Unfortunately, Google has announced that they are Jamboard discontinuation. Google initially announced that it would remove its Jams, but backtracked by saying that the Jams would be converted to PDF. Obviously PDFs do not have the interactivity of Jams. The good news is that FigJam is better.. The best news is that figure has a free Jamboard to FigJam file converter. Officially, the conversion tool will be available on Monday, November 20.
The Jamboard to FigJam converter will keep all your interactivity!
Convert your Jamboard Jam to FigJam
Join me and Lauren (McCann) Ryan on Tuesday, November 21 at 4 pm Pacific Time to answer all your questions about converting your Jams to FigJam.
What is FigJam?
Fig jam it’s a collaborative whiteboard which allows students to work together on projects in real time. It is a versatile tool that can be used for a variety of purposes, including:
- Classroom interaction
- Dynamically share resources
- Student assignments
- Brainstorming and idea generation.
- Project planning and organization.
- Create presentations and diagrams.
- Design of prototypes and user interfaces.
FigJam is a powerful tool that can help students learn and collaborate more effectively. It is also a fun and engaging tool that students will enjoy using.
FigJam Intro Playlist
I’m working on creating some short videos to show you the key features of FigJam that will help you get started with this cool tool.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=videoseries
Verify your educator account
FigJam is FREE!! As an educator, you get a full account at no cost once you are verified as an educator.
figure
FigJam is a product of Figma. Gonna figma.com to find your FigJams.
Templates to get started
Figma for Education has intro templates at figma.com/@education. Here are a few you might be excited to get started with!
Jams converted to FigJam
I had early access to the conversion tool and I can tell you it is FABULOUS! You can find many of my Jams converted to FigJam on my Figma profile page: figma.com/@alicekeeler.
Simply log in to figma.com and use the “Import” button. You will be able to choose to import Jamboard Jams from your Google Drive and you can do it more than one at a time. Your locked funds will be locked. Your sticky notes can be edited and dragged. Your draggable elements can still be dragged. Each box is added as a section.
Your Jam will be almost exactly the same… but better in FigJam.
Note: The only feature that doesn’t translate well to FigJam is the “scratchers.” When you erase pencil strokes in FigJam, the entire pencil stroke is erased at once. Scratchers will still work in FigJam, but you will lose the “scratch” or slow reveal.
Fig jam does Allows you to hide objects behind other objects. Anything in FigJam can be locked (Control Shift L). Place an object on the canvas and place a sticky note or other image/shape on it. Lock the top object. If you used pencil strokes on your Jam to hide objects, I would recommend erasing the pencil strokes and using a shape to hide objects.
What is similar to Jamboard?
FigJam is similar to Jamboard in many ways. Both tools are collaborative whiteboards that can be used for various purposes. Both have a variety of features that make them easy to use, including a variety of drawing tools, sticky notes, and text boxes.
What’s different about FigJam?
FigJam has a number of features that are not available on Jamboard. These features include:
- A more powerful set of drawing tools
- The ability to embed images and videos.
- The ability to create and use reusable templates.
- The ability to integrate with other Figma products.
- The ability to use FigJam on a variety of devices.
- An up-to-date version history and rollback feature makes it easy to track changes and undo errors
How can you use FigJam with students?
FigJam can be used in a variety of ways in the classroom. These are just some examples:
Classroom interaction
FigJam is collaborative. Share the link with students and allow them to add sticky notes and share their ideas and work during the lesson.
FigJam has a version history.
Dynamically share resources
While any collaborative file can be used to dynamically share resources during class, FigJam has some features that could make it your favorite tool.
- Hide sections with resources until you’re ready to reveal them.
- Ability to block elements.
- Ease of adding new resources, including “embedding,” by simply pasting a link to a YouTube video or Google Docs/Slides.
- Go beyond listing a link and create a section with explanations and multimedia.
Student assignments
If you used Jamboard for assignments, you can use FigJam in the same way. FigJam is an open canvas with unlimited possibilities. I recommend that you click the Share button and select “Publish” to create a template that can be shared with students to make a copy of. You can also modify the URL of your files to end in /duplicate, which will automatically create a copy for each student.
Brainstorming and idea generation:
Use FigJam as a whole class or in small groups to generate ideas for a writing assignment, science project, or class discussion.
figjam.new start a new file quickly. Click the share button to paste email addresses for quick access.
Project Planning and Organization:
Use FigJam to create a project plan, timeline, or mind map. The shapes and connection tools make FigJam the perfect choice.
Take notes and summarize information:
Use FigJam to take notes during a lecture, video, or class discussion.
Creating presentations and diagrams:
Use FigJam to create a presentation for a project or a diagram to explain a concept.
FigJam for education
FigJam is a powerful and versatile tool that can be used in a variety of ways to help students learn and collaborate. It is a more powerful and feature-rich tool than Jamboard and is available on a variety of devices. If you are looking for a new digital whiteboard to use with your students, I encourage you to try FigJam.
Additional Resources
- <li class="wp-block-post post-37802 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-edtech-tool category-google category-jamboard tag-figjam tag-google-2 tag-google-jamboard tag-googleedu tag-jamboard”>
-
A key skill to know when using Google Sheets is how to wrap text within a cell. You want to be able to see all the text in your spreadsheet and not have any text cut off. Setting up word wrapping can be a little tricky until you know where to look.
-
Dive into Google Sheets with this simple but important skill of adjusting the width of columns and rows. How to adjust the width of Google Sheets columns.
-
A long-awaited feature in Google Slides is finally here. The ability to annotate the slide during a presentation. Here are 5 tips for using the pen in Google Slides
Convert your Jamboard Jam to FigJam. Too easy. FigJam has all the capabilities of Jamboard, but better! Join Alice Keeler and Lauren (McCann) Ryan as they demonstrate the FigJam conversion tool to easily change all your Google Jamboard files.
<li class="wp-block-post post-37770 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-edtech-tool category-figjam”>
Do you want to block a background in FigJam? Are you transitioning from Jamboard to FigJam and want to know how to create a background image in FigJam? Alice Keeler provides you with a tutorial on how to do this. How to add a background image to FigJam
<li class="wp-block-post post-37755 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-edtech-tool category-figjam tag-figjam”>
Use this classroom gratitude template for FigJam to get your students to collaborate and think about what they are grateful for this season.
