Two advantages of using technology for language teaching are ease in classroom management and autonomous learning, both of which can be achieved with Padlet. With Padlet, materials can be distributed with a click of a button - great for cutting down paper use and guiding students to follow your lesson easier through reading digital handouts. Your learners will also be able to contribute in discussions, practice writing and monitor grammar by posting their ideas and commenting on peers' posts.
What is Padlet?
Padlet is basically an online pad, where you can post audio, video, pictures, links and documents to share to anyone with access to the pad. Likewise, anyone with the link to your Padlet can post their ideas by typing or adding resources of their own. They can also comment on existing posts on the pad for collaboration. Have a look at this video on how to use Padlet:Features of Padlet for Autonomous Learning
- Use Padlet to distribute different media formats (sound, video, link, picture and documents) to students. When you need to assign certain students to access different materials from others, you can lead them to a separate Padlet.
- There is a comment section for students to comment on your posts or those from others. To make sure your students comment responsibly, you might need to give an example or a format they can follow. It would also be helpful to teach some basic "netiquette" techniques. This activity can help them develop good habits of being a digital citizen.
- Students can be given authority to write or post materials on the pad. For example, you give them an introductory question to discuss. They then can type their answer individually on the pad. Next, they can be asked to comment on the answers of other students.
- Students can be given access to edit their posts or those of their friends. You can also give them restricted access, e.g. they can only read and not post anything.
- To minimize inappropriate comments or posts, you can moderate the posts from your students. If you think their materials/ comments are acceptable, you can allow it to appear on the Pad.
- The posts can be designed to fit different arrangements for easier viewing. By default, students posts are placed randomly, which may incur one post overlapping another. Instead, you could use Grid or Stream to arrange the posts in an orderly fashion.
How to use Padlet in my classroom?
- You can have students react to a picture that you post. For example, I posted a bar graph, and asked students to report the main idea they could get from the graph. Link to Padlet: https://padlet.com/priskapram/1kvbperqbjan
- For a jigsaw reading activity you can assign students to read different parts of a text and exchange information using a collaborative writing forum like Etherpad (http://etherpad.org) or Google Docs. Here I put students into pairs and gave each pair a separate Padlet. In each Padlet there are different reading texts for each member to read. There is also a link to an online writing space for them to cooperatively share information from their individual reading texts to answer the comprehension questions together. Link to Padlet: https://padlet.com/priskapram/3ilabgkz97n3
Are there any drawbacks to using Padlet?
- The Padlet link is long and hard for students to copy if you project it via LCD. It is better to shorten the link by using sites like https://bitly.com
- The recent posts appear at the top by default, so the teachers’ question posted at the beginning gets pushed down to the end.
- It is easy to forget to give students access to edit their posts. Therefore, when students want to retype their answers, they need to make a new post, filling the pad with redundant answers.
- It is at times confusing for students to see many posts popping up at once during a discussion, especially when they are in the middle of typing.
