Yes, you can use Google Sheets for this. But wouldn’t it be easier to draw something if you can do it online? If you are looking for an online whiteboard for your class, look no further! We have classes of 20 students using two types of online whiteboards. With these whiteboard tools, they are able to collaborate with each other better.
So let’s get into the main reason we are here, and that is to know the best performing whiteboards that can serve us well!
Bramble
One of the main draws of this online whiteboard is the ability to record and playback your lessons, which is great for any students who may want to revisit certain topics. With video and audio chat capabilities, along with the ability to take snapshots of your boards, Bramble has really combined the best teaching tools with the features necessary for students to learn effectively. The whiteboard allows you to write notes and insert images PDF files, and the tutor dashboard shows you timesheets and session data for your lessons. Given the current climate, Bramble are now offering free access to all of their monthly memberships, so there’s never been a better time to sign up!
LiveBoard
Liveboard is an incredibly popular online whiteboard, with over 50,000 users comprising of teachers, tutors, and professors alike. With a dotted background perfect for creating graphs and diagrams, and a smooth pen and handwriting recognition function, the whiteboard is the perfect tool for tutors of all subjects. Liveboard also allows you to record your lessons and use their cloud storage to save all boards you have used during your sessions for future referral. They offer a 30-day free trial, with monthly memberships then starting at the now reduced rate of $5 per month, with a number of monthly membership options available.
Canvas chrome app (canvas.apps.chrome)
Want to jot some simple doodles on a screen? This simple app gives you several pen options, different colors and an eraser. It’s great for a touchscreen device and is servicable for non-touchscreens. Its lack of features may be its best benefit: it’s easy to use. Plus, it automatically saves your creations for re-using or downloading as an image.
Learn more: Google Canvas – Digital whiteboard for online lessons made easy
Jamboard (jamboard.google.com)
This free Google tool isn’t just about expensive interactive displays. You can use the app for free on any device. It creates whiteboards that are a lot like slides. Add sticky notes, drawings, images, text and more. Move them around on the screen easily. Then, share your “jams” with others and let them collaborate. If you don’t want to write with a pen, this is a great non-touchscreen option.
Flipgrid app (flipgrid.com)
In your Flipgrid teacher account, click the “Shorts” tab at the top. It’s a video recording platform for teachers! Change the background to white or black. Draw, add images and stickers, move them around, and more. Plus, you can swap back to your camera at any time to do a face-to-face explanation. Share the video with students with a link.
Explain Everything or Educreations app
These apps — Explain Everything and Educreations — have helped teachers create instructional videos for years. Draw on a whiteboard. Record the screen and record your voice. Add images. Flip page by page. When you’re done, share with a link.
Seesaw (Seesaw.com)
Elementary teachers have been the majority of its users in the past but Seesaw is a fantastic online whiteboard option for students big and small. In Seesaw you can snap pictures, draw on the screen and add text and images to label. You can also record your screen as you are giving instructions and add it to an assignment or save it as an instructional video. Seesaw is extremely easy to use and students of all ages can easily access the online whiteboard, describe their thinking and turn it in to you all within the app.
Learn more: 20 Seesaw ideas with Chromebooks for K-12 classes
AWW App
Launched and run directly in your web browser, Aww App is a virtual whiteboard for on-the-go and accessing the virtual whiteboard is as simple as directing your browser to the AwwApp.com webpage. Logging in allows you to privatize the board so you can invite others to participate. The free model allows for access to the online whiteboard, and all participants you invite can freely draw and add – but limits your tools to basic ones and doesn’t allow for board saving beyond image snapshots. The AwwApp whiteboard has a basic and easy to use free version with the option to upgrade to a more robust paid plan or even custom on-premises solution makes for a great contender for both personal and large scale team use.
- The board itself is a white background, of course, but with a dot grid to aid in drawing and lining up text, this is certainly a nice extra touch.
- An undo button makes removing your mistakes easy, a delete button will wipe the entire board, but my favorite tool is the “swipe eraser” which allows you to remove a specific area by dragging a selection tool, much like using an eraser on a physical whiteboard.
