Miro within Edinburgh College of Art 

Rebecca Norris is a Learning Technologist within the Edinburgh College of Art (ECA). In this article we learn about how she uses Miro in her daily tasks.  

Miro is used across the Edinburgh College of Art by hundreds of staff, facilitating collaborative learning and project management. As a Learning Technologist within the ECA, Rebecca’s role primarily involves supporting academic staff in integrating technology into their teaching practices.   

“I personally use Miro for collaborative planning, brainstorming, and visual organisation. In the ECA Learning Technology team we use it to design training workshops, learning activities, and facilitate virtual course design workshops with academic staff. In turn, we also support academic staff in the use of Miro to facilitate collaboration and groupwork in their courses.”  

Rebecca Norris

In the Bachelor of Fine Arts Programme, a course Miro board has been set up, with weekly formative tasks for students to complete. Linking specific Frames within a Miro board allows the course instructors to link directly to each weekly task from Learn, making the navigation process for students easier. Within each formative task, students are able to view, comment, and build upon each other’s work in real-time.  

For many courses, Miro boards are used to specifically support student collaboration and instructor and peer feedback, posting questions and comments relating to such materials. This gives students the opportunity to learn from their peers and to use this knowledge to inform their own understanding and creative practice.  

Instructors also use Miro to replace static presentations with more interactive spaces. The Miro board can be used both synchronously and asynchronously, allowing students to add (anonymously or not) ideas both during and outside of class.    

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Advice for New Users  

Strategic planning is key to making sure new users quickly become competent. Rebecca has put together a number of key points she recommends to any instructor:  

1. Familiarise yourself with Miro first by using the tutorials and resources available on the Miro website.     
2. Clearly define what you want to achieve with Miro. Whether it's brainstorming, collaborative assignments, or presenting information, knowing your objectives will guide how you set up your boards. Speaking with your school’s Learning Technology team at this stage, can help you quickly find out how Miro can meet your requirements and ensure it is well-integrated.    
3. Organise your Miro boards in a clear and intuitive manner. Use the Accessibility Checker and frames to separate different tasks or modules to support all users. Maybe consider colour-coding or labelling the frames for easy navigation.      
4. Take the time to introduce Miro to your students. Show them the basics of how to navigate and use the tool.    
5. Give clear guidelines on how you expect students to use Miro. This could include how to structure their contributions, tips for commenting on peers' work, and deadlines.    
6. Virtual Learning Environment Integration: You can link specific Miro frames or boards directly from your Learn course. This ensures seamless access and integration into your course.    
7. Encourage students to use text, images, videos, and other media to express their ideas. Teach students to use interactive elements like voting, tagging, and commenting to make the boards lively and interactive.