OpenBoard Whiteboard

OpenBoard is a cross-platform (Linux / Windows / macOS) interactive whiteboard application. It is currently maintained by the Education Department (DIP) of the Canton of Geneva in Switzerland.

OpenBoard is intended for use primarily in schools and can be used with interactive whiteboards or in a dual-screen setup with a touchscreen and secondary display.

Main features include:

• Drawing tools (pen, highlighter)
• Many different elements can be added to the board, including text boxes, pictures, videos, music and widgets (native or HTML/javascript)
• Easy management of all these elements through a built-in "library" pane
• Search tools to retrieve pictures from abulEdu.org and Pixabay.com
• Screencast function
• Desktop mode, to easily annotate anything outside of OpenBoard
• Integrated web browser

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is it from? OpenBoard was originally forked from Open-Sankoré 2.0, which was itself based on Uniboard. This fork was created to refocus the software on its original core functionalities and values, that is the work of a teacher in a classroom, privileging the ease of use. The evolution of this software will therefore take place in accordance with these core principles.

Cross-platform: Supported platforms are Windows (7+), macOS (10.9+) and Linux (tested on 16.04).

Who is involved? Currently, OpenBoard is maintained by the Education Department (DIP) of the canton of Geneva, in Switzerland. The University of Lausanne, who developped the original Uniboard software in 2003 has joined the effort by means of a logistical and financial contribution. An association project was developed in 2019.

A meeting was held in June 2016 between representatives from the universities of Lausanne, Neuchâtel, Fribourg, and Geneva; the departments of Education from the cantons of Geneva and Jura; and various institutions from the canton of Vaud (Switzerland) to together reflect on the desired evolution of OpenBoard.