Whiteboard

Whiteboard

Enabling the Whiteboard

To use the Whiteboard tool to draw or share content with your students:

1. If you are already sharing something using the Share Pod (for instance, a .ppt file or your desktop), you will need to stop sharing that by clicking Stop Sharing.
2. From the Share My Screen drop-down menu, select Share Whiteboard (as shown below). This will open up a whiteboard on your screen which will be broadcasted to all the participants.
   

Overlaying a Whiteboard on Slides

You can use the Whiteboard Overlay option to write or mark up a slides or images. Follow these steps to enable the feature:

1. In the top right corner of your Share Pod, locate the menu icon and click on it.
   
2. If you click on the Draw option, then you will see a Whiteboard toolbar appear at the top of the content you are sharing.

   Participant Access

   In order to activate the Whiteboard Overlay so that participants can use it, you will either have to promote them to a Presenter or change their enhanced rights to the Share Pod.

Whiteboard Tips

• Consider Using a Tablet PC
  If you will be doing extensive writing or annotating over a slide with the whiteboard, having a Tablet may make it easier to scribe clearly compared to using a mouse.

  Sharing Your Tablet

  Instead of using the whiteboard tool, you can also just screen share the program you have loaded on your Tablet.

• Set Up Whiteboard Slide Beforehand
  For exercises that require students to write an answer or idea on a slide, make a slide with a grid so that each person has something to write into. For example, if you have six people participating in the whiteboard activity, create a PowerPoint slide that has six grid boxes on it (Hofmann, 2004, p. 60).

• Promote Creativity
  Encourage students to use different colors, fonts, and highlights to convey their thoughts and ideas. This may also help distinguish answers as belonging to different students (Ibid).

• Let It Get Unorganized
  Particularly with a brainstorming activity, put less focus on having ideas appear “neat and tidy” and more focus on the flow of ideas. Let students know that it shouldn’t matter if the ideas on the board overlap one another. Any needed clarification can come from follow up discussion and sharing of ideas (Ibid).

• Involve Everyone
  If only few a participants write something, then ask those that didn’t write to comment on the writings (Ibid, 61).

• Play Games
  Use the whiteboard for a warm up activity that allows participants to “draw in the parts of a diagram that are missing” or circle the answer to a question (Ibid).

References
Hofmann, J. (2004). The Synchronous Trainer’s Survival Guide, Facilitating Successful Live and Online Courses, Meetings, and Events. 1st ed. California: Pfeiffer.