You and I are probably in the same boat – trying to figure out how to take months of instruction and make it available to students for Remote Learning. There are many ways to do this, the learning curves of some ways are steeper than others! That is why I love Padlet. Padlet provides a simple and easy way to give students notes, videos, links, and instructions – with their responses – all in one place, and all online.
Remote Learning with Padlet
Scroll to the bottom to see links to some examples of Digital Lessons made with Padlet!
Start by going to Padlet.com and signing up. The free account will limit the number of Padlets you can make, but all of the features are available.
There are many format options when you make a Padlet, but my favorite is the Shelf. The Shelf keeps posts organized into columns so that they are easier to find.
When the new padlet opens, you can edit the title and subtitle. Scrolling down you will see where you can edit the appearance of the Padlet (font, background).
At the bottom, you will see some settings that can be helpful for your Padlet digital lesson.
You can have new posts stay at the top of the column, or show up at the bottom – one format may work better than another depending on your assignment.
You can also give your students the ability to rate, and/or comment on each other’s posts. This can be great for digital class discussions. I use the rating system for students to vote on their favorite post. For example, my students do an activity asking them to take a picture of something that can be analogy for each part of the cell (nucleus, mitochondria, etc). They then vote on each other’s posts to decide on the best analogy.
When you are ready, click ‘Next’, and your Padlet is ready to edit!
Making the Lesson Instructions for Students
I use the first column for all of my instructions. There are many ways to give instructions because Padlet has SO MANY options for making posts! Click on the three dots to the right of a post and check it out!
Consider the possibilities for Lesson instructions…
- Post a link to a website for students to visit
- Post a link to a YouTube video for students to watch.
- Record your own voice instructions for students to follow
- Even better, record your own video instructions! Students will love to see your face while they are remote learning. You can even do a demonstration, show students a diagram – just about anything you would show them if you were in class!
- Or use the Screen Record feature to record your voice and screen – go through a PowerPoint or show students how to work out a problem!
- Post a link to a Google Form for students to answer questions about what they learned
Make Remote Learning a Two Way Street with Padlet!
A great thing about using Padlet for remote learning is that students can interact with you and each other in a single, safe place.
There are a few ways to set up the Padlet for student responses. One possibility is to make a different column for each question or prompt, and students add their responses underneath. This works great if you are just looking for student interaction, but is difficult to grade.
Related: Use Google Forms to easily collect and organize student work
Another way is for the questions or prompts to be under the Instruction column (or on another piece of paper/digital document) and ask each student to make their own column. They add their answers for each question under their name, one question per post. This method is the one I prefer if my plan is to grade the work.
Consider the possibilities for student responses…
- Of course, they can post text!
- I have found that students answer complex questions better with the audio record feature – especially students who struggle with writing
- They can take a picture of physical work (a graph, working out a math problem, something physical they have created)
- Post a link: Find an example of the concept on the internet in the form of a picture, or website, or video – or link to students’ digital work like a ThingLink, Sutori, or a Google something!
- Students can make their own video!
- Ask them to draw a diagram
- Students can even upload a document they made, or edited, from their own computer
How to Share the Padlet with Students
Click on the ‘share’ button at the top right. There are some settings here that are important!
First, click on ‘change privacy’ and take a look at the options. I keep mine ‘Secret’ so that only my students will access it.
Then notice the Visitor Permissions. You want this set to ‘can write’ or ‘can edit’. If it is set to ‘can write’, students will be able to add to the Padlet, but not change anything. That includes their own posts – so if they make a mistake, or want to edit something about their post, they will not be able to. They can simply post again with the correction.
Using ‘can edit’ allows them to change any mistakes, but also leaves the whole Padlet open to anyone who wants to change anything. In other words, any student can alter any other students’ (or your) posts.
To share, there are a lot of options available. My favorite is to copy the link, take it to tinyurl.com, and display the tinyurl on my board (or include it on a worksheet) for all students to log in with. You can also send it directly to your Google Classroom from within Padlet.
Related: Use Google Forms to make simple Digital Lessons
Remote Learning Ideas for Using Padlet to Teach a Lesson
- Teach a Lesson! Nitrogen Cycle! This is using the ‘Stream’ format. Students had the notes and used this padlet to fill in the information
- Why we Eat! Students had a worksheet and answered questions as they moved through the information on the Padlet
- Read and Respond to an Article about Mutations
- Video about Human Population and respond
- Research and discussion on the dangers of Vaping – students research Vaping and add their opinions, with sources, to a column that reflects their ideas. Students then read each other’s thoughts and make comments/ discuss
- Discuss the Evidence for Evolution – students reflect on what we have learned about Evolution and state the evidence they think is most compelling
Happy Teaching everyone! All the best to you and your students!
Super excited to try your ideas out! Could be a game changer!