Student engagement tools

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By selecting a degree programme you are able to see the general content as well as the possible degree programme-specific content.

The University of Helsinki centrally supports a range of tools that are suitable for engaging participants in both teaching and other activities. For example, surveys, polls and the use of sticky notes or other elements on a shared workspace are effective ways of gathering different types of content from participants and organising ideas together. The descriptions below are intended to help you find a tool that suits your needs in terms of the number of participants, the time available, the purpose of the activity and the method of implementation. 

Two additional activation tools are available to all members of the University community under a trial campus license until the end of the first teaching period in the autumn (18 October 2026). See the news article in Flamma for more information.
Presemo
Zoom Whiteboard
Microsoft Forms
Microsoft Whiteboard
Miro

Presemo

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.  

Zoom 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. 

Microsoft Forms

Many of us have mainly used Microsoft Forms to create surveys, but it is also well suited to engaging participants, for example during lectures and events. Forms’ Present mode allows you to organize various types of surveys, quizzes, and polls in real time. In Presentation mode, a session link and QR code automatically appear on the screen, allowing participants to join the session via a computer or mobile device without needing a separate app. Responses submitted during the session are compiled into clear graphs and diagrams displayed in the Presentation mode. Forms offers a wide variety of question types, making it suitable for a range of uses (e.g. likert scale, ranking, rating, multiple choice, text, etc.).

Microsoft Whiteboard

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.

Miro

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:  

Ready-made boards for Miro 

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: