard.fi, your students can draw on their own individual whiteboard, which only you (the teacher) will be able to see. This feature can allow even the most shy and self-conscious of students to participate in class without the unwanted attention from other classmates. By posing questions on your whiteboard, you will be able to check every single student’s understanding of class contents.
However, a crucial shortfall is the lack of human touch. On Whiteboard.fi, you will not be able to see or hear your student and vice versa. This may prevent you from accurately assessing their level of interest and engagement as the class is being conducted, limiting your ability to dynamically adapt to your students’ needs, unless you complement Whiteboard.fi with another video-conferencing app. The use of 2 applications concurrently might make online learning less seamless.
Ziteboard
Ziteboard boasts of its ability to facilitate real-time collaborations among participants from different parts of the world. Its main selling point is the ability to add sticky notes that users can repurpose as todo lists or to leave notes to follow up later.
The downside of Ziteboard is that it restricts the number of pages and quality of images that free users can upload to the online whiteboard. Students and teachers may not be able to share all of their worked solutions or notes. Since voice and video chat functions are only available for paid users, a secondary application for communication will have to be used as well.
Available in:
Free version of online whiteboard:
- Includes: Shareable whiteboards, Three whiteboards per account, Unlimited number of collaborators in real-time, Sticky notes, Import only first page of PDF documents and images of low resolution, Only public boards
- Excludes: Infinite number of whiteboards, Highlighter tool, Import PDF files and images of high quality, Chatbox, Voice and video chat, Both public and private boards
- Cost of the paid version: Starts at US$9 per month
Miro
Miro is designed for team collaboration in the workplace with templates and moveable sticky notes to keep track of work progress. For instance, different columns such as ‘ideas,’ ‘work in progress,’ and ‘finishing touches’ can be used to categorise each task documented on sticky notes.
For teachers, the mind map templates in Miro may be useful to help students visualise concepts and to draw connections between subtopics.
Available in:
Free version of online whiteboard:
- Includes: Three whiteboards per account, No sign up required for viewers, Whiteboard templates
- Excludes: Infinite number of whiteboards, Private whiteboards, Anonymous editors with no sign in required, Export whiteboard in high definition, Video chat
- Cost of the paid version: Starts at US$8 per month
Kaltura
Kaltura virtual Classroom engages millions of students worldwide with video-first learning experiences every day. Odd one out in this list, Kaltura is not a standalone whiteboard app but a comprehensive A to Z online teaching solution with a powerful integrated whiteboard feature, which we personally believe is the best on this list. So, if you are in the market for a remote teaching platform with a collaborative whiteboard among its many teaching and learning features, then look no further.
We’ll go further into detail about Kaltura Virtual Classroom’s whiteboard feature in the next section. But we can already reveal that Kaltura Virtual Classroom comes with a 30-day free trial so you can try the whole platform, including the whiteboard, for yourself without committing just yet. After that, the pricing compared to other solutions is very competitive, considering you don’t just get a whiteboard app, but a robust all-in-one remote teaching solution.
Conclusion:
You want to learn about best whiteboard software, but without spending a big budget. You could be into group learning, or you’re starting to think about working remotely with individuals or partners. Using tools like GoToMeeting, Webex and Skype can provide technology for a virtual classroom. These are all good options.