Padlet
http://padlet.com
Padlet is a simple but effective collaborative 'sticky note'
web-based application. It's central premise is a 'wall' onto which you
can drag and drop almost anything, from pictures, files, links to
videos, etc as well as add 'sticky notes', so you end up with a wall of
items. An analogue analogy would be a classroom blackboard or a memo
board with sticky-notes and/or pictures arranged, as you want, over it.
Padlet also has several very useful levels of privacy.
- Private - available to you only.
- Password Protected - only available to those with a password you select.
- Hidden Link - accessible to those with a link to that board.
- Totally Public - accessible to anybody and searchable by Google.
Padlet can be used both synchronously so that everybody is using it
at the same time, or asychronously and there's an option to be emailed
when somebody posts something to a wall.
Padlet has two lay outs.
Freeform which allows to you place items where you want over the expanse of the wall and
Stream where posts are placed one below the other.
The whole application is online, so it's cross-browser compatible,
but anybody who you want to view or use it will need to have an internet
connection.
The set up is easy, create a free account and then start creating
boards. You can change the background of the boards and even add your
own. There's even a nice weekly calendar background that some might find
useful.
From a pedagogical/teaching point of view, Padlet provides a nice
simple to use way for a class to become involved as additions to the
wall can be viewed in real-time and do not require a browser window to
be refreshed. So everybody can see what everybody else is adding. Ways
this could be used include:
- Allowing class to brainstorm ideas.
- Putting up a list of
expectations at the start of a class. Review these just before the
session and come back to the wall at the end of the class to discover
which expectations have been met.
- Putting up a list of questions
at the start of a session. Review these just before the session and
come back to the wall at the end of the session to discover which
questions have been met.
- Pin up in advance some pictures at the
top of the board, then ask the class a question relating to the pictures
and ask them to put their answers as sticky-notes below the relevant
image.
- Pin up possible answers to a question and ask the class
to vote by placing a sticky-note with ther name under the answer they
think is correct.
Other features of Padlet that can be taken advantage of are the
ability to share on social media and/or export the wall as an image,
PDF, Excel or CSV file, including the ability to embed into external
blogs, etc.
Technology in the classroom, is a
series of posts looking at various technologies
that can be used in the
real and/or virtual classroom.
