Padlet is a digital bulletin board in a web environment that allows teachers and students to post on the virtual board anything that is requested by the instructor.


How Padlet works (teacher’s point of view)

Padlet is beyond easy to use as it does not require any special knowledge or experience for someone to use it.

  1. Initially the teacher signs up using one’s personal email and a password.
  2. After that he/she enters at the interface of the web app where he/she can create his/her first panel by simply clicking the “Create a Padlet” button.
  3. Now the Padlet is ready to be used and shared with the students by simply copying and pasting the URL that appears on the URL address bar.

Various configurations and a customizable interface are provided, through the settings gear such as title selection, icons change, wallpaper change and more. It also gives the creator the ability to customize the privacy of the Padlet, since he/she can choose who will be able to view it, hiding it from unwanted users.

How Padlet works (students’ point of view)

Students can simplt access the Padlet by using the URL you’ve sent them.

Then, they post their message on the virtual bulletin board according to the instructions given to them for the purpose of the lesson. Padlet allows the user to insert text and other features such as images, hyperlinks, recordings and documents.

These mechanisms make the Padlet interactive and user-friendly as it allows users to share their content and knowledge in an interactive way for them and not just in text format.

Student’s posts on the Padlet are displayed in real time, so everyone can see when someone adds something to the wall, allowing the immediate interaction between participants making it useful for both distance and regular classes.

Advantages of Padlet

Having in mind the positive effects in the learning process, many pedagogical benefits are attributed through this application. Students acquire a different perception of learning as their motivations multiply, because instead of by simply posting the answer to a question, they are able to enhance it with the multimedia of their choice. Studies show increased collaborative learning and engagement as well as increased learning performance when students use such tools like Padlet (Boulden, Hurt & Richardson, 2017). In addition, the concentration of children in the learning process increases as well as their active involvement (Vandrick, 2000). It is also important that through Vandrick’s (2000) research,

students with little involvement in regular classroom, due to being introverts, after the usage of Padlet showed extreme interest and their participation in the process increased.

Conclusion

Technological tools such as Padlet, promote communication and collaboration between students. One can use it to reinforce students’ engagement with the teaching subject and spark their creativity and imagination through the possibilities provided. Padlet’s capabilities make it a useful tool to consider when it comes to enhancing cooperation between students, no matter their age or subject taught. You can find Padlet’s here

Article edited and reviewed by Theodosis Karageorgakis

Sources

Boulden, D. C., Hurt, J. W., & Richardson, M. K. (2017). Implementing Digital Tools to Support Student Questioning Abilities: A Collaborative Action Research Report. I.E.: Inquiry In Education, 9(1), 1.

Vandrick, S. (2000, March). Language, culture, class, gender, and class participation. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.