Three Effective Ways to Use Padlet as a Course Backchannel

Sample Padlet in Random format - Picture Source

Every teacher wants to know what each student is thinking, questioning, or misunderstanding during a lesson. Padlet.com is one way to find out. Simply create a new Padlet board and share the link with students at the beginning of class. Students may then double tap on the board to add any of the following during the lesson: a question, comment, key idea, link to a website, webpage, photo, video, song, document, article, or anything with a link.

This online bulletin board then becomes a collaborative source of student ideas on the topic of study. You may arrange comments in random fashion as pictured above, or change the layout to a stream or two column grid format where one comment follows the next in a column allowing easy access to questions being asked in real time.

Sample Padlet in Grid format - Picture Source

Following the lesson Padlet allows you to archive student responses in a variety of ways: share on your class social media page, save as a PDF or image, report individual posts in an Excel spreadsheet, embed into your blog or website, or create QR code to post and share (see photos below).

Three effective ways to use Padlet include:
1. Collaborative Project. Student groups can research a topic and post information to a single board. From this collection of links and information students can create a multimedia presentation on the topic. The presentation may also be posted to the Padlet. Visitors may access these presentations via the QR code created.
2. Formative and Summative Feedback. Ask an open ended question to begin the lesson and have students post all they know about the topic at Padlet. This background knowledge will inform instruction in the areas less known. During the lesson get feedback from every student to check understanding by asking a quick question. Or have each student write one question they have about content so far that you can answer as you teach. Summative feedback could be as simple as an exit question over a key idea.
3. Peer Sharing. Students can post a link to a writing or other assignment and receive feedback from others. With all samples posted at one site students learn from others and learn deeply as they provide feedback demonstrating understanding of requirements.

By opening a Padlet at the beginning of class and encouraging students to post resonses throughout the session you create a collaborative note taking and resource sharing location that can be archived for further access beyond the classroom. I encourage you to try Padlet as students arrive with devices!