Easy Zoom Whiteboard Activities

Easy Zoom Whiteboard Activities

The Zoom Whiteboard is a great tool for collaboration, brainstorming, and engagement, but not everyone has the time to give detailed instructions before using it. There are simple ways to make it intuitive and effective with minimal effort. Whether you're leading a meeting, facilitating a training, or teaching a class, here are easy ways to get participants engaged with little to no instruction.

You can also share a Zoom whiteboards asynchronously for collaboration before or after a meeting, or allow participants to contribute at their own pace. Zoom Whiteboard remains accessible outside of live sessions.

How many people can effectively use a Whiteboard synchronously?

While you can have a large group (25+) use a Whiteboard, effectiveness depends on the type of activity, group size and facilitation. 

• Small groups (2-10 people) - ideal for interactive brainstorming, drawing or problem-solving
• Medium groups (10-25 people) - good for structured activities, identify roles (a few editors, others as viewers/commenters) can help prevent chaos.
• Large groups (25+) - assign facilitators or use breakout rooms for smaller discussions before sharing results on a main board. 

Sticky Note Brainstorming

Share ideas using sticky notes. Set up a blank whiteboard, ask a question (e.g., “What do you hope to learn in this workshop?”), and let them add their responses. 

Additional tips for sticky notes:

• You can import a .csv spreadsheet then convert all the data into sticky notes from each of the cells. Just click the upload button on the whiteboard toolbar, select your file then click convert to sticky notes. 
• You can export data from a whiteboard to a .csv, .png or .pdf file.
• Instead of starting with a blank whiteboard, choose a Zoom Brainstorming template

Emoji or Stamp Polling

Introduce a quick feedback session by having participants use stamps or emojis. Label different areas of the board (e.g., “Agree,” “Disagree,” “Neutral”) and let participants place an emoji or stamp to indicate their stance. Using emojis or stamps is quick, visual and requires no typing. 

One-Word Opener or Debrief

At the start or end of a meeting, ask participants to write a single word that describes how they feel or what they learned. 

Simple Mind Mapping

Start with a central word or concept in the middle of the board, then have participants add one connecting idea each. This is good for project planning, collaborative discussions and brainstorming.

Matching Game

Prepare the whiteboard ahead of time with two columns or groups of items to be matched (e.g. words & definitions, questions & answers, images & descriptions, problems & solutions). Ask participants to draw lines connecting matching pairs or write numbers/letters next to correct pairs. It’s a fun, pressure-free way to engage participants to reinforce learning without a lot of instruction. 

Resources for Mastering Zoom Whiteboard

If you’re new to the Zoom Whiteboard or want to enhance your skills, here are some helpful resources:

• Zoom Help Center: Visit the Zoom Whiteboard Support page for official guides and troubleshooting tips.
• Reach out to Extension Learning Technologies (ELT): Connect with us at exttech@umn.edu to learn more about using the Zoom whiteboard.

Accessibility considerations with Zoom Whiteboard

from UMN Academic Technology Services

• People that use a screen reader, magnifier, dragon dictation, and other reading software are unable to contribute to Zoom Whiteboards.
• When an activity using the whiteboard requires the use of post-its, drag and drop content, adding images, making drawings using a mouse, device pen, finger, etc., some participants may not be able to independently engage and contribute to content by entering their ideas and/or reading the content posted by others.
• Participants who rely on adaptive technology or who experience psychological or cognitive disabilities may not be able to follow multiple directions, and track all the simultaneous changes in the content happening in real-time.

Read suggested practices and more about Zoom Whiteboard from UMN Academic Technology Services.

Summary

Using the Zoom Whiteboard doesn’t have to be complicated. By using these low-effort techniques, you can make collaboration easy and engaging for everyone.

Article by Karen Matthes, Extension Learning Technologies, klm@umn.edu