App review by Amanda Bindel, Common Sense Education | Updated April 2019

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Jamboard

Name: Jamboard
Item: Jamboard
Rating: 4
Author: Amanda Bindel

Versatile whiteboard app integrates with Google Suite

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Learning rating

Editorial review by Common Sense Education

Community rating

Based on 1 review

Privacy rating

Not yet rated Expert evaluation by Common Sense

Grades

4–12 This grade range is based on learning appropriateness and doesn't take into account privacy. It's determined by Common Sense Education, not the product's publisher.

Subjects & Skills

Communication & Collaboration

Great for

Media Literacy, Creating Media, Assessment, Presentation

Take a look inside

5 images

Use Jamboard just like a whiteboard -- add images and text.

Collaborate by adding people to a Jamboard.

Add files from Google Drive into a Jamboard for presentations or collaboration.

Add sticky notes customizable with colors and text with a tap.

Short videos in the help section explain how to use Jamboard.

Pros: Students can pull files from Google Drive and collaborate within Jamboards.

Cons: Works more like slides with multiple pages rather than endless scrolling.

Bottom Line: Great addition to Google classrooms but can be used by anyone.

How Can I Teach with This Tool?

Use Jamboard as you would any whiteboard app. Teachers can demonstrate on the Jamboard whiteboards and share them with students for collaborative whole-class discussions. Students can work in groups using Jamboard, collaborating in real time with drawings, images, and text. Students can use Jamboard as a presentation tool, too. The flexibility of the app and the integration with Google Drive make Jamboard a tool that groups can use throughout a project -- from brainstorming and planning to presentation.

What Is It?

Google Jamboards are physical interactive whiteboards for front-of-the-class use, but the Jamboard app puts a whiteboard on any tablet in a student's hand. Students or teachers can create Jamboards, share them, and collaborate on them. For classes with the physical whiteboard, the creations could be broadcast onto the big Jamboard, but that's not necessary at all with the app. Jamboards can be saved as image files or PDFs. Rather than requiring endless scrolling, boards can have multiple pages, more like a slideshow.

Is It Good for Learning?

Since Jamboard can be used many ways, it can enhance learning in a variety of situations and in different content areas. It can be used for teacher-led lessons, collaborative class discussions, small group projects and presentations, and individual planning and organization. This versatility, along with the ease of integration into the Google platform, make this a tool that many Google educators will want to implement and students will enjoy using.

Learning Rating

Overall Rating

Engagement Would it motivate students and hold their interest? Is it visually appealing? Would it inspire teachers to try something new or change their instruction?

Intuitive design makes using Jamboard easy, and the options for collaboration make it fun.

Pedagogy Does the tool help teachers promote a more student-centered experience? Will students gain conceptual understanding or think critically? Does it deepen teachers’ pedagogical thinking?

Jamboard empowers students to share ideas and collaborate. Features are intuitive, saving and sharing is easy, and boards are automatically saved.

Support Can students and teachers get assistance when they need it? Is it created with people of different abilities and backgrounds in mind? Is learning reinforced and extended beyond the digital experience?

It integrates easily with Google Drive, allowing students to add files to their Jamboard and save boards to Drive. The help section includes several quick videos demonstrating features.

Common Sense reviewer

Amanda Bindel Classroom teacher

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Featured review by
Elisabeth T. , Classroom teacher

Classroom teacher

Archbishop Curley High School
Baltimore, United States

Great space for creative collaboration

The jamboard app can be applied to the traditional classroom setting as well. Jamboard will allow for student communication and collaboration to be easily accessible outside of the classroom thus freeing up time for deeper classroom discussions or activities. Jamboard can be used to foster in depth thinking and discussion about a topic in preparation for a greater classroom discussion, it can be used as a group project to present new information to the class, it can be used in a gallery walk in which s ...

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