Crowdsourcing using an online noticeboard

Padlet is a free online noticeboard, which enables you to post thoughts and ideas on ‘sticky notes’. You can add text, images, video, links or documents to the board from any device, and it can be shared publically or with a closed group. There are several ways Padlet can be used in the classroom to aid learning and teaching.

Encouraging participation
During a lecture you can ask students to post questions they might have onto an online noticeboard using their smartphone or tablet, and the questions will be displayed anonymously. This means that students who may not have the confidence to ask questions verbally in the classroom are more likely to participate. By having questions on a Padlet you can also keep the questions for future reference and can keep track of whether certain questions arise regularly, and adjust your teaching accordingly.

Canvassing opinions on a topic
You can use a Padlet to collect together ideas from a cohort of student, whether they are campus based or distance learning. The notes can be moved about into groups to show where themes are developing, or they could be used between cohorts to share ideas with a wider group. This can be a useful tool for helping students develop persuasive arguments to include in essays.

Curating resources
If you’re explaining a particular concept, you could ask students to get into groups and look for tutorials and resources on that subject, and then post links on a Padlet. This will crowdsource a selection of online resources that students can review and compare, and then reference later to help them. This will help students develop their group working, research, and technology skills.

Sharing images
Padlet is a very visual tool and is a great way of displaying images. A good example of how this has been used to good effect is in the Behind the Scenes at the 21st Century Museum MOOC (massive open online course). Learners were asked to think about an object that means something to them and share a photo of it on the Padlet along with a brief explanation of why it is important. As MOOC learners are based all over the world, this exercise gave them an opportunity to find out a bit more about each other and develop social learning.

For more information about Padlet, and other uses of online noticeboards, visit the Leicester Learning Institute website