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Classroom engagement ideas using Padlet’s new features

You may already be familiar with the collaborative teaching tool, Padlet, and have particular ways of using its features in order to engage with your students. For both new and established users of Padlet there are some recent additions to the tool that might provide ideas and possibilities in the classroom and beyond, some which might have previously been associated with other digital learning tools. Here are a few suggestions to get started, or build upon your existing teaching resources.

Use of the new generative AI image tool for ice-breakers or problem solving

The starting point for any Padlet is deciding upon a template, whether that might be a ‘blank canvas’ or a board which is focused towards particular types of contributed content. Padlet is continuously adding new templates and the choices are extensive and all types of task focused.

A recent addition is a generative AI art based template titled, ‘AI art studio’. This template foregrounds a new content tool within Padlet which allows participants to generate an image by entering a text prompt. Much like proprietary generative AI systems (Dall-E; Midjourney etc.) this in-built tool will display a range of unique images which vary widely in terms of style, aesthetics and fidelity depending upon each individual prompt.

In order for students to post an image using this tool they would click the standard button (‘plus’ icon) within the Padlet and start typing a prompt. As a pair of suggestions, you could use this approach as an ice-breaker and ask participants to generate an image that represents one of their interests, or something relating to the subject that they find particularly interesting. You could also use this feature as more of a problem solving exercise – ask student to visualise some concept or, perhaps, some part of the weekly reading that they are struggling with. The action of writing prompts and modifying these to generate a related image can help with active learning.

Padlet can be used for presenting, with added engagement

Padlet is most commonly thought of as a collaborative pin-board style tool. In fact, the ‘Slide show’ feature in Padlet allows for presentations to be delivered in-class much like popular digital tools, including Nearpod. One advantage of using Padlet in this way is that it allows for in-built engagement features to be incorporated into your presentation, including Polls, Links, and Video.

The easiest way to build a presentation in Padlet would be to start with the ‘Slideshow’ template. From that point, adding content to the Padlet will effectively add a slide to your presentation. Each slide can be text-based or contain other types of content. In order to launch your Padlet as a presentation you would click the menu  button (‘…’) and select ‘Slideshow’ from the list of options.

Advent calendar

When you post new content to Padlet you have the option set a ‘future publish date’. This could be used in order to time-release content, especially if the Padlet board were to be embedded into a module area on the VLE (Blackboard). (As part of the sharing options within a Padlet board, an ’embed’ code can be generated and subsequently pasted into a webpage which supports HTML content. This is available in three different display modes: a preview; a slideshow; or the entire Padlet).

Another idea might be to deliver content in the style of a calendar: a fact, question, example or idea, being released to students on consecutive days. This approach might help to encourage students to regularly check the module area as they get used to regularly timed content. Perhaps this could be built around a particular assessment, in the run-up to the deadline.

Note

As per Padlet’s Privacy Notice:

“We share only necessary information with our AI service providers and do not use your personal data to train the AI. Padlet only works with AI partners that respect our privacy agreements and have similar log retention policies. Padlet does not claim ownership on any content created by you using the AI features”

Useful links

University of Brighton Padlet sign-in link – (University of Brighton staff only)

Getting started with Padlet – (Public Padlet help webpage)