Name: Padlet (name recently changed from Wallwisher.)
Price: Free
Format: Website.
www.padlet.com
*Website will work on all smart phones and tablets
Difficulty: Easy
Email Required: No
Description:
The full potential of Padlet is only now becoming clear to me. I have used it in almost every BYOT activity since I went 1:1 with my iPads. It has become an invaluable tool for my class.
In short, Padlet is an online wall. Simply go to padlet.com, and click build a wall to begin creating an online collaboration hub for your students. I would highly recommend creating a free account; however, as this gives you the ability to move, edit, and delete posts that your students make. Once a wall has been created, the teacher may change the wall's title, make posts, and most importantly, change the URL to the wall. Students can then visit the URL and post on the wall. They are able to post pictures, videos, text, and URL's. Padlet also has a built in share function that allows you to email, screen-capture or share a QR code for the wall.
The question of "how does a student get their work to me?" comes up a lot when discussing BYOT. Even more so in my class now that we have gone 1:1. Padlet has pretty much put that question to rest. With Padlet, as long as a student can take a screen shot of their work, they can post it to me on a wall. If an app only has a "save to camera" function, then students can save the picture to their photo library, and then post it directly to Padlet. This means that students do not need to email me with their work. Instead, they can post it to a wall and I can view/download the file from the Padlet wall. If students are making videos for a project, I have them post it to their own wall (that I create for them).
The many uses of Padlet become clear with examples. The following links go to some of the walls my students or I have created.
- http://padlet.com/wall/ujausqxbpa -- Padlet as a collaboration tool for studens to post work and view their peers work.
- http://padlet.com/wall/volumedefinition -- More collaboration
- http://padlet.com/wall/65onor6tgp -- Padlet as an online poster board for a student's project
- http://padlet.com/wall/Postermovies -- Padlet as a place to post ShowMe/iMotion videos. This page loads slow due to the large amount of videos on the wall.
The following two walls are embedded into the blog. This means that posts can be made to the wall from this blog. Edits on the blog will show up on the URL version and vice versa.
Screenshots of Minecraft and pictures of Minecraft in class posted to Padlet. One student used PicCollage to write the surface area of their building, while another used a photo editor and then took a screen shot.
Students uploaded PicCollages and a few ShowMe videos to the above Padlet.
Conclusion:
Padlet is a great tool that can fill a variety of roles. It can serve as an online collaboration board, an individual student-website, or a sort of drop-box for student work. It is easy to use and easily shared.
No comments:
Post a Comment