Jamboard is winding down in 2024. This article explains how to prepare and transition to another digital whiteboard solution. Learn why we’re making this change.
Timeline for the Jamboard wind down
| Milestone | Definition |
|---|---|
| Until October 1, 2024 |
|
| Starting on October 1, 2024 |
|
| After December 31, 2024 |
|
In addition to enabling users to proactively export their Jams, starting October 1, we will also automatically convert any remaining Jams to PDF files and save them to each users’ Google Drive, in the same place they were originally stored. PDF conversions are being done on a best-effort basis and will continue after the Jamboard wind down on December 31, 2024. Sometimes a Jam file may be corrupted, which prevents us from creating a PDF. In these cases, a blank PDF will be generated. We recommend that users proactively migrate the Jams to one of our partners to continue working on them.
What you need to do
To prepare your organization for the wind down:
- Before December 31, 2024: Download your Jam files. Learn how to download Jam files.
- Starting today: Begin to evaluate alternative digital whiteboarding solutions for your organization using the guidelines below.
How to evaluate digital whiteboard solutions
When evaluating digital whiteboard alternatives to Jamboard, consider these key criteria:
- Compatibility with Google Workspace for Education
- Age requirements
- Privacy and security
- Cost
- Deployment options for educational institutions
- Features
Digital whiteboard alternatives to Jamboard
Compatibility with Google Workspace for Education
- Admins can manage and deploy FigJam licenses from within the Google Admin console using the app licensing system. This takes about 5 minutes to set up. Learn more in the Figma help center.
- FigJam has a Jamboard importer. This video demonstrates how to import Jam files into FigJam and convert them into fully editable files.
- FigJam integrates with Google Meet so you can start a FigJam from within a meeting.
- You can attach FigJam whiteboards to Google Calendar events using Figma's Chrome extension.
- You can insert FigJam whiteboard files into Google Docs and Sheets as smart chips.
- FigJam also has an add-on for Google Classroom. This integration allows teachers to seamlessly assign, collect, and grade FigJam files, all without leaving Classroom—making FigJam a natural part of their workflow.
Age requirements
- FigJam may not be used by children under the age of 13 or another age as required by local law. In the United States, United Kingdom, and Japan, Figma may have an agreement with a student’s school that allows use by all students and educators at that school.
Privacy and security
- To learn more about Figma’s approach to privacy and security, visit Figma's Privacy policy.
Cost
- FigJam by Figma is available to educational institutions at no cost. Schools get access to Figma’s more premium tier, Enterprise, for no cost, including advanced admin and security capabilities. Learn more about Figma pricing.
Deployment capabilities for educational institutions
- In the US, UK, and Japan, full-school and district-wide deployments of Figma’s Enterprise tier are available through the Figma for Education program. In other countries, students and teachers can get started on their own by signing up at figma.com/education to get access to Figma’s Professional tier at no cost.
Features
- FigJam has all the same capabilities as Jamboard plus additional features like templates, native voting, timers, diagramming tools, stamps, stickers, and more. To learn how to use FigJam to do what you currently do in Jamboard, watch this video from Figma.
- For more information, including how to sign up for FigJam, import your Jam files, and find resources to manage this change, visit Figma’s website.
Compatibility with Google Workspace for Education
- As part of Google Workspace for Education, Google Drawings integrates seamlessly with other Google Workspace products, like Drive, Classroom, and more.
Age requirements
- Drawings can be used by students of all ages.
Privacy and security
- Drawings user data is safeguarded by the same industry-leading privacy and security policies and protections as other Google Workspace for Education products.
Cost
- Drawings is available to educational institutions at no cost as part of Google Workspace for Education.
Deployment capabilities for educational institutions
- Google Workspace for Education supports full-school and district-wide deployments at no cost. You can access Drawings using the same Google Workspace for Education account you have been using to access Jamboard.
Features
- While Drawings is not a full replacement for Jamboard, you can use it to accomplish many of the same tasks. For example:
- Collaboration
- To replicate sticky notes, create and duplicate (ctrl+d) colored shapes.
- To draw lines or hand write, use the Scribble feature.
- Classwork
- To show tasks completed on paper, ask students to insert an image via the camera.
- To allow students to edit attachments, make a copy for each student type in Google Classroom.
- Engaging instruction
- To organize content for users, use hyperlinks.
- To visually display content, insert media via your Drive or the web.
