Whiteboard for Google Classroom: share one board with your class

Step 1: set up one board the class can write on

1. 1Open the ready board above, or start a blank one. Change the question and the group names to yours.
2. 2Open Share and choose "Anyone with the link can edit". This matters: a new board starts as "Anyone with the link can view", so a student who opens the link could look but not write.
3. 3Copy the link. It starts with instaboard.app/b/.
4. 4Test it the way a student sees it. Open the link in a private or incognito window. You should see the board with a "Sign in to edit" bar. That is the view a student gets before they sign in.

Each student who signs in can add cards, stickies and pen strokes to the same board. The free plan has no limit on collaborators. A board has no roster and records no per-student work, so ask students to put their first name on each card.

Step 2: post it in Google Classroom

These are Google's own steps for attaching a link, from Classroom Help ("Create an assignment" and "Post announcements to your students", read November 5, 2026):

1. 1Go to classroom.google.com, sign in and open your class.
2. 2Click Classwork, then Create, then Assignment. For a plain notice, use Announce something to your class on the Stream page instead.
3. 3Enter a title and instructions. Say what to do on the board and which list to use.
4. 4Under Attach, click Link and paste the board's link. (On an announcement it is Add, then Link.)
5. 5To make the work ungraded, set Points to Ungraded. Choose the class or just the students or groups who should get it, then post.

If you want each group on its own board, make one board per group and post them to separate groups using Classroom's student-group option (it is in the same assignment screen), or put all groups on one board with one list each, as the ready board does.

Step 3: or put it on a Google Sites page

From Google Sites Help ("Add or edit text & images" and "Add Google files, videos, website content, & more", read November 5, 2026). Start with the button, because it is the method Google documents for a link:

1. 1Open your site in Google Sites and go to the page.
2. 2On the right, click Insert, then Button.
3. 3Type a name such as "Open our class board", paste the board's link, and click Insert.
4. 4Click Publish at the top right.

Sites also lets you show another website's page inside yours: Insert, then Embed, enter the URL, then Insert and Publish. Google adds: "Some websites won't let you add their content to your site." We haven't tested an Instaboard board inside a published Google Site. Our pages don't send headers that block framing, and a board opens inside a frame on an ordinary page, but try it with your own site, and if Sites refuses, use the button. A board is also cramped to write on inside a small frame, so the button, which opens it full screen, is likely the better choice.

Running it live: use the code

For a lesson where everyone is in the room or on a call, a join code is quicker than a link. In Share, tap Get a join code. It makes a 4-digit code, and the dialog also shows a QR code you can put on a projector. Students enter it on the Instaboard home screen under "Join a board with a code". The app says the code expires after 2 hours of inactivity, so don't post a code in Classroom for homework; post the link. You can remove a code or make a new one at any time.

Instaboard also has built-in video calls, so a lesson can run on the board without opening another tool. Free calls run up to 60 minutes per call, with a warning 10 minutes before the end, and everyone needs a free sign-in to join a call.

What students see

• Before signing in: the board, view-only, with a "Sign in to edit" bar. They can read what others have written.
• To write: sign in free with Google, Apple or email. Then they can add cards, draw and move things.
• Their own free boards: once signed in, a board a student opens from your link takes one of their 5 free board slots. A student who is already at 5 can still open the link; the app says the board won't be added to their boards.
• School rules: some schools restrict which sites students can sign in to. Check with your school before relying on it, and don't ask students under 13 to use it.

When something else is the better choice

• You need turn-in, grading and a record per student. Use a Google Docs or Slides attachment and choose "Make a copy for each student" in Classroom. That is built for it; an Instaboard link is not.
• Students must write without signing in, or are under 13. Use a tool built for that. Instaboard needs a free sign-in to write and is written for ages 13 and up.
• You want classroom-management widgets such as timers and noise meters on a projector. Classroomscreen is built around those.
• Your whole class lives inside Google Docs. A shared Slides deck with one slide per group may be simpler.

For a list of replacements for the old Jamboard, see Jamboard alternatives for teachers.

What Instaboard doesn't do for classes

• No class mode, no roster and no grading. There are no assignments, no attendance and no per-student view.
• No Classroom sign-in or sync. Students sign in to Instaboard separately; Classroom does not see the board.
• Writing needs a free sign-in. Viewing doesn't.
• No recording of calls.
• The free plan is 5 boards and 150 items per account (cards, lists, images, text boxes; pen strokes, sections and arrows don't count), with 3 images and 1 file per board. Pro is $5 a month billed yearly ($59.99), or $7.99 monthly; your students don't need it to write on a board you share.
• Import PDF is not the way to bring in handouts right now. Paste a picture or type the prompt onto a card.

Questions