Padlet is a collaborative digital bulletin board that individuals at UVM have access to through our Microsoft accounts. Instructors can set up a Padlet and share it with students so they can post images, links, videos, or documents and comment on and/or like each others’ posts (depending on the settings you choose).
Read about some ways to teach with Padlet on the CTL website.
By default, users are allowed three free Padlets. However, an individual pro-account with unlimited Padlets is available for $8 per month. A workaround is that when you are done using a Padlet, you can save it, if you like, as an image or PDF and then delete it and create a new one.
- To begin, go to padlet.com and click sign up. Choose “Microsoft” and then enter your UVM email address. You may need to log in to your UVM account, but in Padlet, no password is needed.
- Once logged in, click Make a Padlet and choose from the variety of layouts. (See image)
- Modify its title, description, and background image by clicking the setting link (a gear icon) at the top right.
- In settings, under Posting, you have more options to select for your Padlet:
- Turn on Attribution if you want students’ names to appear with their posts, otherwise they are anonymous.
- Turn on Comments if you want students to be able to comment on each others’ posts.
- Turn on Reactions to allow responses, such as likes.
- Once you have made all of your choices, be sure to click Save at the top right. (In some cases, you may need to go back one step using the arrow at the top in order to see the Save button.)
- Add posts to the Padlet by clicking the circle with plus sign button at bottom right.
- Share the Padlet with students.
- Click on Share at the top/right and choose the method you’d like to use
- Set user permissions:
If you’d like, you can set your Padlet so that no one can make further edits to the page. To find this option:- Click Share at the top/right
- Click Change Privacy
- Click Visitor Permissions, and select either Can read, Can write, or Can edit
By default, Padlets are set to Secret which means they can only be seen by those who have a link. But because of this, be thoughtful of what you ask students to share recognizing that anyone with a link can access the Padlet wall.
- When you are done with a Padlet, it’s a good idea to back it up and delete it to clear space for new a Padlet. To do this,
- Go to your Padlet and click Share at the top/right of screen.
- In the lower part of that menu, you’ll see the options to save it as an Image, PDF, or other file type. Images preserve the appearance of a Padlet, but content, such as an embedded link, will not be clickable in an image. PDFs preserve the ability to click on links, but remove the visual formatting.
- Once the finished Padlet is downloaded to your computer, you have two options: 1) clear and re-use the Padlet by clicking Remake at the top right of the Padlet, or 2) delete it and create a new one. If you want the same students to access it, you can remake it, but if you want to use it for different students, delete it and create a new Padlet so it has a fresh address to share with the new group of students.
See How do I create a Padlet? from Padlet’s help page.