With BBB, teachers get features like a whiteboard, presentations, chat, polls, and breakout rooms – all wired directly into what teaching needs. For us, the move is about narrowing the gap between technology and pedagogy: the digital classroom should be a natural part of the learning environment, not a separate tool on the side.
Digital teaching isn't only about being able to connect. It's about being able to teach, activate, follow up and create presence even when the classroom is digital.
That's why Omniway has chosen to move from Zoom to BigBlueButton, often shortened to BBB.
It isn't a swap from one video meeting tool to another. It's a step toward a digital learning environment closer to teaching.
Why we made the move
Zoom is a strong tool for meetings. But teaching isn't the same as a meeting.
In a meeting, participants need to talk, listen, share screens, and make decisions. In teaching, the teacher also needs to drive activity, see who's engaged, split the class up, ask questions, gather answers, work with material, and pick up students at risk of falling outside.
BigBlueButton is built with teaching as its starting point. The platform is designed for digital classrooms and includes features that support the teacher's work before, during, and after the lesson.
For Omniway, that fits how we see our platform: technology shouldn't be a side track next to teaching, it should support the teacher's and student's daily work.
A digital classroom – not just a meeting
The biggest difference is that BBB makes it easier to think lesson, not meeting.
The teacher can launch a digital teaching situation where presentation, whiteboard, chat, participants, and group activities all live in the same environment. That means the lesson can be planned and run more like a classroom, even when participants are in different places.
It also reduces the need for separate links, external tools, and manual steps. The goal is for teachers to spend less time on technology and more time teaching.
How teachers can use BBB in Omniway
Start teaching directly in the learning environment
When the digital classroom sits close to the course, the material, and the participants, the steps around it shrink. Less focus on administration, more focus on the lesson's content.
For the teacher it means an easier start. For the student it means a clearer way into the lesson.
Use whiteboards and presentations actively
BBB lets teachers show presentations, share screens, and work visually with content during the lesson.
It makes it easier to explain, mark up, draw, show connections, and build up a line of reasoning step by step. That is especially valuable in teaching where students need to follow a process – languages, math, vocational subjects, or supervised work.
Drive engagement with questions and polls
A digital lesson quickly becomes passive if students just listen. With questions and polls, the teacher can check understanding mid-lesson.
Simple questions like:
Which option do you think is right?
Should we go through this again?
Which area do you want to dive deeper into?
That way the teacher gets signals during the lesson, not only afterwards.
Split the class into smaller groups
Breakout rooms make it possible to split participants up for discussions, exercises, or collaboration in smaller groups.
It makes the digital lesson feel more like a physical classroom: shared walk-through first, then group work, then a regroup.
For many students, it's also easier to speak up and participate in a smaller group than in front of the whole class.
Get a better view of participation
In a digital classroom, the teacher needs to see more than who is logged in. It's about understanding who is active, who is keeping up, and who might need support.
BBB gives teachers better conditions to follow along and create a more present digital lesson.
It isn't control for control's sake. It's a way to spot needs in time.
What does it mean for the students?
For students, the difference should show up as clearer teaching, fewer technical hurdles, and better opportunities to take part.
A good digital lesson shouldn't feel like sitting in a meeting. It should feel like being part of a learning experience.
With BBB, students can follow walk-throughs, take part in chat and conversation, answer questions, work in groups, and access the lesson's material in a more cohesive way.
It creates better conditions for activity, participation, and learning.
Start simple
Our recommendation is to start with what matters most.
Use BBB for a normal lesson with presentation, audio, video, and chat. Then add an interactive element, like a question or a short poll. Once the group is comfortable, try breakout rooms for discussions or exercises.
A simple structure could be:
Before the lesson:
Upload material to the course and prepare what students will do during the session.
During the lesson:
Start the BBB room, walk through the content, use the presentation or whiteboard, and ask questions along the way.
Mid-lesson:
Split students into breakout rooms for a short task or discussion.
After the lesson:
Collect questions, share any notes, and follow up with students who need support.
What matters isn't using all the features at once. What matters is using the right feature at the right pedagogical moment.
Our goal: a platform closer to teaching
For Omniway, BigBlueButton is part of a larger direction.
We want to build a platform where teaching, administration, communication, and follow-up hang together. Where digital classrooms aren't an extra service alongside, but an integrated part of the learning environment.
It's about giving teachers better tools, but also about giving students better conditions to succeed. That's why we choose BigBlueButton – not because digital teaching needs yet another tool, but because teaching needs the right tool.