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What is Padlet? An intorduction for teachers.

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What is Padlet? An intorduction for teachers.

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I strongly urge you to read this short article to understand the nature of Padlet for teaching, before you have a look at other resources.

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// by Louise Pieterse

Padlet is, simply put, an online noticeboard. It gives teachers a blank slate to customize their own platforms and add numerous media resources like videos, images, helpful links, a classroom newsletter, fun classroom updates, lesson material, answers to questions, and more.

As a classroom bulletin board, students can use it as a reference for a lesson topic or look back at daily lessons, keep up to date with school events, or access it as a class document hub.

It is a one-stop sharing platform between students and teachers; offering cooperative creation, high levels of security and privacy, and plenty of sharing options.

Padlet works as an app on phones or can be accessed on the Padlet website. It is easy to set up an account and there is a function that integrates google classroom accounts with Padlet, eliminating the need for even more login details.

To add students to the boards, teachers can send out a unique QR code or a link to the board. Adding elements to the Padlet board is also super simple with a drag and drop function, "+" icon in the lower right corner, the option to paste from your clipboard, and more.

Choose one of the several board layouts like wall, canvas, stream, grid, map, or timeline to create a Padlet board that is right for your target. Customize all the functions before you post, changing features like the background or allowing students to comment or like each other's posts. The moderator can also choose to show the names of the people posting but turning it off will allow typically shy students to participate easily.

Post the board and send the link to students to let them add their own resources or comments to the board.

Students simply click on the link or scan the QR code the teacher sends them to access the Padlet board. From there they can click on the "+" icon in the bottom right corner to add their own section to the board.

The functionality is straightforward and students can either just type, upload media, search google for images, or add a link to their post. They can also comment on each other's work if comments are activated or add a like to the posts.

There are a couple of functions that make Padlet perfect for teachers. The feature to turn comments off and on is helpful if teachers are worried their students might abuse the platform. Teachers also have the power to delete comments if they are not appropriate.

There is also a feature that allows teachers to turn off the names of the posters, a helpful addition for students who want to remain anonymous. The boards are completely customizable with easy features to change the fonts, backgrounds, and security settings.

Overall, Padlet is an incredibly easy tool to use with simple features that are easy to figure out.

The free Padlet plan is limited as you only have 3 boards and caps file size uploads over 25 MB. For as little as $8 per month, you can access the Padlet Pro Plan which allows up to 250 MB file uploads at a time, unlimited boards, priority support, folders, and domain mapping.

Padlet 'Backpack' is a package designed for schools and starts at $2000 but quotes differ based on the capabilities the school requires. This includes features like extra security, school branding, management access, school-wide activity monitoring, over 250 MB file uploads, more support, student reports and portfolios, and much more.

Category: Technology

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What is Padlet and How Does It Work For Teachers and Students? - Teaching Expertise

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Each day teachers incorporate new ways to digitize the classroom and mold a learning space that is ready for the future. Padlet is an innovative platform that facilitates communication between teachers and students and works as an online noticeboard. Have a look at the ins and outs of this excellent resource for teachers and see ...

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What is Flipgrid? How do I use it with my students?

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What is Flipgrid? How do I use it with my students?

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Flipgrid is a video discussion tool quite like no other as it's designed with the might of Microsoft to work specifically for teachers and students in a digital classroom.

The idea behind this education tool is to use video to create an open platform of discussion and learning that doesn't require a physical classroom to get everyone involved. That makes Flipgrid an ideal remote learning tool as well as a powerful homework based application for students to use with each other.

Flipgrid is designed to allow students to speak to the group but without the same fear that might constrict responses in a real-world situation. Students can re-record responses, removing the pressure of answering in class, on the spot. Of course, it's also a great tool for use when learning remotely.

So, in more detail, what is Flipgrid and how does it work in education?

What is Flipgrid?

At its most basic, Flipgrid is a video tool that allows teachers to post "Topics" that are essentially videos with some accompanying text. This is then shared with students, who can be prompted to respond.

The response can be made using the software's camera to create videos that are then posted to the original Topic. These videos can be recorded as many times as needed before uploading, and can have the addition of emoji, text, stickers, drawings, or custom stickers.

The service works online so it can be accessed via web browser from nearly any device, or through the app, making it good for laptops, tablets, smartphones, Chromebooks, and desktop computers. The only requirement on any of those devices is a camera and has enough processing power to back that up.

Flipgrid is free to use and can be accessed using a Microsoft or Google account.

What's Good About Flipgrid?

One of the best things about Flipgrid is the ability to interact using video, such as face-to-face in the real world, but without the pressure of a live classroom. Since students are given the space and time to respond when they're ready, it makes educational engagement possible for even more anxious students who might ordinarily feel left out in class.