- The whiteboard experience felt intuitive and easy, testing on both a desktop and iPhone 6 the drawing felt natural, responsive and precise – I did not notice any missing spots in my lines or any lack of coordination between my inputs and the results on screen. Even on mobile drawing with just a finger, the whiteboard app kept up with my quick inputs.
RealTime Board
Explained by RealTime Board themselves, their solution is a whiteboard designed specifically for the best online experience. RealTime breaks past the physical limits of a traditional whiteboard and sprinkles in the brainstorm potential that a flexible cloud network empowers. Instead of dumping you into a completely blank canvas, RealTime Board provides users with a selection of templates to help structure and organize your planning or brainstorming. Of course, the option to start with the blank canvas is there, but the true power seems to be within the advanced organizational functions these templates provide – like a lean UX workshop, building a product roadmap, or even a Kanban board for project planning. Freehand drawing is possible and works great, but doesn’t seem to be the largest focus.
- Add on post-it notes allow users to write down ideas or comments to spur collaboration and supply feedback without alerting the original idea – definitely a solid function.
- Because the RealTime Board is meant to be an infinite canvas, navigation is made easy with unique mouse controls, or frames of certain sizes like a standard iPad or iPhone resolution, different aspect ratios like 16:9 or 4:3 and even standard A4 paper size can help limit your scope.
- Boards can also be saved as images, PDFs, downloaded as backups, saved to Google Drive or attached to JIRA. To help limit your scope, frames can be added and specific to certain sizes like a standard iPad or iPhone resolution, different aspect ratios like 16:9 or 4:3 and even standard A4 paper size.
Whiteboard Fox
Whiteboard Fox offers another quick and easy to use virtual whiteboard with zero setup required. Navigating your browser to whitebaordfox.com is all it takes to begin with again a blank canvas, but one also broken down with a grid to aid in drawing and writing. Options are simple, and functions are left to the basic drawing, erasing, navigating and undo buttons. Text and pictures are supporting, and a unique “Copy All” button makes it easy to grab everything on the page and copy it to your clipboard. While the list features provided might not be as extensive as alternatives, the drawing felt super natural, responsive and incredibly accurate. Whiteboard Fox doesn’t necessarily present anything new, but requires no setup, sharing is quick and simple and it certainly gets the job done.
- Sharing your whiteboard and inviting new members to participate, or just observe, is made really easy with a uniquely generated link every time you begin a new whiteboard. Simply email or message this link to your guests, and upon clicking the link they will be brought to your exact whiteboard
- One of the key benefits of Whiteboard Fox is the real-time nature of the app, allowing your guests to instantly see any changes you make on your screen, right on their screen in real-time. Testing this in our office proved impressive results with only a slight second or two delay.
- Whiteboard Fox keeps everything basic, and logging in with Facebook lets users save and share their whiteboards in new ways, not to mention a tablet friendly nature for even easier stylus drawing.
Web Whiteboard
Similar to that of Whiteboard Fox, Web Whiteboard is designed for instant access and the ease of use, allowing users to jump online without logging in or downloading any apps, invite guests or coworkers, and quickly share ideas or draw visual explanations. With less of a focus on the longevity and direct replacement for office whiteboards, Web Whiteboard will only hold free whiteboards for 21 days, but this can be removed with upgraded plans. However, if all you need is a quick and easy to access tool to quickly draw out an idea, Web Whiteboard will handle all your needs. Web Whiteboard is great for those spur of the moment ideas and conversations that need extra aid.
- Quick links make it super easy to invite anyone on your team, or even other guests, to jump in and collaborate. It should take less than 20 seconds to start a board, invite your team and have them jump right in.
- You can even start a whiteboard directly from, or with, a Google Hangout conversation, fully integrating your collaboration with your communication between team members.
- Web Whiteboard even allows for collaborative text editing, so you can write, share and draw directly on your written works thanks to a built-in text editor. The app even allows for sticky notes, so you can add in feedback without altering the original image or text.
Conclusion
When you teach a subject, you need to make things easy for your students. You can make tools or write stuff and stick it on the board and deliver the lecture to the class. But using online whiteboard for teaching by Google Docs can improve how well your message is expressed and allow the students to ask questions. It eases up the burden on teachers and creates greater education opportunities for students.