Padlet
Padlet is an online platform that acts as a themed virtual bulletin board where users can pin resources, videos, websites, comments, documents, images, gifs, voice or audio recordings and drawings.
First Steps
Getting Started:
Users can freely access Padlets that have already been created. Creation of Padlets requires an account that is free of charge with email registration or use of Apple, Google, or Microsoft logins.
Tool Guide to Getting Started This is an excellent walk through of exactly what you’ll see and do the first time you use this tool.
Padlet for Teachers: Helpful classroom/work management with best practices and examples.
User Communities and Sites:
Technical Specifications:
Access Padlet using your browser or with the Padlet app for Android or Apple.
Next Steps
While Padlet is pretty simple to use, there are more advanced functions and applications for use in the classroom. Here are some additional educator videos.
What is Padlet? Master Tutorial
Padlet Gallery Examples & Different Ways to Post
Online Collaboration - Padlet Advanced Features Video
Products can be shared in a variety of formats (pdf, email, QR code), may be embedded, and integrate well with social media and learning management systems. Padlet links can be quickly shared in Zoom chats using the share/copy link feature.
To invite discussion, students can not only be contributors, but may also be given the ability to make comments, or react to posts of their peers in a variety of ways including: liking, voting, starring, and grading.
Install Padlet Mini Chrome extension in your browser to make curating resources easy by instantly adding any webpage or online resource to your curation or use it as a shortcut to view your Padlet.
Users have the ability to change permissions to moderate what their viewers are able to do: making posts read-only, allowing comments, or if necessary revoking privileges if misused.
Templates can be created to share or modify and groups can be unlimited in size for collaboration.
As a user's experience and design skills improve, writing can take shape from the initial sticky note entry to full blown essays.
Instructional Design
Padlet is a site where students can post notes on a digital “wall.” Students are using this synchronously and asynchronously to submit both formative and summative work. Padlet is excellent for entry tasks or submitting visual content like art-based assessment. Padlet can be created in eight formats: wall, canvas, stream, grid, shelf, backchannel, map, and timelines.
Students can use Padlet as a means to express themselves, complete entry tasks and formative check-ins. It can also be used for bigger collaborations, like submitting an art assignment to the “wall” as a form of digital gallery or curating classroom resources.
Educators can use Padlet to curate and present resources, collect student feedback and responses, and other collaborative functions. They can either create static collections or moderate ongoing discussions or projects. Designed for short Twitter-like notes, Padlet lends itself to smaller chunks of content or providing summaries of longer resources.
Instructional Grouping
Padlet can be used in variety of instructional functions. Here are some examples.
Individual
Coding with Padlet - this lesson guides teachers through the process of teaching how to animate a diagram for an Energy Transfer Project (8th grade, science).
Partner
Teaching Socio-Emotional Learning with Padlet - in this lesson, students work to define “respect” with a partner, and as a class (2nd grade, social studies/health and wellness).
Small group
Ecology of Plants with Padlet - in this lesson, students will learn about and be able to identify different plant structures through group investigation (4th grade, science).
Large group
Defining the 2nd Amendment with Padlet - in this lesson, seniors will discuss and collaborate to form a common definition and individual understanding of the 2nd Amendment (12th grade, civics).
Formative and Summative Assessment Options:
Padlet is great for formative assessment collection - share a Padlet wall to collect feedback at the beginning, middle, or end of your instruction.
Digital Portfolios: Use for assessment, interviews, digital resumes or self-reflection. Padlet is a personal view into the ideas, concepts and thoughts of the presenter while accessing their creativity and/or the structure provided for the task at hand. The tool provides another way for users to demonstrate learning in a visual format.
Summative Assessment Gallery: Publish your students’ digital projects in one place to grade. Then share with students, staff, community members and the world. The opportunity for real time or structured feedback is essential to promote learning in a traditional and especially online platform. The app allows users to easily engage with the program and collaborate simultaneously if needed, while grading or reviewing work. Being able to access links to review or create a personal gallery of work can help users create a body of work, structure study notes, or a location for key research and finding to share or use in the future.
Using Padlet for Formative Assessments
Elementary Lessons and Applications:
Refer to the links above under Instructional Grouping and find some additional resources here:
Teach Music Composition (3rd grade)
Secondary Lessons and Applications:
Refer to the links above under Instructional Grouping and find some additional resources here:
Project Ideas “To Boost Higher-Order Thinking”
Teaching Students to Find Books (6th grade)
Teach Cooking Terms - In Spanish! (10th)
Other Uses/Examples/Applications:
Management
Student Management:
Students can post in real time, so management is best conducted with clear instructions, timers, and a watchful eye. Advanced features include the options to filter profanity, require approval, and moderate comments. Additionally, teachers can make posts anonymous and reorder them, customize the layout, fonts, images, etc.
Student Engagement:
Padlets are great for generating quick interest because of their visual nature and options for display and organization. This tool can be accessed on any device and can be used to collaborate in gathering resources, collecting ideas or viewpoints, brainstorming, sharing of student work, and more.
Student Privacy and Security:
Students must be 13 years of age to create their own Padlet account, but can post on educator-created Padlets at any age.
Padlet has five different visibility and privacy options: Public, Secret, Password Protected, Totally Private, and Organization-wide. Each option allows for control over who can moderate, view, or write on your Padlet. Users can choose to make their wall private or public and either allow postings to be made anonymously or with the author’s name. Padlets can be shared in a variety of ways, can be embedded within learning management systems to give student work an extra layer of privacy and security.
Remember to get parent permission before posting student work publicly.Keep in mind that most of these curation tools have public galleries with unmoderated content.
Differentiation and Adaptation
Diverse Learners:
Padlet is accessible in 29 languages. Padlet can be used to provide leveled student access and scaffolds for learning.
30 Ways to use Padlet in an ESL Classroom
Teaching Remotely with Padlet: Online Teaching App for ESL Learners
Adaptive and Assistive Features:
Padlet has universal and adaptive features built into the design including support for screen reader software.
Hybrid Strategies
How to Teach Remotely With Padlet - video
Engage students during virtual classroom meetings by posting a Padlet with your discussion question and put the link in the Chat for students to access. Monitor the discussion in real time as students add their comments.
Use as a “parking lot” for questions in a meeting reducing interruptions to presentation. Allows for moderation and group consensus.
Offers alternative student voice for student engagement.
Provides an always accessible webpage with presentation information, learning outcomes and goals, projects, portfolio work, etc.