{"id":2088,"date":"2026-01-26T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.aalto.fi\/opit\/?p=2088"},"modified":"2026-01-28T15:43:53","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T13:43:53","slug":"online-whiteboards-for-aalto-users","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.aalto.fi\/opit\/2026\/01\/26\/online-whiteboards-for-aalto-users\/","title":{"rendered":"Online whiteboards for Aalto users"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"770\" height=\"246\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.aalto.fi\/opit\/files\/2026\/01\/ai_whiteboard.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2090\" style=\"width:840px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.aalto.fi\/opit\/files\/2026\/01\/ai_whiteboard.jpg 770w, https:\/\/blogs.aalto.fi\/opit\/files\/2026\/01\/ai_whiteboard-768x245.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.aalto.fi\/opit\/files\/2026\/01\/ai_whiteboard-680x217.jpg 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\"><sub>Image created with AI model : DALL-E-3<\/sub><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Aalto, we use several online tools to collect and develop ideas and to capture knowledge. In this blog post, I\u2019ll focus on the whiteboard tools currently available. Each tool has its strengths and weaknesses, so I\u2019ll highlight features that can help teachers choose the best option for their teaching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the moment, there are two Aalto-approved options: Microsoft Whiteboard and Zoom Workplace\u2019s integrated whiteboard. Both works on browser or in dedicated application. Both has mobile app available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Microsoft Whiteboard<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Easy to set up and integrates with Teams meetings.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Limited feature set, which means a low learning curve for participants.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Includes starter templates and the ability to save personal templates.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The final board can be exported.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Users can join via invitation or shareable link, but all participants must sign in with an Aalto account\u2014anonymous access is not available.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The owner can choose not to display participant names. In that case, adding elements to the board won\u2019t record the user\u2019s name. However, if participants use \u201clikes,\u201d their names will appear in the like list.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To make participation as anonymous as possible, hide collaborative cursors and turn off author attribution.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Microsoft Whiteboard is easy to use in Teams meetings, though its features are fairly limited\u2014which can be an advantage in some cases. For simple, straightforward data collection in events where all users have Aalto accounts, it can be an excellent choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>See short overview video on YouTube by Microsoft <br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=PLTSmxFOP5w\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=PLTSmxFOP5w<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Get started with Microsoft Whiteboard\" width=\"1140\" height=\"641\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PLTSmxFOP5w?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>We often think of Zoom Workplace as a video platform, but it also includes a powerful whiteboard app that works independently of meetings. You can open the Zoom app, select Whiteboard from the left sidebar, and start right away\u2014no meeting required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Zoom whiteboard<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Rich tool and feature set compared to Microsoft Whiteboard.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Start from built-in templates, create your own, and export results after a session.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Simply share a link for participants to join. The owner can allow participants to access the board without signing in, if desired.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Integrates with Zoom Meetings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>A particularly useful teaching feature is multi-page boards. Instructors can create multiple pages\u2014using the same or different templates\u2014so several groups can work simultaneously on the same whiteboard without visually distracting one another.<br><br>How to start with Zoom workplace whiteboard and Collaborate with whiteboard<br>See videos on YouTube<br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=idEfUlb4rRs&amp;t=60s\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=idEfUlb4rRs&amp;amp;t=60s<\/a><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=yFBuAuZLU3c\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=yFBuAuZLU3c<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Start Creating with Zoom Whiteboard\" width=\"1140\" height=\"641\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/idEfUlb4rRs?start=60&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Share and Collaborate with Zoom Whiteboard\" width=\"1140\" height=\"641\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yFBuAuZLU3c?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p class=\"has-text-align-right\">Image created with AI model : DALL-E-3<\/p>\n<p>In Aalto, we use several online tools to collect and develop ideas and to capture knowledge. In this blog post, I\u2019ll focus<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":2090,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,4],"tags":[12,8,90,89,38],"class_list":["post-2088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tip-of-the-week","category-tips-and-tools","tag-pedagogy","tag-remote-teaching","tag-teams","tag-whiteboard","tag-zoom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.aalto.fi\/opit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.aalto.fi\/opit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.aalto.fi\/opit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.aalto.fi\/opit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.aalto.fi\/opit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2088"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.aalto.fi\/opit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2088\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2095,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.aalto.fi\/opit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2088\/revisions\/2095"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.aalto.fi\/opit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.aalto.fi\/opit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.aalto.fi\/opit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.aalto.fi\/opit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}