How to teach maths online so students can follow every step

1. Choose a way to write

A mouse is too slow and imprecise for maths notation. Pick one of these:

• Pen tablet without a screen (for example an entry-level Wacom, Huion or XP-Pen). Cheapest; you look at the monitor while writing on the pad, which takes a few days to get used to.
• Pen display — a tablet with a screen you write on directly. Most natural, more expensive, needs desk space.
• 2-in-1 laptop or Surface with an active pen. One device for the call and the board; write directly on the screen. Make sure the whiteboard app has palm rejection.

2. Use a whiteboard that gets out of the way

Look for: an infinite canvas so you never erase working students still need; single-key tool switching; a ruler or straight-line tool for axes and geometry; grid paper for graphs; the ability to paste questions; and an easy export for notes. Low input latency matters more than feature count — any lag between pen and ink makes handwriting messy.

InfinitiCanvas is one option built specifically around this list, for Windows. Whatever you choose, test it with a real lesson on your own hardware before committing.

3. Structure each lesson on the board

1. Warm-up page: two or three retrieval questions pasted in before the lesson.
2. Teaching page: the new idea, worked left to right across the canvas, with the graph or diagram beside the algebra rather than on another page.
3. Worked example page: a full exam-style question, annotated with the method in a second colour.
4. Practice page: questions for students to attempt while you watch their responses.

Keep a colour convention and stick to it: one colour for working, one for annotations and reasons, one for final answers.

4. Share the board well

• Share the whiteboard window, not your whole screen. Guides: Zoom, Teams, Google Meet.
• Write slightly larger and bolder than feels natural; compression and phone screens shrink detail.
• Narrate as you write, and pause after each line so students can copy or ask.
• Zoom in for a fiddly step, then zoom out so students see where it fits.

5. Check understanding without a shared board

You do not need students to draw on your board. Ask for answers in chat, ask a student to hold working up to their camera, or have them send a photo that you paste onto the board and mark live. Hinge questions with multiple-choice answers in chat work well for whole classes.

6. Send the notes

Export the finished pages as images and share them through your LMS, Google Classroom, Teams or email. Students keep exactly what they saw; you keep the project file to reuse next term.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Erasing working to make room — use an infinite canvas and pan instead.
• Writing too small or in pale colours.
• Sharing the entire desktop and exposing notifications.
• Relying on a cloud board over a weak connection; a local app keeps working if the Wi-Fi drops.

Common questions

Related InfinitiCanvas guides