Padlet

What is it?

Padlet is a multimedia bulletin board tool with a focus on creation and collaboration. It allows users such as students and teachers to collaborate and share their thoughts and ideas regarding any topic through a private discussion board.

This tool currently has 8 design choices, to help scaffold student discussion and responses to meet teachers chosen outcomes. This can be seen in the image below.

Design Choices [Screenshot]. (2020). Retrieved from https://padlet.com/

This tool can be used in a variety of applications including:

Brainstorming,
Presenting research information,
Responding to questions or literature,
Class discussion.

Overview of benefits

Simplicity and Visual Appeal

The application is designed in a manner that makes it quite simple for users to access and input information in; with most forms of input consisting of a simple '+' button to add information. As well as this, the design is simple, yet appealing for students; which makes it an application that can be used for both basic communication of ideas and laying out specific information for presentation.

Compatibility

The application can be used in collaboration with various other tools or activities in the classroom to give students a platform for their thoughts and/or ideas. This tool can also be easily embedded into teaching websites, such as Wix, LMS or Connect; allowing teachers to scaffold lessons around this tool.

Accessibility

Once created through using a teachers account, students don't need individual accounts to answer or respond to questions. Students can also access the Padlet application across different devices, such as laptops, tablets or even their phones; making it extremely easy to access for all students in the learning environment. As well as this, students can also input their information in a variety of ways, including voice recording, linking websites and drawing their responses. Examples of the input types can be seen below.

Input Types [Screenshot]. (2020). Retrieved from https://padlet.com/

Overview of weaknesses

Cost of Use

When using the free version of the application, users can only create up to 3 Padlets at a time. This limits the availability of this tool and puts teachers in the position of having to pay for a subscription if they want to keep past student responses for assessment.

Layout Problems

When this application is used with large classes, it creates the risk of making the Padlet become too crowded and visually unappealing. This can often lead to students responses being covered up by others; as well as making it hard for teachers to both use it as a discussion point and check who has participated in the discussion.

Limitation on Types of Questions Asked

Due to Padlets main strength being it giving students a place to voice their ideas, many of the questions asked are open-ended. These open-ended questions are great for collaboration; however, if a teacher wanted to ask a closed-ended question, once one student has posted the answer, they all would be able to see it; leading to the students either not having a need to answer or copying the posted result. This limitation makes it important for teachers to take into consideration the type and structure of questions asked using this tool.

Links to learning theories

Under the SAMR model, Padlet can be identified as a modification tool as it takes the basic idea of a sticky note and makes it accessible for the whole class to access and communicate through. This adds various possibilities to the previously simple task, as with Padlet students can also post links to videos and media, upload their own work and input their thoughts through various other methods; which allows more students to express their thoughts in a way that fits them. As well as this, it adds the interactive capability where students and teachers can post on each other’s stick notes and discuss their thoughts both individually or as a class. These addition to the basic sticky note or brainstorm, redesigns the previous task and create a more interactive and engaging task for students to complete.

In terms of Bloom's taxonomy, depending on how the teacher uses it, this tool could be used for any of the levels from ‘knowledge’ to ‘evaluation’ due to the various input types and communication features that it offers. This is due to it being easy for teachers to alter the desired outcomes with the Padlet to be able to meet various student needs, as it could be described as a universal ICT tool.

How to use it in the classroom

Explanation of Use

Both in-person and online, I found that Padlwt was great for classroom discussion and peer interaction. Given this, in the classroom a teacher can draw on its strengths for use in the assessment of understanding and peer interaction; which can allow for more informed teaching choices in the future.

For example, one way I could use this tool is via using it in an assessment of knowledge activity at the end of a class. If I was teaching students the spiritual, cultural and aesthetic value of land in Australia; I could have students do the following:

Choose one landform or landscape from a list on the board.
Decide which types of value their chosen landscape or landform may hold.
Write a brief description of each type of value for the landform
Post the name and descriptions on a Padlet that the whole class and teacher can access.
Ask the students to read and then ask a question about another students post using the comment section on the Padlet application.

Through using the application I this way, students will use their knowledge to create an example that can be used for later revision by the whole class. These examples can also be compiled by the teacher and given to the students for revision; whilst also giving the teacher a way to assess the student's knowledge and communication levels with each other.

Curriculum Code for Class Example

The spiritual, cultural and aesthetic value of landscapes and landforms for people, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (ACHGK049)

Example

Below is an example of a basic Padlet display that the students can use to communicate and answer each others posts, feel free to enter your responses or questions to any posts.

Padlet is the easiest way to create and collaborate in the world. (2020). Retrieved 2 May 2020, from https://padlet.com/

Joshua Van Breukelen