Good afternoon and we hope you’re having a lovely start to your week. DigiKnow has been covering different learning Apps lately. This has included:
Padlet began life as an online tool but is now also available as an App on iOS and Android. It ties in to both teaching and learning and can be used across multiple platforms.
This week, we will look at Padlet, what it is, how it can be used and the formats it can support and it’s limitations. Let’s get started!
What is Padlet?
Padlet is a virtual wall or digital canvas. It can be considered a ‘mood board’ or used for bulletins. These are basic uses and it can be used for so much more.
As an online teaching/learning application, Padlet can be a personal space to gather ideas or evidence, i.e., portfolio of work for professional development. Or, Padlet can be used collaboratively, i.e., a class project.
By ‘virtual wall’, we mean many types of content can be posted, both by the owner and other individuals with a link to the wall. The Padlet content can be open to wider audiences or restricted/closed through the use of passwords. It really depends on the intended use.
Is Padlet free?
The quick and easy answer is yes. Currently (2020) anyone who creates a free account is limited to the creation of three Padlets (or virtual walls). If you need more walls, basic plans start at £8 a month (other pricing plans are available) and this unlocks other features, i.e., support, uploading of larger videos, etc.
Prior to 2018, Padlet was free and anyone with a legacy account (pre-2018) can still create up to 66 Padlet walls. Walls no longer in use can be deleted or repurposed and this doesn’t affect the total wall count.
Something to be mindful of. If you are a Padlet owner and collaborate or join another Owner’s wall, this uses one of your Padlets. Thus, if you are on the current free account with three walls, this will use up one of your precious resources.
How can I use Padlet?
The beauty of Padlet walls is they are very flexible. Over time, more wall layouts and personalisation of these have increased. Years ago, Padlet was limited to three wall options: Stream, Grid and Wall. Now, users can make Timelines, Maps, Back Channels and Shelves layouts.
Padlet pages can be embedded to other web sites and virtual learning environments (VLE). In Queen’s, we use the Canvas VLE and by embedding a Padlet wall for collaboration, teachers might ask students to share content on a wall as a visual discussion board.
Uploaded and shared content can be text, audio, video, photo or attachments. Media can be uploaded or embedded from other sources as well. It’s very flexible.
Attachments can also be downloaded and/or viewed with online viewers, i.e., Word / PowerPoint. The major advantage here, viewers don’t need software on their devices to view content.
Do check out the limitations section (below) for the size of uploads that can be used on the free Padlet.
Getting started
Have a watch of this handy video to help teachers get started and orientated with Padlet:
Limitations
We tested Padlet by uploading videos / images and other media, just to check for it’s limits, which are as follows:
- Video – max 25MB
- Photos – max 10MB
- Files – max 10MB
However, media can be embedded. Instead of uploading a video to Padlet, it could be uploaded to vimeo/YouTube or other video hosting site and the share code added to Padlet. This allows for the sharing of bigger video files (whilst not infringing copyright).
To help you collaborate on Padlet walls, do view the links below to assist you:
- How to post to Padlet
- Character / File Size limitations
- I can’t post
- When uploads fail
- What to do when videos don’t play
Padlet Examples
In this section, we want to provide you with some examples of where Padlet has been used. Please click the links to see how other people have used Padlet:
- Timeline (Apollo Mission)
- Stream (book review)
- To do (chores)
- Research (affordable housing)
- Planner (meal planner)
There are other layouts available and many uses for Padlet. In terms of professional development, users can choose suitable layouts to gather evidence for portfolio purposes.
Each Padlet wall generates a link (you can change the link). Links can be shared, embedded or passworded. It depends on the intended use of the wall and how open or closed the content needs to be.
Along with this, if students have collaborated on a wall, they can save a copy of the wall content as a JPG, PDF, Excel sheet or CSV file to their local devices (for their own learning purposes).
Advantages of Padlet
Other bonuses of using Padlet:
- Can be used on multiple devices
- Currently available in 29 languages
- Accessibility is improving all the time
- Global collaboration
- No limit to number of contributors
- Supports most file types
- Different levels of security available
- other features can be viewed here
Summary
Padlet as a tool is flexible and versatile. With the free account, users can create three Padlets (virtual wall / digital canvas). It’s a great space to layout content for a variety of reasons. Padlet is also a great space to have students collaborate and where students can download a copy of the content for their study needs.
The sharing of Padlet content can be completely open or restricted with many options in between. Web link names can be changed to suit the Padlet you have created.
You don’t need to be a web guru to create or share the Padlet content and the Padlet walls you create can be embedded into other web sites and VLEs.
So, whether it’s blogging, research, timelines, portfolios. Just choose a layout to suit your needs, alter the look of the wall and start creating. Do consider the upload limitations (above) and that videos can be hosted on other platforms and links shared to Padlet.
Go forth, create, collaborate and share. Enjoy!
Next week
Our blog post next Monday will look at Piktochart as a teaching/learning aid. This is an infographic generating software to help condense text information into visual information.
Remember, the DigiKnow blog posts are now released at noon on a Monday.
Please do join us then to learn more and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter: @MDBSelearn.
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