Comments on: How to use FigJam in the classroom: 20 ideas + templates https://ditchthattextbook.com/figjam/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=figjam Ed tech, creative teaching, less reliance on the textbook. Wed, 11 Oct 2023 16:08:58 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.2 By: Geri D https://ditchthattextbook.com/figjam/#comments/130532 Wed, 11 Oct 2023 16:08:58 +0000 https://ditchthattextbook.com/?p=25874#comment-130532 I am a high school library media specialist. I am excited about finding ways to use Figjam in our classrooms, but PLEASE don’t disregard the need to source images and information in the product itself. An example that doesn’t include these basic requirements of academic integrity suggests that it doesn’t matter.

]]>
By: Farrar Williams https://ditchthattextbook.com/figjam/#comments/130515 Thu, 05 Oct 2023 15:37:50 +0000 https://ditchthattextbook.com/?p=25874#comment-130515 Okay, I bit the bullet and tried it. I hope Figjam is listening because there is no way I see this working for the vast majority of educators completely as is. I teach motivated teens who are pretty good at school tasks, not prone to impulse control issues, and generally organized thinkers. I teach live online classes, so my students are reasonably tech savvy. Basically, you’d think if it worked with anyone, it would work in my context. After my test run, I can see it would get better, but I’m not interested in going back in its current form.

Working with Figjam was like trying to have a serious conversation in the middle of a loud carnival. I understand how to lock down elements on the page, but there doesn’t seem to be any way to lock down features. Students can mess with them nonstop. And even if they don’t mess with them, trying to figure out where to look with a million little hands all swiping everywhere was a massive distraction. It just had too many attractive nuisance elements.

I really like some of the features, like the polls and voting systems as well as the ability to give ideas feedback in real time on the board. The timer is super useful. The ability to customize and change things around is cool. But I have to be able to lock down how students use it. The number one benefit of Jamboard is that it’s a little bit boring. You need the interface to be a bit more limited so students can focus on the actual learning task at hand.

]]>