- Collaboration
Compatibility with Google Workspace for Education
- As part of Google Workspace for Education, Google Slides integrates seamlessly with other Workspace products, like Drive, Classroom, Meet, and more.
Age requirements
- Slides can be used by students of all ages.
Privacy and security
- Slides user data is safeguarded by the same industry-leading privacy and security policies and protections as other Google Workspace for Education products.
Cost
- Slides is available to educational institutions at no cost as part of Google Workspace for Education.
Deployment capabilities for educational institutions
- Google Workspace for Education supports full-school and district-wide deployments at no cost. You can access Slides using the same Google Workspace for Education account you have been using to access Jamboard.
Features
- While Slides is not a full replacement for Jamboard, you can use it to accomplish many of the same tasks. For example:
- Collaboration
- To replicate sticky notes, create and duplicate (ctrl+d) colored shapes.
- To give each user a place to work, use multiple slides in the same file. Tip: Assign each user a slide number in advance.
- To draw lines, use the Scribble feature . You must reselect the tool after each shape is drawn.
- Classwork
- To lock an image, change the background of the slide. This allows it to be used like a graphic organizer, making it easy for users to annotate or type on top.
- To create a template to replicate across the Slides files, use the Theme builder.
- To show tasks completed on paper, ask students to insert an image via the camera.
- To allow students to edit attachments, share attachments using the make a copy for each student interaction option in Google Classroom.
- The Google Assignments LTI provides users with a file of template Slides for edits and submissions.
- Engaging instruction
- To organize content for users, use hyperlinks.
- To visually display content, insert media via your Drive or the web.
- To present Slides use the Google Meet integration.
- To annotate when presenting Slides, use the pen tool.
- Collaboration
Compatibility with Google Workspace for Education
- Lucidspark integrates with Google Meet so you can start a Lucidspark board from within a meeting. After the meeting, files are automatically stored in your Google Drive. You can also attach Lucidspark boards to Google Calendar events, access Drive files from Lucidspark, embed Docs, Sheets and Slides into Lucidspark, and install the Lucidspark Workspace add-on to add Lucidspark boards to your Docs, Sheets and Slides.
- Lucidspark’s Jamboard importer allows you to migrate and import unlimited and fully editable Jamboard files into Lucidspark, for free. Learn more in this video
- Learn about embedding Docs, Sheets, and Slides into Lucidspark
- Install the Lucidspark Workspace add-on
Age requirements
- Lucid’s policies state that Lucidspark is available to students of all ages with a Lucid for Education account. Learn more about Lucid's policies.
Privacy and security
- To learn more about Lucid’s approach to privacy and security, check out the Lucid for Education privacy policy or privacy overview page.
Cost
- In K-12, individual users, schools and districts can get Lucidspark at no cost. In higher education, individual users can get Lucidspark at no cost. Learn more about Lucid for Education.
Deployment capabilities for educational institutions
- Lucidspark can be deployed to K-12 departments, classrooms, schools, or districts at no cost. To learn more, higher education institutions can contact Lucid.
Features
- Lucidspark has all the same capabilities as Jamboard plus additional features, like hundreds of customizable templates, tools for educators to manage student interactions, locking to prevent accidental changes, commenting, hyperlinking, a limitless canvas, and more.
- To learn how to use Lucidspark to do what you currently do in Jamboard, watch these Lucid videos.
- For more information, including how to sign up for Lucidspark, import your Jam files, and find resources to manage this change, visit Lucid’s Jamboard replacement website.
Compatibility with Google Workspace for Education
- Miro integrates with Google Workspace so you can brainstorm directly in Google Meet, attach Miro boards to Google Calendar events, import files from Docs, Sheets, and Slides, and seamlessly integrate with Drive. Until December 31, 2024, you can also use Miro to import your Jam files from Drive.
- For Google Meet SeriesOne Board 65 and Desk 27 devices, you can launch Miro directly on the device or within Google Meet.
Age requirements
- Miro’s policies state that it is not intended for, and may not be used by, anyone under the age of 16. Learn more about Miro's policies.
Privacy and security
- To learn more about Miro’s approach to privacy and security, visit Security at Miro.
Cost
- Miro’s Education Plan is available for students (up to 10 users) and educators at no cost for up to 100 users. Learn more about Miro’s education offerings and pricing for more than 100 collaborators.
Deployment capabilities for educational institutions
- For educational institutions looking for school or district deployments (more than 100 users), contact Miro to learn about the Miro enterprise plan, which also includes advanced admin and security capabilities.
