Padlet: Learners' Joint Venture towards Learning

(Source: Pixabay)

Have you ever tried doing a brainstorming activity in class and ended up being bombarded with so many responses at the same time that you could jot down only a few and skipped most of them? That is an occurrence most of the teachers out there are familiar with. Teachers always find it difficult to manage whole class activities as well as group assignments or projects.

Getting students to work collaboratively without losing track or drifting away from work is a tough job. However, with the help of a simple but effective online software like Padlet whole class activities or group work can get unimaginably easier and well-organized.

What is Padlet?

Padlet is a free online shared working space for learners to work on any project, assignment or classwork together. Padlet provides learners with the opportunity of sharing ideas, pictures and resources on a board as sticky notes. Learners can also join a padlet created by the teacher or any other padlet via a URL or a direct link. This is a great platform for learners for sharing ideas without being physically together, or even to work together in class or outside class. As the Vygoskian theory suggests, to help learners reach an upper level of cognitive competence it is necessary to get them involved in collaborative learning (Warschauer, 1997, p. 471). Padlet is an ideal online platform for collaborative learning.

What Can be Done on Padlet?

For creating a padlet, users can simply click on the option "Make a Padlet" and then a number of available templates will appear from which users can choose any depending on the type of work they plan to do. These templates help to organize the notes properly.

After selecting the template, the padlet will be created and users will be able to give a title to the padlet, write a short description, change the theme, select a wallpaper, turn on or off the options for comments etc. These options enable the users to modify their padlets according to their choice. Users can change the settings any time they want.

Users can also share the padlet with as many friends, classmates or colleagues they want. They can share the padlet either by sharing the QR code or the URL, by embedding the link, through email or by sharing it on social media.  If users want, they can change the privacy setting of the padlet by making it private, secret or public according to their purpose and choice. 

Users can also invite people to contribute by adding them via their Gmail address. This will send them an invitation and allow them to write, post pictures, embed links etc. If the user wants, they can also turn on the moderator option through which they will be able to review posts before they are posted on the wall as well as invite others to moderate.

Users can join a padlet by clicking on "Join a Padlet" option and inserting the URL. They can also select any padlet they would like to join from a plethora of padlets available on the "Gallery" tab. These are public padlets that allow the users to contribute. This is also a great opportunity to share ideas, learn about a variety of topics and build a network with people of similar interests. By upgrading to an advanced subscription plan, users can view more padlets, access more templates and get to enjoy a larger amount of storage space.

Layout, Navigation and Language

Padlet has a beautiful layout consisting of easy to understand language and brief instructions. Padlet is super easy to navigate and users may find it even easier to use than many other online resources or social media platforms. It is not time-consuming and would not require users to spend a lot of time in signing up, creating a padlet or modifying it. You can simply sign up via your Google account and get started immediately.

Moreover, No function on this online software will require you to click more than once. It is so user-friendly that users are unlikely to struggle at any point to figure out how to write, post pictures or embed links. It is a very neat, tidy and convenient work space.

Target Users

Padlet is not designed for teachers teaching in low-resource contexts. It is mainly for teachers and learners who are involved in the teaching and learning process in a resource-rich context. Thus, the target users are students, teachers and people of any profession or interest who have access to the internet and would like an online work space to share ideas, resources and pictures and thus engage in collaborative learning, joint ventures or networking. 

Students can use padlet without requiring their teachers' help and get involved in project work or group work with their classmates. Teachers can create materials or study plans within minutes without having to spend too much time. Padlet is thus an ideal educational resource for both students and teachers.

(Source: Pixabay)

How Can Padlet be Used in Classroom?

Padlet can be used in classrooms in many ways. Some of these are as following. 

Brainstorming

It can be used for brainstorming on a topic together. The teacher can display a padlet board on screen and share the link. Students can use the link to join the padlet on their personal devices and start adding ideas. Padlet does not display the name of the person who shared the idea thus no one will feel anxious or stressed while collaborating. 

Group Project/Assignment

It can be used by students to work on their project work or assignment where they can post their ideas and materials and then share with the whole class on the classroom projector screen.

Online Portfolios

It can also be used as students' online portfolios. Students can simply add their reflections as notes everyday and share the link with the teacher or classmates to be assessed, evaluated or discussed in class. 

Warm up/Plenary Activities

Teachers can use it for ice-breaking, warm-up or plenary activities where students can share fun-facts about themselves, answer to lesson review questions, take part in pop-quizzes so on and so forth.

Whole Class Writing and Feedback Wall

Teachers can also use Padlet for a whole class writing activity so that students can write a story together or create an outline for an essay. It can also be used as a feedback wall so that students can give feedback to each other after a group presentation or role-play activity.

Click on the picture below to check out a padlet that I created to help my students brainstorm the causes, effects and solutions of "Climate Change".

Limitations

Padlet has very few limitations. Two of them are discussed below.

1. One of the very few limitations of Padlet is the absence of chat boxes. Although students can work collaboratively on this platform without being physically together, they cannot communicate with each other since there is no option for chatting or communication. The only way they could communicate is by using their phones or through emails.
2. Another limitation of this website is that it has very limited features. It is all about writing and uploading pictures and that too with limited freedom. Some basic features, such as- making a poll, creating tables or charts, modifying the font size and colour etc. could make this website even more convenient and user-friendly. 

However, it cannot be denied that despite these limitations Padlet is an amazing educational resource which is simple yet very useful.

Learning Collaboratively on Padlet

As teachers we all know the importance of collaborative learning. Learning collaboratively through face to face meeting can be challenging for both the teacher and students for a number of reasons, such as- time constraints, not being able to be present in person, not being able to produce outputs at the same pace as others etc. (Stacey, 1999, para. 4).

These issues related to learning collaboratively can be solved by using a computer mediated communication platform, such as- Padlet. Padlet helps the teacher and students to remain organized and focused in a very convenient and tidy manner. It helps students to collaborate, learn, contribute and share knowledge in an anxiety-free situation. Not only students, even teachers can get involved in the collaborative learning process without being stressed out.

So next time when you feel worried about group work, simply let your students collaborate with Padlet. Have fun!

References:  

1. Stacey, E. (2007). Collaborative learning in an online environment. International Journal of E-Learning & Distance Education, 14(2). Retrieved April 10, 2019 from http://www.ijede.ca/index.php/jde/article/view/154

2. Warschauer, M. (1997). Computer‐mediated collaborative learning: Theory and practice. The Modern Language Journal, 81(4), 470-481. Retrieved April 10, 2019 from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1997.tb05514.x