Creating a collaborative learning space with Slides

Learn how to use Google Slides to create activities that learners can do alongside each other individually or in groups.

Check out the presentation below to see how. Click on the full screen icon (two arrows) in the bottom right corner to see a larger version.

To find templates for creating collaborative workspaces in Slides, check out the collection at Ditch that Textbook: ditchthattextbook.com/resources/templates

To see how we have used Slides this way, take a look at some of the samples in the Collaboration Slides Folder.

If you’d like to learn more about using Google slides as a collaborative workspace or schedule a demonstration, contact Tracey or our Quick Tech Help service.

Another way to create spaces for collaborative is to use a whiteboard or a a Padlet Board.

Padlet has introduced a digital whiteboard they are calling Sandboxes. The sandboxes are different from the Padlet Boards. Padlet Sandboxes have similar features to Jamboard* plus extras. The communication tools include voice recordings, drawing, typing, sticky notes, shapes and video uploads. You can create a slide show and play it like a slide presentation or use it as an activity board. There is a set of education templates that can help you get started. You can have different groups working on different cards (frames or pages) and prevent them from seeing what others are doing. Here is one we made for a workshop in June 2025: Ideas from teachers (It is “frozen” so you cannot add to it but you can remake it). The Sandboxes can be integrated with Google Drive and Classroom. Padlet does not require users to create accounts to participate on the Sandboxes. Padlet allows you to have three active Sandboxes and Boards on a free account. You can store your old work but you can only have three working at one time. They have several tiers of pricing that allow for more Sandboxes and Boards to be active and for different numbers of editors per Sandbox or Board. (We made a Padlet Tip Sheet that explains how to use the Boards.)