Week 3: Padlet

This week I took a colleagues advice and looked into Padlet.  Padlet online virtual “bulletin” board, where students and teachers can collaborate, reflect, share links and pictures, and so much more in a secure location.

To me, Padlet seems similar to Flipgrid.  I can create a Padlet with a discussion question, give students the link to it, and allow them to answer the question on the virtual classroom bulletin board.  What got me most excited about this was that students can create their responses in many different formats. They are able to type, post files, videos, photos, etc.  As most of you read, the problem I ran into with Flipgrid was that most of my high school students did not like the idea of recording themselves and posting it for the whole class to see.  This program gives them many different options.

Padlet can also be used for many different types of collaborate work.  When I started looking around at what other folks are doing I saw everything from a place for students to brainstorm to flipped classrooms.  You can also collaborate with colleagues by adding them as contributors.

Once I logged in and started digging around I noticed the Gallery button.  This is a great feature that allows you to view public Padlets that have already been created.  Here I found this great resource for beginners: https://padlet.com/melanie11/welcome She uses a Padlet to give basic instructions on how to create your own and I found it very handy.  

In the gallery I also found this Padlet (https://padlet.com/gallery/edu) which was more like a Pinterest board full of awesome educational Padlets.  You can really start going down a rabbit hole, but it is so amazing. Teachers are using Padlets in so many wonderful ways to communicate between teachers and in the classroom with their students.  I highly recommend taking a look at this cool resource.

Now to some of the questions I had:

1) Can anyone access my students' Padlets?

Teachers who create a Padlet wall have several privacy setting options!  You have the abiltity to create a secret Padlet that only can be accessed with the link.  Or if you have a need to you also have the ability to Password Protect a wall.

2) How much control does the teacher have?

Creators can check the setting (like in Flipgrid) to moderate posts before they are published.  You also can change settings on the wall from write to read only anytime.

I also saw there is a notification option in the event you plan to leave a wall open, but do not plan to check the wall frequently.  This would be helpful for me as I often forget to do things unless I get an email reminder!

3) How do you keep the students accountable?

In my research, I came across a teacher who had a difficult time manage her students because they did not post their names with their post to the Padlet.  This was a concern for me because there are always a few kids that will take advantage of anonymity. However, when I was playing around I found a setting that displays the authors name above each post.  With my test post, it took my name from when I logged in with google. So I am assuming the kids would need to log in as well.

Another feature I thought was great, as you can see in the image, was the profanity filter.  I am not sure what words are replaced, but this is one less thing to worry about. Although, I personally would moderate the post before they were published anyhow.

4) How much does it cost?

Teachers can use Padlet for free, but will be limited to a total of three Padlets.  There is an upgrade to a paid plan, beginning at $8.25 a month, that would remove the cap. Also the company offers premium pricing for schools and other multiple users organizations.  

I am very excited about this program and the opportunities it could bring to my classroom.  I feel like I hardly scratched the surface because there are so many ways to implement Padlet in the classroom.  Apparently it has been around for a while now, so if you have already used it in your classrooms please share your experiences with me!