New App Obsession: PADLET

Whenever I attend a conference, I always try to leave with at least one new tool to incorporate immediately into my classroom.  Earlier this summer, I was lucky enough to attend the KSDE Impact Training at Emporia State University.  The two-day conference was full of different sessions so we could tailor the experience to individual wants and needs.

At one of the sessions, I was introduced to a new app that I am excited to use in my classroom. The app, called Padlet, is basically an online wall that you can create/collaborate over a specific topic easily. It can be set up in various ways - either as a bulletin board style or as a "flow" style. It can also be set up where you can have different contributors to one padlet, so  your students could be adding their own information to the padlet, or you can set it up as a tool that students could use for research, etc.

So far, I've started two different padlets for use in my classroom - the first one is for my yearbook students and I've set it up as a place where they can gather and share their ideas as we begin planning our 2017 yearbook. I like that we can collaborate over the summer even though we aren't together - it will help when we choose our theme and design concept next week.

I'm also doing a lot of revamping to my 21st Century Media class and want to try out a padlet to help the students do more focused research using sites that I have selected.  This site can be used as they work on a scavenger hunt to learn about the history of American Media - and then it can be used a resource for them prior to the test over the unit. While I created this one, I think it would be great to have students create their own for different projects - or to gather design or photo ideas. The possibilities are exciting to think about.

I had just been using the free form method to design so far, so I decided to try another type. I've created a padlet using the stream style so you can see exactly how it works.  This would be a great way to facilitate discussion in class - pose a question to the group and have students comment - endless possibilities. Feel free to share your favorite classroom apps to see just how padlet works.

What is your favorite classroom app?

If you have a google account, padlet is super simple to set up.  It took me about 5 minutes to set up my first one, and I had so much fun, I keep making more and more.  I'm excited to see what the possibilities might be for this app.

If you are interested in learning more about padlet and how to use it in your classroom, I've also found this great basic video to help you get started.

Thanks for visiting my site - now back to creating more padlets ;)