For IB World Schools and online schools
Online IB classes, with the inquiry intact
Pencil Spaces is a virtual classroom for schools teaching the IB online. Teachers run live classes, move students into breakout rooms with their own boards and bring them back together, as often as a lesson needs. Work stays in each class’s Space between lessons. Aoba-Japan International School runs its online IB Diploma on Pencil Spaces.
ブレイクアウトルーム
Team 1
Mapping the claim
Teacher visiting
Team 2
Finding counterexamples
Team 3
Station 3: a primary source
Team 4
Writing the summary
The challenge
IB teaching doesn’t fit a video grid.
The IB asks students to inquire, discuss and build knowledge together. Most video calls are built for one person talking at a time.
Inquiry happens in teams
Students need to work in small groups many times a lesson, and teachers need to see and hear every group.
Work has to carry over
Investigations and projects run for weeks. Boards that disappear when the call ends cost students time every lesson.
Coordinators need to see it
Schedules, attendance and a view of how classes run shouldn’t depend on chasing teachers for updates.
仕組み
A Space for every class, open all year.
Each class gets a persistent Space with video, boards and breakout rooms in one place, and everything saved between lessons.
Breakout rooms with boards
Send teams to rooms with their own boards. Visit any room, then bring everyone back when it’s time.
Spaces that persist
Boards and files stay in the class’s Space from one lesson to the next, all year.
Several boards per class
Set up stations, team boards and a shared board in one Space, and move between them.
The web and documents on the board
Open websites with the Web Viewer, or add PDFs to the board, and work through them together.
Scheduling and attendance
Schedule classes that appear in students’ Google Calendars, with attendance recorded for each class.
Connects to your systems
LTI 1.3 for your LMS, an API and webhooks for your other systems, and sign-in with Google, Microsoft or Apple.
An IB lesson in Pencil Spaces
From provocation to shared understanding.
A rhythm that suits inquiry-based teaching. It’s the loop Aoba’s teachers run, often several times in one lesson.
- 1
Provocation
Open with the whole class around a question, a source or a problem on the shared board.
- 2
Teams investigate
Split the class into breakout rooms. Each team works on its own board while you visit, listen and ask questions.
- 3
Stations
Rotate teams through several boards in one Space, each with a different source or task.
- 4
Share back
Bring everyone back. Teams present from their boards, and the class builds on what each one found.
実際には
How Aoba runs the online Diploma.
In 2023, the IB selected Aoba-Japan International School for the first online Diploma Programme pilot in Japan. Its online campus, Aoba Global Campus, opened in August 2025 and runs all of its live teaching in Pencil Spaces, with breakout rooms in daily use.
100%
online, for the full two-year IB Diploma Programme
2023
the year the IB selected Aoba for Japan’s first online Diploma pilot
Daily
team work in breakout rooms, which teachers lean on every day
“Pencil Spaces was a bit of a rock for people. It just works. It does what it’s supposed to do.”
質問
Questions from IB schools.
Can you teach the IB Diploma Programme fully online?
Yes, through the IB’s online Diploma Programme pilot, which started in March 2022 with a small number of partner schools. Students follow the full Diploma and take IB exams in person at local exam centers. Aoba-Japan International School runs its pilot program on Pencil Spaces.
What does an online IB class look like in Pencil Spaces?
The teacher opens with the whole class on a shared board, then moves students into breakout rooms where each team works on its own board. Teams rotate through stations or come back to share, often several times in one lesson.
Do breakout rooms keep students’ work?
Yes. Every team’s board stays in the class’s Space after the lesson, so students and teachers can pick up where they left off next time.
Does Pencil Spaces work with our LMS?
Yes. Pencil Spaces connects to learning management systems through LTI 1.3, including Canvas. Schools can keep course content in their LMS and use Pencil Spaces for live teaching, as Aoba does.
Can coordinators see attendance across classes?
Yes. Attendance is recorded for every class, and admins see analytics across classes and teachers. Schools can also send attendance to their own systems through the Pencil Spaces API and webhooks.
Is Pencil Spaces affiliated with the IB?
No. Pencil Spaces is an independent company and isn’t affiliated with or endorsed by the International Baccalaureate. Aoba-Japan International School, an IB World School, chose Pencil Spaces for its online campus.
For IB and online schools
Let’s plan your online IB classes.
Show us a lesson you teach today. We’ll walk through how it runs in Pencil Spaces, from the opening question to the last breakout room.
どの有料プランでも2週間無料でお試しいただけます。クレジットカードは不要です。
Read Aoba’s storyOnline Diploma Programme pilot details from the International Baccalaureate. International Baccalaureate, IB and Diploma Programme are trademarks of the International Baccalaureate Organization. Pencil Spaces isn’t affiliated with or endorsed by the IB.
