BOOK: AOD Foundations

7.2. Whiteboard

A cloud-based, digital whiteboard is in many ways a text-based discussion (although some platforms also support posting images and videos), but instead of a linear experience, participants can access all of the posts at once, selecting which one to review in more depth. and the posts can be organized using frameworks, such as KWL (Know | Want to Know | Learned), or a SWOT analysis (a table where learners identify the Strengths | Weaknesses | Opportunities | Threats to a project), or something more specific to your discipline such as classifying example of cells as belonging to Prokaryotes or Eukaryotes).

In January 2024, John Churchley hosted a BCcampus FLO EdTech Sandbox session entitled Sticky Notes. This 90-minute session provided an overview of how to use the platform Miro to solicit and collect student posts. This allows educators to lead activities similar to in person activities where each member of a group adds their thoughts on a sticky note to a larger poster. Churchley provided many (many!) ideas for structuring posts (i.e., different frameworks for structuring the discussion prompts) that can inspire educators.

• A recording of this session is available on the BCcampus website
• Churchley also captured a few of his suggested ideas on this BCcampus post.

When to use:

• There is an organizing framework at play when making a post
  (e.g., participants are asked to come up with an example of a plant species and then placing the species in the column representing the correct plant type).
• Participant should post a response to more than one question
  (e.g., in the KWL example, participants post in response to the prompt about Know, about Want to Know, and about Learned).
• There is a benefit to seeing the whole rather than consuming each post individually.

Some issues to be aware of:

• Most LMS do not have the ability to create such AOD, so you will need to set-up a whiteboard on an outside platform.
• Different platforms have different strengths and capabilities. Some allow users to post images, others mimic the use of sticky notes that users can move around a canvas, others are specialized for specific uses like adding ideas and voting.
• There is a learning curve, for both the educator and learners, in using such platforms. Therefore, educators may wish to pick one and stick with it for their course.
• Nearly all platforms require the educator to create an account. This requires the educator to provide personal information such as email.
• Most platforms have a free account option that gives educators the ability to create a limited number of free canvases.
• The free version of most platforms does not give educators the ability to send a link to learners and have them add a post without login in. Students must provide their personal information to create an account and this can violate the FOIPPA Act. Thus, educators in BC will want to look for tools that either do not have such a requirement, or where they have purchased a subscription that allows users to post without entering their private information.

Some platforms:

• Padlet
  Padlet is probably your whiteboard platform of choice. It is easy to use for both educator and students, the free educator account gives you access to three boards that any user with the link can add to (i.e., students do not need to log in to use the platform), the canvas is very customizable (there are many more possibilities than what we did in our example), and posts can include text, images, videos, links, AI-generated images, comments and votes on others’ posts.
  The University of Waterloo’s Centre for Teaching Excellence has the following Tip Sheet for Using Padlet.
  
  
• Canva
  Canva is an online visual design tool that allows users to create infographics, brochures, slides, and…. shareable whiteboards. Educators can sign up for a free account that allows them to create a whiteboard and share the link with students, who can then add to the whiteboard without having to log in. Templates are available (some are free, some require payment), but the educator can create organizing frameworks on their whiteboard that is only limited by their imagination. Users can post text, sticky notes, images, and icons. The learning curve for both educators and students may be a little steeper than other tools created exclusively for the purpose of serving as collaborative whiteboards, but it is still accessible to most people, with a few instructions.
  
  
• Dotstorming
  Dotstorming saw its origins in the support of dotmocracy activities, and while developers have expanded its abilities beyond that use, it is probably still the best use of the platform. Educators who sign up for a free account have one free board, and students do not need to sign up to use the platform.
  
  
• Miro, Lucidchart, Stormboard, Mural, FigJam, and many others…
  These are truly versatile tools that mirror the in-person experience of collecting everyone’s ideas on sticky notes and organizing them and re-organizing them (i.e., moving them easily on the canvas) endlessly. Miro is probably the best known of the tool. While their educational potential is enormous, all the free educator accounts do NOT provide a link to the whiteboards where students can post without registering (i.e., without providing their email address). Thus, if your institution has done an FOIPPA assessment and determined that it is okay for a tool, then go ahead and ask students to enter their email address to post to the whiteboard. Otherwise, you will need to purchase a subscription, which allows you to get a link to the whiteboards you create so that students can post without having to enter their private information.
  
  
• Google Jamboard
  Ah, Google Jamboard! It was favourite of educators around the world. It was simple and limited (e.g., it crashed whenever more than 25 users tried to access it at once), but it did the job and it was free. Sadly, Google retired the app, so that it is no longer available. R.I.P. sweet Jamboard…