The ability to add rich media encourages students to be creative and, potentially more importantly, expressive. By adding emoji, text, and stickers, students can engage with class content as they might interact with friends using social media platforms.

This aspect can help students feel less apprehensive and more empowered to express themselves openly, engaging more deeply with the task. Ultimately, that should result in deeper learning and better content recall.

On a software level, Flipgrid is great for integration. Since it works with Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams, and Remind, it's easy for a teacher to integrate into the current virtual classroom setup.

How Does Flipgrid Work?

The process is pretty straightforward to get set up and start using Flipgrid. A teacher can simply go to Flipgrid to get signed up by using a Microsoft or Google account.

Then it's time to create your first Topic. Select "Add a Topic." Give it a title and you can post a video, such as a YouTube clip, right there. Optionally, add a "Prompt," which is text to describe what's going on and what you want in response.

Then add the emails of those students you want involved by adding a student username if they're not using email. This can be setup by adding a student and sending them the required link and code. Add an optional password, if needed.

Select "Create Topic" and then you are given a link to share with the option to copy as well as to quickly pick what platform you want to auto share to, including Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams, and so on.

Students can then login and use the myjoincode to get into the Topic directly to watch the video and post their response. The video response then appears on the page below the original Topic Prompt. These can be commented on by other students, using text, but permissions can be set and controlled by the teacher as they see fit.

Flipgrid currently offers more than 25,000 lessons and activities, and more than 35,000 Topics, helping you to create new Topics or use existing ones quickly and easily.

Flipgrid Features

While Flipgrid keeps things minimal, making it easy to use, there are still plenty of useful settings that you can tweak. Get your offering just right and it can be tailored to get the best engagement possible with the class.

Here's some lingo guidance and tips to help you understand what's available to use.

Flipgrid Grids

A "Grid" is the term used by the Flipgrid community to describe a group of learners. In the case of a teacher, a Grid could be the class or a small group.

This is where you can create a custom Flip Code that is then used to share with anyone you want to enter into that group.

Flipgrid Topic Guests

Want to integrate more than your own Topics? It is possible to use Topic Guests, aka, Guest Mode, to allow others to input.

This is ideal if you want a specialist speaker, for example. Equally, this is a powerful option if you want to include guardians in the process, since this is online and that becomes a real possibility.

Flipgrid Shorts

This video tool allows teachers and students to create their videos for a custom finish rather than simply uploading a YouTube clip.

Users can upload and edit video, add more clips, cut, and segment as well as enhance with emojis, stickers, and text. Add arrows to a graph image as you talk over that section of the video, for example, as a great way to get in-depth information across.

Shorts is, essentially, a really simple-to-use video editing tool that can produce a powerful result, depending on how creative you want to be.

Flipgrid Video Moderation

One way to stay in control of the content submitted by students is to set the Video Moderation mode to on when you post a new Topic. In doing so, any video uploaded will not be posted until you have checked and approved it.

This is a useful tool when starting out, but once trust has built and you're confident, it's also good to have this setting off to save time on moderating. When it's off, students can also enjoy more freedom of expression in real-time.

You can always select individual videos to hide or delete at a later time.

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What is Flipgrid and How Does it Work for Teachers and Students?

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Flipgrid is a video discussion tool quite like no other as it's designed with the might of Microsoft to work specifically for teachers and students in a digital classroom. The idea behind this education tool is to use video to create an open platform of discussion and learning that doesn't require a physical classroom to get everyone involved.

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Nearpod lessons for Secondary Business and Economics

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Nearpod lessons for Secondary Business and Economics

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Here is a link to my padlet that includes Nearpod lessons for Business and Economics.

These lessons and embedded activities are most suited to Year 9 and onwards classess.

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Flipgrid can be used as a high interaction tool for engaging student in cooperstive learning and higher-order thinking.

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How?
1. Have students post 2-minute videos on what they learnt today
2. Have groups work collaboratively to present their findings
3. Let peers comment on each other's videos. Guide them on how to give positive critique as well as appreciation.
4. Encourage students to act on peer feedback and post a self-reflection video on how they used peer feedback!

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My Padlet, for all you need to know about teaching with Padlet!

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My Padlet, for all you need to know about teaching with Padlet!

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This link will take you straight to my Padlet specific digital curation with unique activity ideas for engaging activities.

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This is my favourite resource for ways to make students utilise Canva for reaching the Modification Stage of SAMR (Terada, 2020). Probably because it has images to guide you to the strategy you want to refer to, so very user-friendly!

