The university has sadly had to discontinue the use of Flinga. Read more from Flamma
There is currently no product in the University's portfolio that is fully comparable to Flinga. When choosing a replacement, it is important to consider your own needs and choose the most suitable option. Below we have collected a few options and explained what kind of use they might be best suited for.
If you want to organise a simple message board, vote or poll, Presemo, which has been in use at the university for a long time, could be the easiest option. Participation in Presemo sessions can also be done well on mobile phones. Participation is also possible without logging in, so Presemo is also suitable for events with participants from outside the university, for example. There is no actual whiteboard view in Presemo.
In Presemo, you work with three views (control, web and screen), which may seem a little different at first. It is therefore worth practising the workflow on your own computer beforehand. It is worth opening three tabs in the browser and testing these views in practice. Using Presemo can be made even easier if you have two devices. For example, you can open the Control view on your own laptop and display the answer view (Screen) on a room projection screen, using the classroom computer.
In Microsoft Whiteboard, participants must be logged in to a university account, which complicates things a bit and excludes non-university participants. This option is best suited for internal use within the university, for example as part of a Teams channel. This option seems to allow the construction of sessions at least remotely similar to Flinga Wall and Whiteboard.
Zoom's own Whiteboard is best suited for distance learning with Zoom. Whiteboards can be created in advance in the Zoom application and then opened during the meeting for participants. The features available on the whiteboard are quite comprehensive and very similar to those available on Miro. Zoom whiteboards can also be used without a remote meeting by sharing them with participants via a link.
Miro has a very comprehensive feature set for whiteboarding and can be used for a wide range of sessions. However, Miro is designed more as a facilitation tool, so it has quite a few unnecessary features from a teaching point of view and the adoption threshold is quite high. The use of Miro also requires a little practice on the part of the participant to be able to work smoothly.
The application is clearly designed to be used mainly on computers and tablets. This can be problematic in some teaching situations. For example, voting and writing on sticky notes do not currently (December 2024) work properly in smartphone browsers. By installing the Miro app on your phone, you will be able to use these features more easily.
In Miro, the editing rights of participants cannot be limited. Everyone has equal editing rights to all unlocked objects. This is something to be aware of when planning your use.
If you have problems logging into Miro, please contact the University Helpdesk. If necessary, they can send you an invitation to access your University Miro account.
Links:
In an attempt to make the implementation of Miro easier, we created two ready-made templates (MIRO WALL and MIRO WHITEBOARD) under the university's Miro license, which makes it a little easier to test the suitability of the software for your own teaching. Once you have logged in to the university's Miro account as instructed by the Helpdesk, these templates can be found behind the Explore Templates button. The university's own templates are collected under the CUSTOM TEMPLATES section. Below you will find links to tutorial videos on how to use the templates:
Tutorial video for MIRO WALL-template (in Finnish):
https://www.helsinki.fi/fi/unitube/video/be539166-ce14-4038-bdc6-fe8e42b4c486
Tutorial video for MIRO WHITEBOARD-template (in Finnish):
https://www.helsinki.fi/fi/unitube/video/44962095-e4d1-481f-9bac-f8222d59d6ae
Flinga and its associated company are subject to several uncertainties, which makes the continued use of the service at the university uncertain. Read more from Flamma
Flinga is a type of online-based whiteboard that is particularly well suited for activities such as communal knowledge building and promoting active student participation during teaching. Flinga is browser-based, so you can use it with a computer, a tablet or a mobile phone as long as you are connected to the internet.
The version of Flinga available to university staff and students is the Campus version, which contains three different tools.
Flinga was available to all members of staff and students at the University of Helsinki. To create and manage Flinga sessions, one could use their university credentials at hy.flinga.fi.
Participants of a session will be directed to edu.flinga.fi and they will receive a session-specific access code that Flinga will generate automatically. Some mobile devices require you to press SEND to show the message field and other tools. This mostly applies to mobile phones. Watch the video.
Flinga has some accessibility problems and there is no easy way to fix them. The biggest problem is that screen reader programs do not work with it properly. This must be noticed when planning teaching.
Flinga instructions in English
Flinga’s video instructions (in Finnish):
More information and tips on how to use Flinga are available through the following links:
More information: edutech@helsinki.fi
The use of Flinga has been discontinued and this accessibility statement is no longer updated.
Accessibility of the digital service
The Flinga system does not meet accessibility requirements currently. In terms of accessibility, it has problems for which the service provider has so far failed to find solutions. The biggest problem is that screen readers don't work with it. This must be taken into account when planning teaching.
Did you notice a lack of accessibility in our digital service? Let us know by emailing us at edutech@helsinki.fi.
Supervisory authority
If you notice accessibility issues on the website, first leave your feedback with us, the administrators of the website. It may take up to 14 days to receive an answer. If you are not satisfied with the answer or do not receive an answer from us within two weeks, you may file a complaint with the Regional State Administrative Agency for Southern Finland. The agency website has detailed instructions (in Finnish and Swedish only) on how to file a complaint and how the issue will be handled.
Contact information of the supervisory authority:
Regional State Administrative Agency for Southern Finland
Accessibility supervision unit
www.saavutettavuusvaatimukset.fi
saavutettavuus(at)avi.fi
Phone +358 2950 16000 (switchboard)
The accessibility statement was updated on 10.11.2022.