Week 9: Padlet is Full of Possibilities!

Intro: 
This week, we'll be exploring Padlet, a great interactive resource for any classroom. Librarians can create whiteboards and sandboxes and fill them with pictures, videos, text, links, and other interactive material. They can also use Padlet's AI features to auto-generate activities. Padlet is easy to use and has a simplistic design that will appeal to busy librarians who are constantly on the go.

Cost

Padlet is free, but there are paid options for individuals and schools. With a free account, you can have 3 active padlets at a time. The free option also comes with 20MB file uploads, 1 user account, 2-minute video recordings, and 5-minute audio recordings. In contrast, the paid plans include 200 student accounts and 30 minute video and 60 minute audio recordings. Regardless of which you think would be the best fit for your library, I'd encourage you to make a free account and try Padlet out for yourself! I always recommend that librarians try every free resource they can so they can train themselves how to use it before they buy it or use it in the classroom. Also, every resource is different! Some are worth paying for because they have options hidden behind paywalls, and the free plans of other resources are perfect as is and there's no need to spend more. Try this out for yourself!

Audience and Accessibility

Padlet has features appropriate for K-12 students. It is accessible because it has options like text to speech, and everything is clearly labeled and identifiable.

Padlet has excellent AI features that auto-generate classroom activities. All you have to do is give Padlet 3 pieces of information: subject, grade, and topic, and it can generate a creative and ready to use lesson. I decided to try it out for myself! I made this example lesson for a 2nd grade library class studying genres!

Here is the AI-generated activity I created with Padlet: https://padlet.com/madelinefeehan/genre-scavenger-hunt-x9ertgspze73573r

You can also see a screenshot of it at the top of this blog. The goal is for students to go around the library and find books in each genre and explain why. Students would be encouraged to take creative photos or even film videos of the books and their decision to sort it the way they did. 

Features

Padlet works as a great home base and springboard for activities and lessons. It's a place where you can combine images, links, graphics, and videos all in one place. Think of it as an interactive whiteboard, similar to what we did if we chose to make an online book display for the website assignment. You can also create "sandboxes" in Padlet. A sandbox is a collaborative canvas, meaning that multiple people can be on it at the same time, and it gets its name because its format encourages play. With sandboxes, collaborators can draw, write, add media, and create something together. With whiteboards and sandboxes, librarians can create slideshows, lessons, discussion boards, games, and more. A whiteboard can be as simple as some written instructions or as complex as an interactive image that leads you to  all across the Internet

Use in a School Library

I can see librarians creating their own whiteboards and lessons with Padlet. I can also see librarians using the AI features to generate quick, easy, and fun classroom activities. Padlet is great for visual learning. It's easy to create virtual book displays on Padlet, so I could see librarians assigning that to their students for a project. The kids would decorate it and incorporate multimedia to make a unique display that can be interacted with. 

Conclusion

Padlet is another great resource to add to your librarian toolkit. Feel free to play around with the free version and create some whiteboards. You won't regret it!