Google Jamboard - A great collaboration tool!

When I work with the Jamboard, I recall the Steve Jobs quote:

"Technology is nothing. What's important is that you have a faith in people, that they're basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they'll do wonderful things with them."

The Jamboard is the most amazing collaboration tool that was aimed squarely at the commercial market but it soon became clear that schools could epitomise Steve Job's quote and adopt this product for themselves. This board looks for all the world like an Interactive whiteboard but it is so much more than that.

Ignore its appearance and try not to think of it as an Interactive Whiteboard.

Here are some of the amazing things I have seen it used for:


  • Explaining the significance of the elements of Plato's cave
  • Explore the theme of Ambition in Macbeth
  • early language adopters to read simple CVC words and then draw what they have read and vice versa
  • creating a representation of the gestation of a human child using images
  • develop early writing skills
  • compare and contrast elements of themes in geography, history, philosophy
  • critical path analysis in Computer science


And so the list goes on. In all these examples learners of all ages have been creative in their approach to the tools the Jamboard offers, collaborative with their fellow learners and committed to extending their learning beyond the classroom when they arrive at the Jamboard with a Jam they have been working on at home. 

So, my message in this very brief blog post is to ignore how it looks and get your hands on a device and start to plan how you are going to use this device to enrich the collaboration thread of your curriculum. I am sure that once you have tried the device out with your learners, you will see its true power as a collaboration tool.

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