If you're considering using Flipgrid then check out how to integrate the two!! Students can make Canva presentations and transfer to Flipgrid to create videos!

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Canva for Education is a powerful design tool, allowing you and your students to create visually stunning designs for any subject or age level. You and your students can create your own designs from scratch, or choose from our library of over 60,000 high quality, educational templates. The best part of all, it's absolutely FREE! So, how does this translate into the classroom? Here are 20 different ways that your students can use Canva in the classroom.

(Click on any image to jump to that section. This is NOT a paid post.)

Students can quickly and easily create videos in Canva that can be shared out beyond the platform. There are tons of templates that allow you to drag and drop media right into the video. Students can use elements right from Canva or upload their own.

Saving and sharing can be done is several clicks. To save a video, click on the Download button, then click "Download." This will download the video into your Downloads folder or camera roll (if on a mobile device).

To share the video, click on the three dots. Then, click "Share Link" and then "Copy." This will allow students to share the video beyond the platform and into apps like Seesaw, Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams and more.

Canva has made removing the background of an image simple. To do so, students will need to click on the image. Then, click on "Remove Background." This process may take a few seconds. Once it has completed, students now have the background removed!

Canva images can be downloaded, then uploaded into other platforms such as Flipgrid. This means students can create and design their own backdrop on Flipgrid! Backdrops act as virtual wallpaper. When students upload a backdrop on their Flipgrid video, they place themselves on top of the image. Students can move themselves around the video to place them in the proper spot. The recorded outcome will be them in front of the backdrop explaining their thinking!

So, how can this be done on Canva? It's actually easier than you think! Once students have designed their image on Canva, they click on "Download" to download the image to their device. This will save the backdrop onto their device. Next, have them log onto Flipgrid. Once they have the Flipgrid Shorts Camera open, click on "Backdrops." With Backdrops open, click on the "+" icon. This will allow up to upload your downloaded Canva file onto Flipgrid. Find your file then upload it. This will generate the Flipgrid Backdrop. Now students can move themselves around to properly keep the focus on their content. Fun tip: Backdrops can also be in the form of a video!

A great way for students to show their thinking is by explaining their work. Have your students create a presentation that covers what your class is learning. Once they have their presentation ready to share, have them click on "Present and Record," located on the top right, then click "Go to recording studio." They will need to provide permission to use the device's camera and microphone. Now, click "Start recording!" This will give students a three second countdown before the recording process begins. Your students can now work through their presentation. One thing to note: while recording, Canva remains in presentation mode. This means the person presenting can see what slides come next, notes attached to the slides and more. The recording will only capture the Canva slides and a circle shaped webcam video of the presenter.

Once the student is ready to stop the recording, all they need to do is click "Stop Recording" from the top right side of the screen. One thing to note, students can always pause the recordings by clicking "Pause" next to the "End recording" button. Now that the student has clicked "Stop recording," the video will be uploaded to Canva's servers. Once it has been processed, students can either share the direct video link, save it for later or download the video to their device. In order to get the video over to Flipgrid, we will select "Download." The download may take a few minutes and will be saved to your downloads folder. You can find it in your downloads folder under the name of the presentation. Now it's time to head over to Flipgrid!

Log onto the Flipgrid Topic, then launch the Flipgrid Shorts Camera. Once the camera opens, click "Options" to the left of the record button. Now, click "Upload clip." Upload your downloaded Canva presentation and then click "Next," followed by "Confirm." This will share your Canva presentation on Flipgrid for others to see and comment on!

Adding different elements into Flipgrid videos results in instant student engagement. But, with Canva your students can design their own Photo Stickers / Media for their Flipgrid videos. To do so, have them create the sticker on Canva. It's best to use a presentation sized template and we also recommend trying to make the sticker as large as possible within the template.

When finished, students will want to save their work as a PNG file. This will give the sticker the ability to have a transparent background. To save their work as a PNG file, click on the three dots located at the top right, then click "Download." Be sure to check "Transparent background," then, click "Download" to save the image to the students' device.

Now, on the Flipgrid topic, open the Flipgrid Shorts Camera. Click on "Effects," then click on "Media" (on laptop / PC) or "Photo Sticker" (mobile devices). From here, upload your Canva file. Once the file appears, you can move and resize it as you see fit! Fun fact: this process can be repeated as many times as you would like!

Inferencing skills require complex and critical thinking. These tasks can be daunting for students, but with the help of Canva this can be turned into a highly engaging and fun task! To help take inferencing to the next level, we created "Character Bulletin Boards." This template was designed to look like a bulletin board where characters from a story might post things that happened from a story, or memories from a chapter that the character recalled. Students use the template to add elements, text, or photos that represent what happened in the story. You can even create a template that has multiple slides for multiple characters.

