Microsoft Whiteboard has come a long way since we last wrote a blog post about it, so what has changed since then?
It’s been almost two years since our last blog post on Using Microsoft Whiteboard with Microsoft Teams, and it’s come a long way since then.
Over the last two years Microsoft have added useful features to the app, and brought the Web, Desktop App and Microsoft Teams integrated versions more in line with each other.
Templates
If you’ve used other online collaborative Whiteboard platforms before – such as Miro – then you’ll already be familiar with how useful Templates can be.
Instead of adding shapes and post-it notes to a board to create a “Topic Brainstorm”, “Cost/Benefit analysis” or “Cause and effect diagram” from scratch, use one of the pre-built templates to do the hard work for you. Each template can be added to new or existing Whiteboards, and can be easily customised to suit your teaching activity.
You can also add multiple templates to the same Whiteboard allowing students to work in groups on their own template and easily share the work they’ve done without having to manage multiple Whiteboards.
You can access the Templates from the “Create” section of the Whiteboard toolbar.
Reactions
No longer are “Thumbs up”, “Like” and “Heart” reactions constrained to the Teams meeting window. Reactions are now available on Whiteboard, allowing you and your students to add emoji icons to parts of your Whiteboard.
A “green tick” and “red cross” are available for more conventional peer marking exercises, or encourage your students to highlight elements that they want clarified with the “question mark” reaction. How you and your students use these reactions is up to you!
You can access the Reactions from the “Create” section of the Whiteboard toolbar.
Background Formatting
Lots of options are available for formatting the background colour, and adding various grids to the Whiteboard, the latter being especially useful if you are writing on the Whiteboard with a stylus or a digital pen!
Dot, Square, Diamond and Graph grids can be used too, so choose whichever grid type and background colour works best for your teaching.
You can access the Background Formatting options by clicking the cog in the top right of the open Whiteboard, and choosing “Format background” from the menu.
More guidance
Microsoft have expanded the guidance available on using Whiteboard, including advice and suggestions on using it for teaching.
You can view their guidance on the Guides to Microsoft Whiteboard website.
What’s next for Microsoft Whiteboard?
You can find information about upcoming features for all Microsoft 365 applications on the Microsoft 365 Roadmap. Just filter the list by product to see what Microsoft are working on and what you can expect to be coming in the future.
If you’ve not used Microsoft Whiteboard before, you can check it out for free as it is included in the University Microsoft 365 subscription.
The web app is available by going to app.whiteboard.microsoft.com in your web browser. You can also use Microsoft Whiteboard in a Teams meeting by clicking Share, and choosing Microsoft Whiteboard from the menu. More information is available on the Use Whiteboard in Microsoft Teams page.