I like to call Padlet the swiss army knife of instructional technology tools. There are so many creative ways it can be used in the classroom. If you aren’t familiar, Padlet is a collaborative board that allows teachers and students to add various types of multimedia content including text, images, videos, links, drawings, audio, and video recordings. Padlet boards can be organized into several types including a wall to organize content in a brick-like layout, a free form canvas, stream, a shelf to organize content into columns, backchannel, map, and timeline. Let’s take a look at some creative ways to use Padlet boards in the classroom.

Melanie Broder from the Padlet, Ink blog showcases numerous ways Padlet can be used in the classroom. Some of the most interesting including:

Book report: Have students choose an age- and level-appropriate book, and write about the plot, characters, themes, and setting, as well as their own comments and opinions.

Padlet Example: Wonder Book Report

Reading Log: Have students keep track of their reading materials throughout a month, year, or their whole lives!

Padlet Example: Michael’s Reading List

Character Studies: Working with texts that include a cast of characters? Introduce them all with images and text on a Padlet.

Padlet Example: Greek Gods

Virtual Read Aloud: Share a book among students, or even other classrooms around the the world! Have students take turns reading a chapter or section of a book aloud and post recordings of each reading.

Padlet Example: 4W’s Global Read Aloud — The BFG

Order of Events: Working with a long or challenging text? Set up this sorting activity by scrambling up the events of a story and asking students to work together to arrange each post in the proper order using the connector tools.

Padlet Example: Order of Events — Beowulf

Concept Map: Create a scattered set of posts and have students use the connector feature to draw connections between each concept to show how scientific systems function as a whole.

Padlet Example: DNA Replication Concept Map

Podcast Homepage: Create a podcast with your students using voice recordings, and then use Padlet to post your podcast’s latest episodes and information for listeners! Use the Timeline layout to sort episodes chronologically, or the Shelf layout to sort by topics.

Padlet Example: Old Time Music Hour

Design portfolios: Have student designers collect their work and make a statement about their design ethos in a beautiful visual presentation board.

Padlet Example: Digital Image

Mat Miller also describes several great ways to use Padlet in the classroom:

Living webquest: Webquests have been static webpages that included links to sites and questions. They often didn’t change. Students can create a living webquest where new links are added continually. You can create questions at the end of the activity to the links available at that time.

Poster presentations: Replace poster boards with Padlet. Have students add images, information and links. Then embed them in a class website.

Research resource gathering: Students (or groups) can create their own individual Padlets to hold ideas, sources, etc. for research. That way, they won’t lose important papers and everyone will have access if someone’s absent!