Google Jamboard

In the same way that it took a while for me to get around to Google Keep, I am a little late to the Google Jamboard party! Better late than never, I suppose.  This new-ish tool is a welcome and free addition to the Google Suite of tools.

How does it work?    Think of Google Jamboard as a digital corkboard, where you can add "sticky notes," images, and doodles.   Like most Google tools, you have the ability to collaborate with others on the same "Jam" in real time, and export the results as a PDF or image file.

You can add viewers/editors or create links to Jams -- here's a sample one I created shown in the pictures above -- which works like in most Google files.  

For a walkthrough of how to make a Jam, watch my screencast video (10:39):

How could you use it?  Students could use Jamboard as an informal discussion tool (much like a simpler form of Padlet), as a way to graphically organize notes, or to keep track of the planning and completion of a project.  It should be noted that the mobile app version of Jamboard allows for more features, such as the integration of Google Drive files, as well as making drawing easier with your finger rather than with a trackpad and cursor; there are also some options to integrate Jamboard with remote presentations. 

Downsides?  I have only a few quibbles.   The select tool does not allow you to choose an entire doodle for easy removal, which means you have to manually erase them if you are several edits down the line.  I'd also like to be able to upload images from my hard drive instead of only from Google searches, your Drive or Photos. [Editor's note 4/6/21: you can now upload image files from your computer into Jamboard!]  But for a free tool that is so easy to use, it's hard to complain!

What are some creative ways you could use, or are using, Jamboard?  Share in the Comments below!

Note 9/29/23:  Google has announced a sunset date for Jamboard.  After September 30, 2024, you will no longer be able to make a new Jamboard or edit old ones; you will only be able to view previously made Jamboards.  After December 31, 2024, Jamboard will be shut down completely.  For a similar whiteboard-like product that is available free for educators, check out my blog entry on Figjam. 

Note 4/15/20:  As with many tools, several updates have occurred to Google Jamboard since this entry was published; you can find these updates under the "snowman" three dots in the upper right once inside of a Jamboard.  One of the major ones was the removal of the "jam code" function.   I therefore removed the text describing this along with some screenshots of what that looked like.

Note 4/6/21:  Jamboard has gone under some major improvements in the two years since this post was originally published, including integration into Google Meet, the ability to see Revision History, and more.   I highly recommend watching this friEDTech video presentation on Jamboard below (30 minutes); here is the link to the Slides that went along with their session.

KySTE 2019

Every March, I make my edtech pilgrimage to the Galt House in Louisville, Kentucky to attend the KySTE Spring Conference.  It was a record attendance this year (nearly 2000 registered!).    It's been a few days since the close of the conference, and I wanted to share several highlights.

1.  I did presentations on Shelby County's Digital Citizenship curriculum as well as some recommended digital equity tools to help personalize learning.   I was pleased to get attendees for both, but in particular, I hope to continue conversations with several people on how we can collaborate on digital citizenship for Kentucky students in the future.

2. Much like I missed TodaysMeet and was thankful to find YoTeach, I have missed Storify since it shuttered, as it was an easy and useful curation tool...but now I think I have a replacement!  From Stella Pollard, I learned of a new tool, Wakelet.   It allows you to make "collections" that can consist of images, PDFs, texts, Tweets, YouTube videos, and of course hyperlinks.  Wakelet is very user friendly, and even allows the ability to search tweets and YouTube videos from within the tool much like Storify did.  A social aspect of Wakelet is that you can have followers, and there is a beta feature where you can collaborate on the same collection.  I created a profile page here.

3.  URL shorteners like Bit.ly and Tinyurl.com have three main issues: a) your audience has to type a complicated URL where upper and lower case letters make a difference, b) you can personalize the URL to make it more straight-forward, but the more simple it is the more likely it's already taken, and c) both A and B may seem like a lot of effort for what often amounts to just a one time hour-long presentation.   That's why Yellkey is fantastic!  Simply give the URL to shorten and choose the duration you need it, anytime from 5 minutes to 24 hours.  You will get a shortened URL in simple language, such as yellkey.com/computer. Note these are both disposable and reused; a few days or even a few minutes from now, yellkey.com/computer will point to something else. (Thanks Leslie Fisher!)

4.  As a former high school English teacher, it is easier for me to imagine a librarian to help collaborate with staff on literacy and not numeracy needs.  Obviously, I am short sighted!  One of the best KySTE sessions I attended involved Sarah Zender (math teacher) and Amanda Hurley (librarian) from Henry Clay High School (Fayette County).  They talked about their work together, and it was impressive: scavenger hunts, geometry animated STEM projects, Math Inquiries that connected personal interests (such as guitar playing, MMA fighting, and fantasy football), and involving students in library renovations.

5.  Last but not least, it was a highlight of not just the conference but of my career to receive the KySTE Outstanding Leader of the Year award for 2018-2019.

As I've already said in various social media posts, in a life there are hundreds of people who give you wisdom, teach you a lesson, or model by example.  Whoever I may be or accomplish is the accumulation of all of those people and moments.  Thank you to all of my friends, family and colleagues who I have had the privilege of sharing a part of my educational journey.  And of course, thank you to KySTE for the award!  I'll always treasure it.

