Peer Review

GoBoard

Material Detail page

Reviewed:: Sep 14, 2021 by Teacher Education

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:

GoBoard is a free (for higher ed and K-12 institutions) online tool that combines video conferencing with an interactive canvas, designed to help students collaborate one-on-one, on virtually any topic. Simply create a GoBoard, share the link, and begin sharing knowledge, face-to-face. There is never anything to download.

Type of Material:

Development Tool

Recommended Uses:

The material seems designed especially for tutoring, however, it can be used for meetings and other connections. It would be useful for students who are home due to illness to check in with their teachers. Another way to use the tool would be peer tutoring, or small group work on a project.

Technical Requirements:

Computer or laptop with camera and mic or an iPad is needed to use GoBoard. Chrome, Safari, and Firefox are the preferred browsers or an iPad with Safari. - Supports the latest version of Chrome, Firefox, and/or Safari. - At least 4GB of RAM - Fast, stable internet connection - Recommended: Headphones/microphones for improved sound quality. For meeting room environments, echo-canceling speakers.

Identify Major Learning Goals:

The main point of the GoBoard application is to "guide learning centers through the process of starting online tutoring with their own tutors". However, the tool may be used by teachers and students for tutoring purposes, as well. As stated in the comprehensive Online Tutoring Implementation Guide for Learning Centers, "The participants involved in the learning process may differ from institution to institution;however, at any institution there are variations of at least three as a tutor becomes involved: faculty, student, and tutor.

The site provides video conferencing with many powerful tools free to educational institutions. It allows users to interact on a "whiteboard," importing documents, pictures, and annotations.

Target Student Population:

College General Ed, College Lower Division, College Upper Division, Graduate School, Professional

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

Although no special skills are required, there may be a bit of a learning curve for some. It is recommend that the user watch the pertinent 'How to" video and review the user guide in order to use GoBoard to it's full potential.

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:: The GoBoard at first seems like your typical collaborative whiteboard type of tool, with a drawing pen, laser, line maker, shape maker, text editor, etc., however, upon deeper exploration the user will find a wealth of add-ins that make the GoBoard quite extraordinary. Tabbed pages provide robust tools such as spreadsheets, graphing calculators, equation editor, reference libraries, and image files that can be used for tutoring in numerous disciplines such as math, physics, chemistry, writing, and business. Automatic recordings of sessions can help educators monitor student/tutor use.
Concerns:: Free usage is available once per day for 30 minutes. Otherwise, users need accounts either through their institution or privately.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:

Strengths:

The GoBoard makes an effective online teaching tool when used between teachers and students, student to student, or as part of an online tutoring system. Tools provided can be used at any time in the learning process from basic tutoring all the way through advanced classes, or as a collaborative study tool for students. The site was designed especially for STEM work and so equations, calculators, other tools are built in.

In addition, the tutoring session materials can be arranged in an organized manner by using the Pages option. The pages can be downloaded in PDF format and provided as study materials.

Lastly, sessions are automatically recorded and emailed to the user.

Concerns:

The number given for information about pricing is not working.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:

Strengths:

Since the tool has so many features and tools, it is recommended that the user review the pertinent video to get an idea of how the tool can be used.

Next download the GoBoard User Guide which clearly and succintly walks you through the steps to get started, navigation, the basic tools, advanced tools, and other functions including how to size your screen for various purposes, drawing on the screen, screen sharing in general and chat.

Finally review the Troubleshooting section at the end of the user guide- you will find many tips here.

The material is easy to use, very intuitive. Tools are organized and easy to access. There is a link so that tutors can get help with best practices in tutoring as well as a user guide. Additionally administrators have a guide and access to a dashboard of information about tutoring sessions.

Concerns:

The GoBoard can be used with a keyboard, and a list of keyboard shortcuts is provided in the user guide, however, a pen touch screen may be easier for some users.

Other Issues and Comments:

Note: Free sessions are limited to 30 minutes per day on GoBoard.com (GoBoard Lite).

The following features are available with GoBoard Pro:

Unlimited session lengths up to 5 people per room
Screen sharing all sessions recorded automatically for compliance, accountability, and training
PDF of the board emailed to students and tutors after the session which serves as a great study tool
Customized resource library: load up your documents for your tutors to access at any time during a session to save time
Administrator panel to track all sessions for accountability and payroll purposes

GoBoard Pro is 100% free (including recording) for educational institutions and non-profits, and free for tutors listed on TutorMatchingService.com. For companies and others, there is a low per-hour cost.

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