Whiteboards are a great collaboration tool, especially during remote and hybrid learning. With Microsoft Whiteboard, you can enable your students to collaborate on tasks, give feedback during lessons, and much more. Whiteboard can be used as a stand-alone app, or as an integrated part of your Microsoft Team classes.

Let’s take a look at how to use the Whiteboard app within Microsoft Teams to create a collaborative learning space.

How to access the Whiteboard app

The Whiteboard app can be accessed by logging into your Office 365 account and locating the app. The app can be run in the browser but to have access to all of the features, it is best to use the downloaded version on your PC. To use the download app version, you can either start from office.com, opening a whiteboard and choosing “Open in app” or start by opening the Whiteboard app on your computer.

Using the Whiteboard tools 

Now that you have opened a Whiteboard file, there are a number of powerful tools that you can take advantage of. The toolbar has pen tools, a text tool, sticky notes, the ability to add images from your computer or the internet, entire documents into the Whiteboard file, and much more!

Explore some of these features and stay tuned to OTIS for educators for additional resources on using this great app.

Getting students to collaborate 

Finally, let’s take a look at how you can get your students collaborating. There is the blue share button in the upper right corner. Here, you can invite individuals to have access to the Whiteboard, create a share link, post to Teams, or send it to OneNote. If you are using Microsoft Teams, this is a great way to get your students working on the Whiteboard to answer questions, interact with material, or work on projects together.

If you would like to learn more about using Microsoft Teams, be sure to check out our Microsoft Teams professional learning content on OTIS for educators.

The Whiteboard app is an excellent tool to get your students to collaborate wherever learning is happening.

For more tips, tricks, and tools for teaching in and out of the classroom, check out more articles on the Teq Talk blog.

We also offer virtual professional development, training, and remote learning support for educators with OTIS for educators. Explore the technology, tools, and strategies that can spark student success — no matter where teaching or learning are happening.