There are some good whiteboard tools out there, but some require paid versions of programs and others are only visible to only the person working on their board. The few free ones out there often require extra work from students to share with the teacher (example: student creates a whiteboard drawing and has to download their work as an image, then upload to the teacher to see). Whiteboard.fi is different. It is a tool that allows the teacher to see all the students’ work in live-action on one screen while everyone in the class is working. The other benefits are that this is free and that no teacher or student accounts are needed! Check out how Whiteboard.fi works below.
Things to remember:
These boards are NOT saved after each session. Teachers have the option to save all student work as a PDF, and students have the option to save their board as an image, but once the class is over, the boards are deleted.
There are other options to explore not shared in this write-up. You can see these additional options when you are in Teacher Mode and click the Gear in the top right.
Create a Class:
Head over to whiteboard.fi.
Click on “New Class”.
Name your class and adjust any settings and click “Create New Class”.
Invite Students:
Share the link or display the QR Code.
Students type in their name and click “Join Whiteboard Class”.
Students can now draw and add shapes, text, or images to their Whiteboards.
Students can see the Teacher Whiteboard by clicking “Toggle Teacher Whiteboard”.
Whiteboard Tools:
Top Toolbar: Drawing, Eraser, Line, Shapes, Image, Background
Bottom Toolbar: Erase All, Clear Whiteboard, Grid, Music Sheet, Emoji, Math Editor
Watch Class Work:
In the teacher view click on “My Class”. This will allow teachers will see each student’s whiteboard in live time.
If you are unable to see updated student work you may need to make sure students have clicked off of the last tool they used (that is when the “save” action takes place.
Save Class Work:
Teacher View:
Click the gear icon in the top right corner.
Click “Save all Whiteboards as PDF”.
Student View:
Click the gear icon in the top right corner.
Click “Save all Whiteboard as Image”.
End a Class:
Click on the Gear in the top right corner and then click on “Close Room”.
Make sure to save the student work to PDF before exiting the Class if you want a record of their work.