Google Jamboard’s most recent upgrade allows you to add your own custom backgrounds, and one of the best places to get pre-made Jamboard backgrounds, or to create your own, is Canva for Education.
Google Jamboard is an interactive digital whiteboard that you can use for whole group interactive lessons, small group collaboration, or for individual activities like interactive digital notebooks.
The web-based version of Google Jamboard is still relatively new to the scene, and over time, Google has been adding new features to Jamboard that make it more user-friendly in a classroom setting. The ability to add your own custom backgrounds is the most significant feature upgrade to date!
If you’re interested in learning all about how to teach with Jamboard, check out this video, which showcases its major features.
How to Set a Custom Background in Jamboard
First you’ll want to go to jamboard.google.com where you’ll be able to see all the recent Jams you created. Then click on the orange plus button to add a new one. When you open a new Jam, you’ll see that the current background is blank, and to add your own custom background, go up to “Set Background” and then select “Image.” Here you’ll have the option to bring images in by uploading them from your computer, by adding an image url, access your camera, search for images on Google, accessing your Drive folder, or pulling in pictures from your Google photos.
Custom Whiteboard Backgrounds in Canva Edu
Next you’ll want to hop over to Canva Edu to get pre-made whiteboard templates you can add to Jamboard. If you don’t already have a Canva for Education account, educators can get one for free by applying on this page.
Once you’re in Canva, you’ll want to go up to the Search box and type “online whiteboard.”
There you’ll see over 50 pre-made templates that you can edit, download, and use immediately in Google Jamboard, or you can create your own.
If you want to use a pre-made template, simply click on it to see what it looks like. If you’re happy with the template the way it is, you just need to click “download.”
The entire template is also editable, so if you’d prefer that it didn’t say “Team Retro” and instead said “8th Math,” Just click on the text and edit it to reflect what you want. Again once you’re ready, click download.
Bring Canva Templates into Jamboard
Once you’ve customized your template in Canva Edu, go back to Google Jamboard and click on “Set Background” again. Choose Image, and find the Canva template on your desktop.
Now, since the template has been added as a fixed background, you and your students can easily add elements on top of it without having to worry about accidentally moving or deleting the template.
Something I really appreciate about the pre-made templates in Canva is how well-thought out they are in terms of setting you up for interactive activities with your students.
For example, on this template, students start by posting sticky notes about What Went Well, What Didn’t Go Well, and Action Items. You could imagine this would be a good reflection activity for a small group that is working together on a project. Then, after posting stickies, the directions on the template are for them to vote for their favorite ideas using stars. Here, students could easily use the drawing tool to sketch a quick asterisk.
Then, after adding stars, students would circle or mark up any promising ideas. Again the draw tool would probably be the most appropriate here. Remember as well that these templates are fully editable, so you could of course change the text if you wanted it to say something different.
A Wide Variety of Whiteboard Templates
There are lots of other premade whiteboard templates in Canva that are worth checking out. For example they have Brainstorming templates that you could use to have students collaborate on ideas for a group project, Mind Map Boards you could use for students to share what they learned about a topic or to prepare evidence for a research project, My Moodboards that students could use to share all about themselves as a way to build community, Project Journey boards for a group to map out a strategic project plan, Voting Boards that you could use to offer your students choice, and Thank You Boards that you could set up to have students share appreciations about each other.
Conclusion & Resources
In addition to using pre-made templates, you can also create your own completely customized images using an array of different tools in Canva. Though there are so many well built-templates, that for the most part I’d mostly recommend just editing the ones that are already made and available to download and use as a Google Jamboard background.
For additional strategies for how to use technology to personalize learning, increase engagement, foster creativity, and more, click here:
How to Use Education Technology: The Ultimate Guide
And to read more about why I believe technology must be a central part of public education today, click here:
Why Education Technology?: The Ultimate Guide
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