Padlet is a free tool (you must register though) that you can quickly gather students comments or ideas outside the classroom. The students can go to your Padlet, click on it and leave a thought. This could be used as a KWL chart for a topic they are about to take or maybe a way for students to ask ahead of time for info they want reviewed at the end of a unit. Maybe you want your class to brainstorm. The ways of using this are endless. Post an open ended question and elicit many different student responses. Gauge if your students know the material. You could make a quick Thank You Wall for a guest speaker you had in your class and let the students make some quick posts and then send the presenter the URL. The ways of using this are endless. If you click here you will see a google doc slide show by Jen Hughes on 32 Interesting Ways to Use Padlet in the Classroom. The example below is at an Elementary school level but I am just showing you an example.
You do not have to have a blog or class website to use this as Padlet will give you a URL or web address. Here is a real Padlet address. http://padlet.com/wall/5elhbvc3l0. Take a look at it. I personally would choose the option to name your own extension (ie http://padlet.com/wall/libraryrocks but this already exists so maybe http://padlet.com/wall/calculusrules). Students will remember it easier.
You may just want to have a wall to leave messages for your students about the next days class or reminders.
If you want your posts to be orderly and not all over the place (freeform), like a blog then pick "Stream" in the layout section.
If you have your own webpage you can embed the Padlet into your webpage with the embedded html code option. I would also make sure that you make your Padlet private and pick a password that all your students will remember. Also remind your students to post their first name and last initial (if you have to students named Mo in your class). You may also want to "moderate" what is posted. You can do this in the settings so that nothing will be posted until you approve it. One nice thing about Padlet is posters can link/embed pictures, videos and links very easy.
Here is a Padlet that I made. You can try it out by grabbing the pencil and writting.
If you want help setting this up see me or maybe I can do a lunch time workshop. I believe the video above however will give you all you need.
No comments:
Post a Comment