Padlet

Padlet
Online - Educational Service - Digital Learning Tool

https://padlet.com/

Padlet Logo

Digital Canvas & Bulletin Board For Collaboration On Beautiful Projects

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 8
Service: 9
Ease Of Use: 9
Stability: 9
Features & Functions: 7

Pricing:
Guest: Free
Jetpack (Individual Account): SGD $48 per year
Backpack For Schools (Individual Account): SGD $135 per year
Briefcase For Businesses (Individual Account): SGD $135 per year

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Padlet is a free online digital canvas and bulletin board service, which enables both real-time and non real-time collaboration. Its simple yet feature rich platform enables it to be used for a wide variety of purposes, from classroom projects, to business meetings, to resource / information / idea sharing, to build resumes or web sites, to event planning and organising, to gather feedback, to communicate with stakeholders, and more. Started in January 2008 as Wallwisher, the platform was renamed to Padlet in February 2013, and has gained widespread use in the fields of education / learning & development, software engineering, business development, and more.

The appeal of Padlet lies in its simplicity and versatility. It has stable connectivity and an intuitive user interface, only needing a computer with an internet connection and a web browser (though your portable device may prompt you to install the app, it's not a requirement for access). Able to operate on most browser or mobile platforms, Padlet is like a blank sheet of paper. The user determines how it should be used, and the possibilities are nearly limitless, according to the vision of the founders, who desired a user-friendly platform which enabled people to put content on the internet, as easily as putting pen to paper.

Padlet Landing Page

The main feature of Padlet is the blank canvas - which can be customised with backgrounds, and more importantly, layout of posts. Creating a post is as easy as one-click, or a drag and drop, with any changes autosaved and updated in real-time. Almost any file type is supported as an attachment (images, documents, videos, audio, web links), which appears within a post, making sharing of files easy and hassle-free. You can also set the levels of security and privacy that you desire. The paid version goes further, with custom domain names, account branding & personalisation, larger file size uploads (250mb instead of 25mb), premium themes, user management, enhanced analytics, and more.

There are few downsides to using Padlet, mostly aesthetic in nature, as their functionality is good. I have mostly positive feelings for the free version, with the only drawback being the portable device user interface, which requires some effort in scrolling. For the paid version, my biggest gripe is the inability to control notification emails during user / account management. For example, when I suspend a user, said user receives a notification email informing them of their suspension, and I cannot turn this off. Similarly, I cannot re-trigger email notifications to a user for their login details on the paid version. At the time of writing, the analytics are also underdeveloped on the paid version, and contain little meaningful data.

There are a variety of ways to use Padlet to aid education / corporate learning, as a digital learning tool. I've used it to host materials for pre-course / post-course reading, or as a platform for learners to submit their completed work. I've used it to encourage engagement, such as for icebreakers and class interaction, or for learning reviews where learners share what they've seen / done / learnt. Have also once used it for geocaching, where learners after class, went out to various meaningful places, took photos, and posted it. The next day, we got the rest of the class to identify the place in each photo. Generally, I'm very happy with my experience using Padlet.