Online whiteboards in the education sector support teachers and students in learning and teaching digitally.
Especially in situations where students and teachers are not in the same room or at the same place, an online whiteboard is an excellent addition to the classic audio and video conferencing solution.
The usage of online whiteboards in education depends mostly on the subject. For most classes from elementary school to university and adult education exist various use cases for online whiteboards.
In the following, we would like to show some examples of how online whiteboards are used in different subjects.
Mathematics
An online whiteboard is an excellent digital replacement for the blackboard. Evidence, formulas, calculation paths, drawings, coordinate systems and much more can be easily created digitally (provided the appropriate hardware with a digital pen is available).
All participants who have access to the online whiteboard can see in real-time when, for example, the teacher is writing down a mathematical proof and, if necessary, can write questions directly into the whiteboard on cards. Since everything is immediately available in digital form, content can also be easily copied and reused.
When students solve math problems in groups, this often takes place on paper or on a slide to present the results on the overhead projector. The online whiteboard replaces paper and also serves as a medium to present the results to the class.
But the online whiteboard is not limited to writing and drawing. It offers the possibility to work with many other media and add them to the board. For example, tutorial videos can be integrated or existing documents can be uploaded.
Very similar scenarios exist for physics and chemistry.
Geography
Online whiteboards are the perfect place to gather, structure and visualize information from different sources.
Teachers can prepare boards for their students, which can then be used in class or for self-study.
The significant advantage of online whiteboards is that all relevant media is on one central, (infinitely) large canvas.
- Existing PowerPoint or PDF presentations can be uploaded and reused.
- Videos and pictures can be easily added to the board from the Internet or your computer.
- The different elements on the board can be linked together, for example, to a defined process, to a mind map or affinity diagram.
- Web-based applications used for learning can be easily linked on the board or integrated directly.
With these two examples, we wanted to show how online whiteboards are used in education. Of course, there are innumerable application scenarios for other subjects, and the creativity of teachers and students always brings new use cases to light.
