Using Padlet in Class

I am a big proponent of collaboration and any digital tool that allows collaboration to take place regardless of where or when everyone can use that tool.  Using Google Docs with group projects seems like a no brainer and it has allowed me to let my students work with students who are not in the same period as they are.  Padlet (http://padlet.com/) is another tool that can allow easy collaboration to take place asynchronously.

You do not even need an account to work on a Padlet wall but it does help if you want to save it for future use.  To start, go to http://padlet.com/ and click "Build a Wall".

You will now have a wall that you can post notes to.  This is like a digital bulletin board but one that can be used by almost anyone at any time.  You can set the privacy settings how you like but this could easily be used by groups in a class or even by the whole class itself.

Modify your wall to make it look and work how you like.  You can make it look like a bulletin board or you can choose any background you like.

Make sure to set your privacy settings to fit the need that you have and the situation you are in.  You can share it out with people a lot of different ways even by using a URL shortener like the goo.gl Chrome extension.

Ideas for Padlet

• Pose a open ended question for your students to answer, can include links to their resources.
• Have a group use this to help organize their ideas and share it with the teacher for feedback.
• Use this with other teachers to help plan a unit or design essential questions or standards for that unit.
• Give the link at a meeting to get feedback or to see what questions people still have.
• Use this as an exit ticket with students to see where they are at in their learning for the day.

There are a lot of ways to use this, make sure you use it in a way that fits you and your situation best.