Share your examples of Lucid in Higher Ed

Hello everyone!  I am Jim Bard and I work with pre-service teachers participating in student teaching.  Sharing ideas and experiences with each other is a crucial part of the curriculum, but this can be difficult since all of the students are spread out across the state.  I use Lucidspark as a place for students to easily share ideas with each other even though they aren’t physically together.  I like how students can share with stickies, add images, add links, and ask their classmates for advice.  Here is an example from one of my cohorts.

I had the privilege of joining a classroom discussion at Brigham Young University focused on logical fallacies. The session began with an engaging introduction to critical thinking and the common logical fallacies we often use when making decisions or drawing conclusions. Afterward, the class split into groups, each tasked with evaluating a scenario and identifying the logical fallacy it represented.

It was inspiring to see the students' enthusiasm as they used tools like emojis, voting features, sticky notes, and more to participate actively. These tools allowed them to engage meaningfully without feeling pressured to speak aloud, fostering inclusivity. Some students shared their insights verbally, while others contributed quietly yet effectively.

The instructor later shared that this lecture was overwhelmingly rated as the students' favorite of the semester! They appreciated how intuitive and engaging the tools were, making critical thinking not just accessible but also fun.
 

Hi all! My name is Mia Hoyt and I am a part of the Canvas and Ed Tech Support Services team at Northern Virginia Community Colleges. I create and run trainings for our staff and faculty on Canvas, Google, Microsoft, Zoom, and now on Lucid! 

I use Lucidspark to teach about Lucid. Normally we use Google Slides for our presentations, but I created our Lucid training utilizing Paths like slides. When I’m done giving the presentation part, I share the Lucidspark (my Paths are all locked down) and the participants get to try out the tools on the blank parts of the screen and then I show them how to manage participants as they are doing that. 

My faculty love the idea of not having to move back and forth between a presentation and a whiteboard. This is the way to have both in one place. 

Thanks for sharing Mia!  What an great idea to use paths to help guide users through different interactive activities!

Hi Folks, I am a faculty member in the Nurse Educator master’s program at Weber State University. I teach a Teaching Strategies course in Canvas. This past fall, I tried Lucidchart for the first time. The students created a concept map assignment for their potential students. The central concept in the map needed to be a medical condition but they could branch off as much as they liked.  In the assignment, they needed to provide a description of the assignment, specific instructions, and include a Lucid Concept map as an example. The students accomplished the assignment with no issues. There were varying levels of detail in their submissions (as you can see below), but overall, I was pleased. I will definitely use Lucid again.

My name is Larry Kaptain. I’m in my second year of teaching large classes (previously taught for 27 years and have been a dean for the past 16 years) in the core curriculum at the University of Colorado Denver. One class is a cultural diversity core course, U.S. Music: Social and Political Impact. This class focuses on the Star-Spangled Banner and jazz.

For a final project, I previously tried having students create e-portfolios and video presentations--without significant results. Then, I learned that Canvas had Lucid embedded. Concept maps seemed like a good project because students when students engage with each other, they often create something meaningful that would reflect what they learned in the class. The results exceeded my expectations, and I’m an optimistic guy.

1. Students did not receive a great deal of detail or examples. I made a series of short videos on Loom (1 minute to 2 minutes) explaining the steps and used Canvas to group the students (randomly—in pairs).
2. They received a bare-bones introduction and a simple template of the class’s five objectives. They were then instructed to make connections, utilize video, images, and sound files, and either focus on a single objective or present all five.
3. Of course, one person was unresponsive, so their partner submitted a project without collaboration.
4. I stressed that students obtained transferable skills (for life) when creating concept maps. Over and over, I heard, “I’ve never done this before.” My response was, “Good.”
5. The only technical challenge was for students who did not upload through the Canvas Assignment portal (to show in Speed Grader). They tried sending me PDFs or Lucid links of their work. I had to keep saying they were building in Lucid but needed to submit (upload) it to Canvas. To get this point across, I created written instructions, diagrams, and a 58-second video. It (mostly) worked.
6. They had 4 weeks (November and the first week of December), with an early introduction in September.

The course was on cultural diversity, and the five objectives were to use U.S. Music to better understand our nation's challenges with race, gender, religion, and immigration. The five objectives are marginalization, social access and rights, collective identities, self-awareness, and societal contributions.

