My digital classroom
Educators in Australian state schools face many restrictions with access to online resources. Fortunately, one company has managed to create a tool that offers teachers many practical features and isn’t blocked by the network: Padlet.
What is Padlet?
Padlet is an online wall that you can add notes to. These notes can include photos, videos, links, documents or simply text. You start by creating your own wall and fill it with information and media based on your needs. A unique URL is generated for each of your Padlets and you can customise these addresses at any time.
There are several privacy options for sharing the content on Padlet. You can choose to have it completely public, this means it can be found through search engines. Alternatively, you can make it entirely private and add people via email to allow them access.
I recommend using the ‘Hidden link’ option as it allows for the content to be hidden from anyone except those who have the direct link. This way you can email the link to your class or get students to copy it down.
Responsible usage
There are many potential uses for a resource such as Padlet both in and out of the classroom, however, there are a few things that need to be kept in mind when using it as an employee of a state education department. It is not controlled by the department. This means that sensitive information such as students’ names and other info should never be put on the site. It should also never be used to communicate with students or to upload school or department resources.
While this does limit some of the potential uses of Padlet, there are already tools available to do this such as Blackboard and The Learning Place.
The great thing about it is that you do not need to sign up to view or even contribute to a Padlet.
Advantages
Where it makes up for this is how quickly it can be setup and accessed by students. While you will need to sign up to create your own pages, there is no requirement to have an account to view a Padlet. This means that students can instantly access and even contribute to a class Padlet without having to waste time logging in.
BYOD
It is also designed to work on mobile devices just as effectively as on computers. Padlet even have mobile apps though there is no requirement to have these to access the site.
Potential uses
I’ve been using Padlet with all of my classes since the beginning of term 2 this year. So far, I have used it as a noticeboard, a resource hub, and a tool for working with other teachers.
As a noticeboard, Padlet is really useful because let’s face it, teenagers are forgetful. Each week I post notices relating to homework instructions, key assessment dates, and where they should be up to with their work. And because all that is needed to view the page is a link, I emailed this out to all of my students’ parents so they can be kept up to date also.
Parents really appreciate being able to see what their students are learning and whether they actually have homework or not!
After most lessons I will update the page with key instructions and links to resources or even upload a picture of the notes from the whiteboard. This way students who are absent are still able to catch up on classwork in their own time and other students are able to revisit the content and revise.
Similarly to how I’ve used Google Spaces, Padlet is a great alternative to emails for sharing ideas and working in collaborative teaching teams. It took me 5 minutes to upload the resources for a Year 9 assessment task and shared the link with the other teachers on the team who then were able to use this with their classes instantly. No photocopying. No double-handling.
The future
As I get more used to using Padlet in my classroom I will continue to experiment with its potential uses. My next goal is to experiment with flipping my classroom by recording instructional videos and uploading these for students to view prior to the lesson. I also like the idea of students creating their own Padlets as lesson activities or even assessment tasks.
Are you using Padlet? Let us know how!
