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Listen to my response to hear my idea of how you could use this in your classroom.

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Here are some thoughts?

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If you were on social media the past several days, you probably noticed the outrage over the plan changes made by Padlet. People were in full panic mode, and Nitesh, the founder of Padlet, was nice enough to stay online and answer their questions.

If you are unfamiliar with Padlet, it is a fantastic collaboration and discussion tool. I usually use it as a canvas for students to post responses, and have discussion. Others use it as a way to provide links, videos, images, and assignments to students. You can learn more about how I use Padlet . The canvas backgrounds, adjustable links, and robust features have made Padlet a favorite of teachers for years.

With the plan changes, Padlet now has 2 options. The free version offers 3 Padlets, and all of the features are now available to teachers. However, for those that already have other Padlets in use, they can still use those as well. Also, my understanding is you can create a Padlet, use it, delete it, and then still have space available (hope you followed all of that). The paid version ($8.25 a month) offers everything you get out of the free version. However, you get an unlimited amount of Padlets. You can find more details from Nitesh about the changes, and the reasons behind them . After reading the post, I like Padlet even more. The honesty and sincerity of Nitesh is refreshing, and gives perspective on the necessity of the change.

So, is it worth it... I would argue, yes. If you need additional space, it is definitely worth the cost, and, in many cases, you may be able to get your school PTSA to cover the cost. Padlet even offers additional free Padlets if you get other educators on board. They even have options for scholarships. For me, I don't really need the extra space. I will simply create, delete, and recreate Padlets. I like to tinker and redesign the content I present to kids. I think reusing the same thing every year causes teachers to become stale.

I hope now that the dust has settled teachers are sticking with Padlet. It is such an amazing tool, but if you just can't justify the cost there are some other options.

I have read several suggestions for alternatives to Padlet. The one that has been mentioned most often is . After looking at it, I can not recommend it. It is not as easy to use, and simply is not as good as Padlet. There are several others mentioned, but they too just aren't very good.

The best alternative I have found to Padlet is Nearpod's collaborate feature. This feature allows students to post responses, participate in discussion, and post media onto the discussion board. Teachers have the option to moderate posts prior to them being visible, and you can simply add it into a Nearpod lesson you are already using. If you are unfamiliar with Nearpod, and all of the amazing tools it offers, you can learn more .

So long story short...Is Padlet worth the $8.25 a month? Yes. However, if you don't agree, Nearpod is your next best choice.

As always, thank you for taking the time to read my post. Please take a moment and share the article on your favorite social media site, and, if you enjoy the website, please take time to tell one teacher/friend about it this week. You can get great content sent directly to your inbox by subscribing, and you can find me on twitter @teachandcoachga.

Have a great day!

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Padlet Is No Longer Completely Free! What Now?

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If you were on social media the past several days, you probably noticed the outrage over the plan changes made by Padlet. People were in full panic mode, and Nitesh, the founder of Padlet, was nice enough to stay online and answer their questions.

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Note that is says subscription is worth it. You do not need to pay, just have to delete old padlets.

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Meaningful ways for teachers and students to collaborate online are more important than ever. That's why so many educators love Padlet, a digital bulletin board tool. It gives teachers, students, and even parents an easy way to share ideas, review work, and a whole lot more. Wondering what it's all about? Here's our guide to Padlet for teachers, including plenty of clever ways to use it with your students.

What is Padlet?

Think of Padlet as an online bulletin board, but with a lot of things a regular bulletin board could never do. Users can post text, images, videos, files, links ... basically anything digital. Others can see the postings, as well as comment or vote on them if the board owner allows. You can customize each Padlet by changing the background, layout, font, and color scheme.

One of the best things about Padlet for teachers is how very easy it is to use, even for young students. It works on computers and laptops, plus devices like Chromebooks, iPads, or smartphones. Perhaps most importantly, teachers can control whether contributions have students' names on them or are made anonymously. This empowers students who might otherwise feel too timid to share. You can also decide whether or not to allow comments or ratings and even require approval before posting or filter out profanity.

Is Padlet free?

Padlet's free version for all users allows you to create up to three Padlet boards at a time. You can erase and create new ones to stay under the limit. This is a good option for teachers who only plan to use it occasionally or who want to give it a try to see if it works for them.

If you decide you're willing to pay for an upgrade, there are two options. You can sign up for a Pro account, which offers unlimited Padlets and removes upload limits. Individual Pro accounts currently cost $8/month.

Padlet also offers Backpack for Schools, a bulk pricing plan that gives schools more privacy options, extra security, student portfolios, and more. Learn more about Backpack here.

15 Cool Ways to Use Padlet for Teachers

Ready to give it a try? There are so many ways to use Padlet for teachers and students. Here are some of the best ideas we've found to inspire you.

1. Remake existing Padlets as templates

If you come across a Padlet made by someone else that you really like, you can copy it to your own account and use it as a template. You can choose to copy the posts too, or just grab the layout to get you started. It's as simple as clicking the Remake button, then choosing what you want to copy over. The new Padlet will appear on your account, and you're ready to go! Want to make your own templates? Visit Guiding on the Side for a walk-through.

2. Collaborate and organize

Imagine you've asked your class to research a topic, with each student contributing several facts. In a hands-on classroom, you might have each student write their fact on a sticky note and add it to a whiteboard. Then, together with your class, you could organize those facts by moving the notes into columns. You can do the same with Padlet, but your "sticky notes" can contain photos, graphs, videos and audio, article links, and anything else that might be useful.

On the board above, students have contributed facts about E.T.A. Hoffman, author of The Nutcracker story, as well as information about the ballet. Here's the same board organized into columns, with posts sorted by subject. Learn how to change Padlet layouts here.

