Tool Spotlight: Miro

What Is It?

Miro is an online visual collaboration platform designed to help teams brainstorm, plan, and design in a shared digital space. Think of it as an infinite whiteboard where individuals and groups can take the kernel of an idea or goal and grow it into a fully realized plan—mapping concepts, connecting workflows, and collaborating in real time or asyncronously. Miro allows instructors and students to visualize complex ideas with tools such as sticky notes, diagrams, and mind maps. Instructors can facilitate feedback with voting, timers, and polls. From building concept maps to managing projects and much more, Miro makes collaboration exciting.

Key features of Miro include:

• Infinite canvas: No boundaries—map out ideas, workflows, and strategies without zooming or scrolling limits. 
• Templates library: Hundreds of ready-to-use templates for brainstorming, class sessions, design sprints, and more. 
• Real-time collaboration: Multiple users can edit simultaneously, with live cursor tracking and instant feedback. 
• Presentation mode: Boards can be turned into interactive presentations for meetings or workshops. 
• AI-powered tools: Automate tasks like organizing brainstorms, generating summaries, and creating diagrams.  
• Organization through teams, spaces and groups 

Miro is currently being piloted by Northwestern IT through the end of 2026 and is available at no cost to instructors and students. 

What Do Instructors Say About It?

“One of the core principles of the material I teach is about teamwork and collaboration,” an instructor in the Masters of Information Technology program shared. “When we teach those techniques, we use Miro to get the students collaborating so that they're also experiencing the concepts that we're trying to teach.”  

“Miro can give this overall look of student work during a class,” an SPS Distance Learning instructor explained.  

A Beinen School of Music instructor used Miro in an aural skills is a class where students needed to listen to musical examples and then hand notate what they hear. 

How Does It Work?

Instructors should contact canvas@northwestern.edu to request a Miro account. They should include a list of student NU emails as well. Once the accounts have been created, they can sign in at miro.com using the SSO options and their Northwestern email address.  From there, they can choose a template or create a blank board, and click the share option to send to their students. Instructors can visit Miro Academy to find videos and courses on using Miro, or view Miro’s schedule of weekly live webinars. The Help Center also offers comprehensive product documentation.