Features
- Miro has all the same capabilities as Jamboard plus additional features, including diagramming, thousands of customizable templates, tools for workshop facilitation and session management,130+ integrations, MiroAI, and more.
- To learn how to use Miro to do what you currently do in Jamboard, watch this video from Miro. For more information, including how to sign up for Miro, import your Jam files, and find resources to manage this change, visit Miro’s Jamboard replacement website.
Compatibility with Google Workspace for Education
- Pear Deck offers an add-on for Google Workspace and is part of Google Classroom add-ons.
- Install Pear Deck for Google Workspace
- Learn more about Pear Deck + Google Classroom
Age requirements
- Pear Deck is accessible to students, but only if their teacher has created a Pear Deck account. To learn more, go to Pear Deck’s terms of service.
Privacy and security
- To learn more about Pear Deck’s approach to privacy and security, please visit their Privacy & Trust Center and view their Product Privacy Policy.
- Pear Deck's Privacy & Trust Center
- Pear Deck's Product Privacy Policy
Cost
- Pear Deck is available at no cost for students and teachers. Prices vary for advanced teacher features. Check out Pear Deck's pricing.
Deployment capabilities for educational institutions
- Pear Deck can automatically deploy to install its extension on teachers' Google Slides app across your domain with Google Admin. Learn more about how to Install Marketplace apps in your domain.
Features
- Collaboration
- Pear Deck transforms presentations into active learning experiences to engage all learners and build their confidence with proven instructional strategies using real-time formative assessments for equitable engagement.
- Classwork
- Built to encourage instructional best practices in every lesson, Pear Deck supports teachers with high-impact, active-learning solutions, helping to engage every student and efficiently manage class discussion.
- Engaging Instruction
- Created to support proven strategies in daily classroom instruction, Pear Deck makes it easy for teachers to follow best practices that reduce achievement gaps and improve outcomes for all students through equitable access to high-quality learning materials.
- Whiteboarding
- Pear Deck does not offer native whiteboarding capabilities. To emulate a whiteboard, students submit individual responses and then if the teacher wants to display them all at once, they can.
Frequently asked questions
Google Workspace for Education is committed to developing technology and partnering with industry-leading companies to ensure our customers have access to the most innovative hardware and software collaboration solutions. Over the past few years, we have heard from customers that digital whiteboard tools like FigJam by Figma, Miro, and Lucidspark are helping them collaborate and educate better.
As these tools have grown more capable, offering advanced features such as an infinite canvas, templates, voting, and more, we’ve decided to leverage our partner ecosystem for whiteboarding in Workspace and focus our efforts on supporting personalized and enriched learning experiences in Google Classroom, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and more.
We are working with FigJam by Figma, Lucidspark by Lucid, and Miro on migration paths for existing Jams, so previous work is not lost. This will enable Jamboard users to immediately start taking advantage of the new whiteboard technology on mobile, the web, within Google Meet, and on Series One devices. In addition to deep integration with Google Meet, users can also expect these whiteboard tools to be incorporated into Google Workspace, from Drive, to Calendar, to Docs. While they are not full replacements for Jamboard, you can also use Google Drawings and Google Slides to accomplish many of the same tasks.
FigJam, Lucidspark, and Miro will also have a Jamboard importer available by March 2024, which will allow you to migrate Jam files into their tools. We will provide an update once these tools are available.
Yes, you can keep your Jam files in Drive by saving them in PDF format. You'll no longer be able to access the Jamboard app or your Jam files in Drive. Learn how to download Jam files.
If you transition to FigJam, Lucidspark, or Miro, consider migrating your Jam files to that solution using their Jamboard importer tools. Those tools will be available by March 2024. In addition to enabling users to proactively export their Jams, before the end of 2024 we will also automatically convert any remaining Jams to PDF files and save them to each users’ Google Drive, in the same place they were originally stored. This will not require any further input from users and helps ensure Jam files are converted, not deleted. We will share more information on automatic conversion in the coming months.
After December 31, 2024, the Jamboard app will no longer be available. Export or migrate any Jams you want to keep before December 31, 2024.
If you own a 55-inch Jamboard device, review the end-of-life information. We will also work directly with educational institutions to compensate them for their Jamboard devices. We will share more details directly with customers via email about this program by the end of the year.
The Jamboard application will continue to work on the Series One Desk 27 and Board 65 devices until October 1, 2024. Later this year, we will start to integrate with our digital whiteboard partners to bring their experiences to these devices.
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