You can organize information in other ways, too, like timelines and flowcharts. The Techie Teacher has free graphic organizer Padlet templates you can re-make for your students here.

3. Get to know each other

Padlet is perfect for icebreaker activities. Ask students to share what they have in common or share an image of their favorite study space. You could even ask each student to create their own Padlet, sharing some of their favorite things. Learn how one teacher uses Padlet for a Selfie Icebreaker at Dr. Catlin Tucker.

4. Create a timeline

Padlet has a timeline feature built right in as one of their organizational options. How cool is that? Use it for history class, tracing scientific eras or evolutions, or even to map out the order of events in a book for English class. Wherever a timeline comes in handy, Padlet has you covered. Learn more about timelines here.

5. Get feedback with exit tickets

Exit tickets are a fantastic way to find out what your students learned in class and where they may still need some help. Lots of teachers have kids write their answers to a reflection question on a sticky note and post it by the door on the way out. If you're teaching online, or want to incorporate some technology, use Padlet instead.

6. Display student work

Teachers are no longer limited to displaying student work on a classroom bulletin board or in the hallway nearby. Since Padlets are easy to share, parents can drop in and see what their kids have been working on. See how The Techie Playground does it here.

7. Keep track of who needs help

One teacher likes to use Padlet to see who needs help during independent work. Kids simply add their name to the list to indicate they need a minute of the teacher's time. They can see how many kids are ahead of them, and no one is forgotten in the shuffle. Learn more at Stefbub's Classroom.

8. Hold a debate

Classroom discussion and debate can be difficult when you're teaching online. Even in person, there's rarely enough time for everyone's opinion to be heard. Try taking the debate online instead, like this Padlet from Teach Every Day. Post a question, then have students choose a side and gather resources about it. As students review the information posted by others, they can share their own thoughts and ask further questions. This is also an excellent way to help kids learn to have civil conversations online, even when they don't agree on the subject.

9. Have a scavenger hunt

Everyone loves a scavenger hunt! Set up a Padlet with columns, titling each with something your students need to find. Use a scavenger hunt for team building, or create a hunt that helps students learn more about a class subject. Make a field trip more meaningful (even a virtual one!) by asking kids to post pictures that meet certain criteria. Learning the alphabet with your littles? Have them take photos of items around them that start with each letter. There's so much you can do with this smart Padlet for teachers idea!

10. Set up a bookshelf

Use Padlet to make book recommendations or keep track of what students are reading. Recommendations by teachers or other students will help parents and kids find new reads to love. Ask kids to rate and comment on the books they're reading for class and include their own personal choices too.

11. Make a map

Padlet's map feature makes it a breeze to create a collaborative map for your students to use. Choose from a variety of styles, including satellite views. Add points to the map, along with information like links, photos, and more. Learn more about the map function from Free Technology For Teachers.

12. Conduct a writers' workshop

Writers' workshops help students develop their own skills and learn from others. One teacher has taken her writing workshops online, using Padlet to help her young writers see strong examples from their classmates while improving their own efforts. See how it's done at Mud and Ink Teaching.

13. Use Padlet Backchannel for discussions

Padlet's Backchannel feature makes it easy to have a discussion during another activity, like watching a film or listening to a presentation. It works just like a regular Padlet, but a text box at the bottom simplifies the process, allowing users to quickly type and send, just like in other chat programs. You can still add other items like links, images, or videos, too. Learn more about Backchannel from Richard Byrne on YouTube.

14. Assign lessons or homework

Use Padlet to keep all of your homework assignments for the week in one place, or lay out the daily lessons for a virtual classroom. You can link to videos, online games, and other resources, or create assignments directly in Padlet, like responding to reading questions. Students or parents can post questions to the assignments as needed, too. Learn how one teacher does it at Elementary Grapevine.

15. Take a poll

By enabling the voting feature, you can easily take a poll or survey for just about anything. Choose your next class reward, find out which book your students loved the most, or ask them which problem was the most difficult on last night's math homework. There are so many possibilities!

How do you use Padlet? Share in the comments!

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Padlet For Teachers: The Best Tips, Tricks, and Ideas For Your Classroom

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Meaningful ways for teachers and students to collaborate online are more important than ever. That's why so many educators love Padlet, a digital bulletin board tool. It gives teachers, students, and even parents an easy way to share ideas, review work, and a whole lot more. Wondering what it's all about?

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There are MANY on youtube. This one popped up first so here you go.

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Padlet Tutorial - How to Get Started Guide

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Ed Tech

There's a good chance you've done the "write on a sticky note and put it on the wall" activity - or have seen it happen before.
Padlet lets those sticky notes have images, links and videos AND be available with practically any Internet-ready device.
It used to be blocked by my school's Internet filter. This school year, the powers that be have allowed it through on student devices, opening up lots of possibilities in class!

Padlet is a great place for gathering ideas, sharing them and modifying them later. It's like a living, breathing webpage. Users can add links, YouTube videos, files and images to Padlet notes. They can move and arrange them. A link to a Padlet can be shared and Padlets can be embedded into webpages.

Here are 20 ways to use Padlet in class:

15. Collect videos to share in class

Looking for FREE Tech Like A PIRATE resources?
You'll find a treasure trove of additional ideas and activities related to t ​ ​​​​he book at TechLikeAPirate.com!

Looking for some more ideas? These sites have them!
Do you have an idea of how you could use Padlet in class? Post it in a comment below!

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20 useful ways to use Padlet in class now

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Padlet is a web app that lets users post notes on a digital wall. The uses for this site in the classroom are virtually endless!There's a good chance