Description: Tool to create interactive boards with various formats allowing users to collaborate on an activity online.
Cost: Free trial (3 Padlets). Subscription required to access full features and more Padlets.
Demo: To learn more about this technology and how to use it as a teaching tool, watch my demonstration of Padlet.
UDL
Padlet fits UDL guidelines across all principles; however, it best fits as part of action & expression and engagement. Depending on how it is used, it could also be considered primarily as a form of representation.
Representation: Creating a Padlet activity as a map, timeline, or wall can be used to share information with students in a visual way to improve comprehension and connection of key concepts. This fits UDL guidelines with providing options for comprehension, language expression, and perception.
Engagement: When used as either a tool for sharing course content or as an interactive assignment completed by the class, this tool allows increased engagement in learning. Depending on the use it can also allow students to set goals based on what they are learning. This fits UDL guidelines with providing options for self-regulation, sustaining effort and persistence, and recruiting interest.
Action & Expression: Padlet is an interactive tool students can also use to create visual representations of their work and can be used as a formative assessment to determine how well students are understanding concepts based on the activity. This fits UDL guidelines with providing options for executive functions, expression and communication, and physical action.
For specific areas that Padlet fits the UDL principles, please see infographic below with highlighted areas showing the specific integration of Padlet with UDL guidelines.
Curriculum and Example
There are many different ways to utilize Padlet in the curriculum. It is a terrific tool for students to collaborate together on an assignment. There are different formats that can be used including the wall (example below), timelines, maps, connecting content with arrows, grids, or stacking content.
Padlet has many uses for creating a collaborative assignment for students to work together to complete. It is similar to a discussion board in that you can create questions for students to answer, but it also can go beyond that by having students use the connector format to connect ideas to each other. It is a dynamic format for students to express their knowledge and learn from each other as they work to complete the Padlet activity.
Example: One way I use Padlet in my class is to have students at the beginning of the quarter share their study skills tips. I post questions specific to the class about areas needing study skills tips where students can post their tips based on what they do in other classes. This allows students to share study skills with each other, creating a sense of community in the class and giving suggestions for students to come review throughout the quarter. Below is a screen shot of the Study Skills assignment in my classes. I can also reuse the same Padlet for classess in a different quarter by removing the student comments and reusing the Padlet link. Student posts can also be anonymous if they do not log in to Padlet to post their tip.
SWOT Analysis
Context: Online/hybrid college science (anatomy and physiology) course, but can be used in other situations.
S- Padlet includes multiple formats (maps, timelines, connecting concepts, wall, grid, or columns). Integration in to various platforms, including Canvas. Easy to use. Can archive and store Padlets on your own secure account.
W- Requires a subscription to create more than three Padlets. Cannot be used by multiple classes at the same time on one Padlet since the URL is shared. This can be overcome by duplicating the Padlet with a different URL.
O- Improves classroom community and engagement by having students work collaboratively on an activity. Can be used as an assessment tool for students to create their own Padlet.
T- Lack of institutional support for the tool, limits the use of this in the curriculum.
Comparison to Other Tools
Padlet is a tool that is utilized similar to discussion forums, but can also be used for students to create assignments. Many platforms have discussion forums, including Canvas. There are also other paid discussion platforms like Packback that use smart technology to help students come up with discussion forum posts based on the content. Padlet has multiple formats that allow more flexibility than the discussion boards on Canvas with the map, timeline, and connecting ideas formats. Packback uses smart technology to guide students to create discussion post questions, so it is more student driven than instructor guided compared to Padlet. All three options engage the students in a more interactive way to learn the content.
Reflection
I used only the free version of Padlet in my class, which limits the user to three Padlets. These padlets are great for each of my classes, but can only be used in one section of an online class at a time. When teaching multiple sections, this free option means I only have one assignment I can use Padlet for. I would appreciate full access to Padlet, but Edmonds College does not provide access to this tool at this time and a subscription is required.