This is the template that I provided to the students. 

The possibilities for students to use Lucid to affirm their learning are broad and deep. 

Hello!
My name is Gonzalo Raffo. I’m a higher education teacher at a couple of universities in Lima, Peru. I’ve been using virtual boards for teaching since the pandemic and have found Lucid to be very helpful in my classes. I tend to use it to portray the chronological order of the class, starting on the left with the students “signing in” (letting me know their name, aspirations, and profile picture) and then progressing through the topics to discuss. I like the fact that all the students can roam around the board, even peeking at what other groups are doing, and pairing it with AI features. I also enjoy the fact that I can quickly explain and develop the class session using the keyboard shortcut for sticky note creation (either Tab or Enter).
 

I teach first and second semester organic chemistry lectures, labs and recitations. Lucidspark is an excellent whiteboard (and a superior replacement for the discontinued Google Jamboard). I access Lucid via my  college’s LMS. and simply post the link in an LMS announcement such that my classes can join in. A screen share allows me to record the session such that students can see everything that is done in the whiteboard but we can also easily switch to other sites and documents as needed. 

In these classes it is essential to have students draw molecules and diagram reaction mechanisms. We also copy and paste (concurrent “Shift”, “Windows icon”, “S”) infrared spectra, 13C and 1H NMR spectra, ultraviolet spectra, gas chromatograms, etc, into our Lucidspark pages, easily and in real time, and then we annotate and interpret them.

I use the Lucid whiteboard for all remote lectures and for all face to face meetings. Class participation is excellent in the Lucidspark arena, as students participate directly by drawing with the pen and/or using the text box, in real time. They are also able to speak out verbally in person or on in the LMS, or answer questions via chat. Overall, student participation in the Lucid classroom is great and even shy students  participate in this low risk environment. The Lucid breakout rooms are much quicker and easier to setup, access, join, visit, and exit than are the LMS breakout rooms. 

Publishing the notes and saving them in the LMS in link and PDF format takes only seconds. The video recordings become available only minutes after the lecture. 

Students collaborate on their lab reports and research projects in the Lucid arena. It is easy for them to share graphs, documents, videos and other resources. Each team member can have their own pages and/or breakout rooms according to the groups specifications. They also use sticky notes (primarily to post comments on one another’s work) and other resources from Lucidchart.

Hey ​@housernr thank you for sharing all of the different ways that you are using Lucid to enhance student learning in your Chemistry courses!  I LOVE how you are using Lucid to create a collaborative environment full of a variety of different types of student active engagement.  Do you happen to have any screenshots of your collaborative boards to help us visualize your example?

​@housernr I just had to chime in and say that as someone whose college degree is in chemistry, I love what you’re doing for your students. I never really escaped pen and paper notes, but I so wish this had been my experience. I especially love your idea of directly annotating spectra and graphs! Who knows how many times I needed to ask “what is this?” or “what does that mean?” Students being able to label and ask as you go is great. I know that for many, O Chem is a terrifyingly difficult jump in complexity, but this would make me feel so confident as a student! 

I’m curious - do you have a custom shape library of molecules that your students can use when diagramming reaction mechanisms? It would be so cool to have a benzene or alcohol shape at the ready!

I teach Computer Science III Advanced and use Lucid to help students plan their programs before writing any code. After we explore a specific data structure, students design (or research and adapt) a project that meaningfully incorporates that structure.

Before they begin coding, students pause to think through the program requirements. They determine how their data will be represented, how objects and classes will interact, and how the overall system should function. Using Lucid, they create simplified UML diagrams and flowcharts that map out both the structure and logic of their program.

I’ve streamlined the diagramming process using my own adapted templates to fit our project timelines while still reinforcing core design principles. The goal is to model a more professional development environment where planning and architectural thinking come first.

Once their diagrams are complete, students pitch their project to me. This allows me to verify their understanding of the program’s design and ensure they can clearly explain how the selected data structure is being implemented and why it’s appropriate.

I’ve included an example of the expected format below. I’m mindful about sharing student work publicly, so I’ve provided a sample instead.

Example UML/Flowchart Diagram for CS 3 Adv

​@barnettem Thank you so much for sharing your example!  What a great way to give students hands-on learning experiences that they can apply to their future careers.