When your students are ready to share their work with you, they can do so in just several clicks. First, they will need to click "Send to teacher." Next, your student(s) will need to select you (or they can select multiple teachers if you co-teach), and then click "Send." This will share the work right into your teacher dashboard.

Interested in giving this activity a try? Click here or the image to download and copy the template!

Canva is a well-known creation tool, but it can also help your students become more accountable. Student Learning Portfolios allow your students to maintain academic goals and curate learning artifacts that can be shared with their families and friends. To get started with Student Learning Portfolios on Canva, have your students select a template (like the one below). We recommend building the portfolios by months or subjects. Your first slide in the portfolio should resemble a table-of-contents. Students can hyperlink the text to different slides within the Canva presentation. This will allow them to maintain a running log of their work, but more importantly - share with others!

Similar to Student Learning Portfolios, student created websites are an easy way for your students to share (and show off!) their hard work. Have your students pick from the website templates on Canva. When they're ready to publish the site, click on "Publish as Website." This will provide the student with a shareable link. Fun fact: this URL will never change, even if your student(s) decide to edit it. If you're looking to take things to the next level, you can have several students collaborate on the same Canva file. Then, the duo / team will have a published website for the group. Want a fast / easy start to this? Use our template below! Click here or the image to get started building your own student website today!

Science Fair Projects are always exciting, but Canva can put a "new school" spin on them. Your students can design a trifold, add elements, text and even QR codes right into their Science Fair Projects. These can be shared publicly or right to the teacher. To generate a public share link, click on the three dots on the top right, then click "Share Link." Click on "Copy" to share your URL. Now students can share this link with others! Tip: you can take this link into a URL shortener (like Bit.ly) and paste it to generate a shorter URL address (which will still point to the original link). To share directly with the teacher, click "Share," then select the teacher(s) you wish to share with. This will send the Canva file to the teacher for review! Need some easy inspiration? Check out our template below! Click here or the image to get started!

One of our favorite Canva activities is "Book Bumper Stickers!" For this activity, students design a bumper sticker based on the book, character / individual, subject, etc. The design can even be downloaded and shared onto places like Flipgrid or Seesaw. Check out our template below! Click here or the image below to download it and get started!

Whether you're explaining historical events, the sequential order of a story, or important character accomplishments, timelines are a great way to show thinking. Canva has easy-to-use timelines that are simple to edit to fit your next assignment. To view Canva's timeline templates, just search: "Timelines" in the search box.

Design thinking provides students with a creative outlet where they can tie in their learning. Infographics are a great way to show this level of thinking and Canva makes it easy! There are many Canva infographic templates that students can choose from. These templates are fully editable - everything from the text to the colors. To find infographic templates on Canva, just type "infographic" into the search bar. Here's a template that we found to help you get started! Click here or the image above to download it and get started!

This is a great way to kick off the new school year or returning from a break. Plus, it teaches your students how to use all of Canva's features! Student created classroom badges can be designed for any types of rewards that your students feel as though should be given out throughout the year. Have students use Canva's features to design their badge. Remind them that it needs to have text / what the badge is for. Some good examples include: "Tech Trainer or "CANva" (students who can teach others about Canva). Check out our template by clicking here or the image! Looking for some easy inspiration? We've got you covered! You can download our template for free! Click hereor the image above to download it!

Canva users now have the ability to draw on their slides. To start drawing, follow these steps:

1. Click on "More" from the left side panel

2. In the search bar, type "Draw". Or, you can scroll down to the bottom where you will see the Draw icon. Click it to open the next window.

3. One the next window, click "Use" to launch the draw feature.

4. Select a brush and color to start drawing!

-- Let us know if you're using any of these ideas in your classroom! Be sure to follow us on social media (@TheMerrillsEDU everywhere) and tag us! 👓👗

For more tips, tricks and lesson ideas for making learning more interACTIVE, check out our books The InterACTIVE Class and Flipgrid in the InterACTIVE Class on Amazon!

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20 Ways for Students to Use Canva in the Classroom - @TheMerrillsEDU

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Canva for Education is a powerful design tool, allowing you and your students to create visually stunning designs for any subject or age level. You and your students can create your own designs from scratch, or choose from our library of over 60,000 high quality, educational templates.

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This article starts with a table listing possible uses for Flipgrid at all year levels. So if you're in a hurry just have a look at this table.

Explanations follow as you scroll down. Enjoy!

My fav picks:
1. Group presentations
2. Skits
3. Book reviews
4. Refelction-in action
5. End of year memories
6. Classroom connections