I'll end this entry with a video of my acceptance speech.  Special thanks to Cyndi Skellie for recording it!

Project Blocks, Not Bells: PBL in an Expeditionary Learning School

I'm currently reading the last chapter of a book recently published by ISTE: Learning Supercharged: Digital Age Strategies and Insights from the Edtech Frontier (Lynne Schrum with Sandi Sumerfield, 2018).   It's highly recommended, not only because it shares helpful narratives of edtech integration by real teachers and schools, but also puts digital tools in the context of effective pedagogies and popular areas of focus such as gamification, STEM, digital citizenship, and Project Based Learning (PBL).

PBL has been a particular passion of mine since my first training on it nearly four years ago.  Schrum and Sumerfield correctly point out that PBL predates digital tools and access. Still, there is no doubt that technology enhances the depth and reach of such projects, and teachers should embrace it despite possible misgivings: "Although incorporating technological tools and online resources can often feel overwhelming, the use of digital resources can strengthen student interactive experiences, facilitate more complex thinking about challenging topics among peer groups, and often streamline the assessment of student progress for teachers" (103).   Precisely!  Since PBL is based on solving problems or questions that have more than one answer/solution, and therefore have culminating products that can vary in type, digital tools can make this more manageable and multi-modal.   That aside, the authors caution us to avoid simply creating a 'technology rich" end-of-unit project instead of an experience where students truly have agency, learn with an end in mind throughout, and create something to share with outsiders.  It is not transformative learning if the end result of PBL is merely a well presented aggregation of researched bullet points instead of a new idea or creation that shows real reflection and growth of student thinking.

Finding more ways to support teaching in an "edtech frontier" was mulling around in my brain when I recently went with several Shelby staff members to visit districts near Denver, Colorado.  A common denominator of the schools was their belief in a competency-based education system.  One in particular still sticks out for me even a month later:  William Smith High School, a part of Aurora Public Schools.  They are officially designated an "expeditionary learning" (EL) school; the defining characteristics of students in EL includes high quality authentic work, demonstrating proficiency and deep learning, and the importance of character and ethics.  On a more pragmatic level, that translates into WSHS having students experience learning beyond the four walls of their building and having a daily schedule driven by "project blocks" of PBL work, not bells.  All students had access to Chromebooks, but it was clear that PBL pedagogy, not technology, was the driver of their education.

The schedules of WSHS students are particularly innovative.  Grades 10 through 12 basically have two "classes" a day -- one block in the morning, one in the afternoon.  Student choice and needs keep the schedules unique and personalized.  (It should be noted that Freshmen began building their student agency culture and necessary "soft skills" to succeed in such an environment in the summer prior to starting at WSHS with highly structured "learning bootcamps."  Once school begins, they have a more traditional period schedule at first and gradually release into the same kind of block schedule as the upperclassman have by the end of their first school year.)  Some of these project blocks last as little as three weeks while others are as long as two months.  Not surprisingly, the project blocks are frequently cross-content, and the teachers and admin work hard to ensure that students choose their classes wisely in order to demonstrate mastery of all their necessary core standards by graduation.

But the innovation at WSHS isn't merely the logistics of their scheduling.  The project blocks themselves are classes you would beg to take if you were a high schooler.  Imagine learning exponentials and logarithms while living inside a "Zombie Apocalypse."  By building their own "Escape Rooms," students learn both geometry and art/interior design.  In "Wild Wild West," the study of transportation and weaponry teaches you both U.S. history and quadratic equations.   By reading non-fiction text and a fictional novel on climate change in "Playing God," students learn evolutionary and developmental biology while applying literary analysis and debate.   We were provided a list of project block choices just for spring 2019 that included these four classes and several dozen more, with most of the titles and class descriptions sounding more like college offerings than what you would see in a typical 9-12 school. The WSHS staff also made sure we knew that the classes offered are a constant reflection of the continual feedback of what both teachers want to teach and students want to learn.

Framed examples of past project blocks line a hallway at William Smith High School.

A closer look at the upper left section of "Bean to Bar." 

As you can see in the examples above, it is clear these PBL's are very well designed.  These PBL planning document "posters" include the following sections:

• Class Description
• multiple Connections (to Academics, Habits of Excellence, and/or Community)
• what Field Work is necessary
• what Experts will be consulted (in people and/or anchor texts)
• what the Product in the end should or could be
• Guiding Question
• Sequence of Learning
• Core Content Standards Met
• examples of student work

WSHS were kind enough to provide a Google Doc example of one of their PBL "Project Panels" on Native American Studies, as well as a blank version that you can copy to your Drive and make your own.

As we met both staff and students at William Smith High School, it was evident that their structures were vastly different than the typical high school experience.  Student engagement was strong and palpable.  I was thankful to see specific, concrete examples of how innovative PBL can be to transform a learning culture, and grateful to meet teachers so willing to be pioneers in the frontier of education.

Note:  Buck Institute for Education facilitated my first PBL training highlighted in the blog entry linked above.  They have recently rebranded as PBLWorks, and remain a rich treasure trove of resources, workshops and articles on PBL.

Update 3/16/19:  I added the links to the WSHS Project Panel example and blank template.