Revisiting Jamboard.

 

Many teachers use a smart board as part of their normal routine while asking students to use different parts of Google Suite to show their work.  There is a way to have students use Jamboard to show their work because it is an interactive whiteboard with so many features.  These features allow students to easily show their work. In addition, the teacher can post problems using the sticky note feature. Furthermore, since Jamboard allows the teacher to set up multiple pages with multiple problems. 

Lets look at how one can assign the work to students via google classroom, Jamboard, and google docs.  The first thing you want to do is to create the actual assignment in Jamboard.  Begin by going to Jamboard.google.com  so you can create the assignment.  Click on the plus sign in the bottom right hand corner.  The plus sign tells Jamboard it's a new assignment. Type in the title of the assignment in the upper left corner.  Add a sticky note by clicking on "sticky note" in the menu and type the problem on the sticky note before saving it.  If you need to resize the sticky note and move it to where you want it located.  If you want to provide immediate feedback, create another sticky note with the answer so students can check. When you've finished creating the assignment, close it up, and it will automatically save. Should you want a Jamboard with multiple problems, you can create multiple slides with different problems for students to work their way through.

Students can place their answers on Jamboard or they can write them in a google doc.  The advantage of using goole docs is one can type the answer in so it looks neater but this is not necessary.  If you want the answers in google docs, go to Docs.google.com and open up a blank document.  Place the document title in the upper left corner and then set it up as answer sheet before saving. 

Now to put it all together in google classroom.  Go into google classroom, and click on the classroom tab. Choose create assignment and assign it a title. First thing is to type out detailed instructions explaining to students they should show their work in Jamboard while placing their final answer in google docs.  Attach the Jamboard and google doc to the assignment but make sure you click make a copy for each student so each person has the problem to work.  Don't forget to hit the assign button so it is assigned.  

Unfortunately, most documents are not set up to do equations with variables, division, and other such symbols. This is where Equat|O comes in.  Equat|O is a Chrome extension which allows one to make equations that can be inserted in Jamboard.  After installing the extension, upgrade to the premium version which is free to educators.  What this does is that when you open Jamboard, it will now have the Equat|O icon at the top right hand corner of Chrome. When you click on the icon, the toolbar will open up at the bottom of the screen.  

It is suggested you go into the options part of Equat|O and select the xx-large size for math which creates a high resolution version so if it has to be resized, it doesn't look pixelated.  Go into Equat|O editor, type in your math problem, and when you are done, click "Copy math as...." an "image" and then paste it into the Jamboard slide.

I'll go into the math editor a bit more on another day.  So now you are ready to create a practice session using Jamboard, docs, and google classroom.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great dy.