Welcome to Padlet for Schools for teachers!

Welcome teachers! -- To your new Padlet for Schools account!

Think of Padlet for Schools as a closed ecosystem. Your school controls who can be a member and what permissions each member has. Logging into your account grants you access to a private space where padlets can be created and shared.

Now that we have that out of the way, lets get started!

What is Padlet?

Lets start with the basics! Padlet is a software that allows you to create, use and share virtual creations that include lesson plans, discussion boards and fun classroom activities. We also have interactive whiteboards where you can create games, story books and so much more!

There are two different types of padlets: Boards and Sandboxes!

If you want to see what a beautiful board looks like, check it out here!

To see what an interactive Sandbox entails, click here!

Accessing your Padlet for Schools account

In the past, Padlet for Schools was located at their own domain (at padlet.org) but moving forward, all accounts will have their new home located at padlet.com.

To access your Padlet for Schools account, go to padlet.com and click Log in.

Your administrator will choose the login option that you’ll use. The options include logging in with an email and password or using single sign-on (SSO) through Google, Microsoft, Apple or ClassLink.

Once you're logged in, you will want to ensure you are viewing your Padlet for Schools account (and not your personal account). To do this, click on your account name/avatar in the upper-right corner of your dashboard. The account with the check mark next to it indicates the account you're currently in.

The check mark in the example above shows that I am currently in my school account.

Managing members

The Owner (or members with an Admin role) will manage members by adding and removing students and teachers, but this responsibility can be granted to teachers, as well. Consult your organization's admins to see if you'll be tasked with adding or managing members.

Transfer your padlets

If you used the same email address for your personal account and your Padlet for Schools account, you can easily move your padlets from your dashboard.

To transfer a padlet from a personal account, click on your Made by me folder on the left-hand side of your dashboard. Click the vertical three-dot ellipsis (...) button on the padlet's thumbnail and select Transfer padlet. Choose your Padlet for Schools account from the list and the padlet will automatically transfer.

Create a padlet

There are many different ways you can create a padlet. The possibilities are essentially endless! Begin by crafting your creations from these options:

• Boards
• Sandboxes
• Create with AI
• Use a Template

Boards

Any padlet you create is a visual space that allows you to share and organize thoughts. Think of a board as a virtual bulletin board for posting content in a creative and easy way!

Sandboxes

A Sandbox is the more freeform version of a padlet! Sandboxes are collaborative digital canvases with tools for drawing, learning and interactive games!

Create with AI

AI recipes use the power of generative AI to create an entire padlet based on your description. Use our AI recipes to create discussion boards, lesson plans, class activities and more - almost instantly!

To get started, log into your account, click on the + Make button at the top of the page followed by AI recipes. Choose your recipe and start cooking!

Read more about our AI recipes here!

Templates

Not really sure where to start or need ideas? Search our Template gallery! Look through hundreds of pre-made templates you can use to get your creative juices flowing. Search based on a specific category of interest or even search by grade level!

For more tips and tricks to navigating through the Template gallery, you may find this article useful: Gallery Templates

Share settings

Whenever you create a padlet for use in a school environment, you need to establish its privacy settings. The administrator of a Padlet for Schools account can establish default privacy settings for new padlets, so if you prefer a specific setting, you can request that your administrator make it the default. Your administrator will also be able to restrict certain privacy settings, but in most cases, you will be able to determine your own privacy settings for your padlets.

Link privacy

Here are all possible privacy options:

• School only - We recommend this option for our school accounts to ensure the most privacy. A padlet with this setting will only be accessible to logged in members of your Padlet for Schools account. This is perfect for restricting access to anyone outside of your school.

• Secret – Visitors are not restricted to members of your Padlet for Schools account. Anyone with the link can access the padlet.

• Secret - Password – Visitors are required to enter a password to access this padlet. Visitors are not restricted to members of your Padlet for Schools account. Anyone with the link and the password can access the padlet. This option is great for padlets with potentially sensitive information.
• Secret - Log in - Only visitors that are logged into their Padlet account can access the padlet. This prevents posts being created anonymously.
• Public - Anyone can access this padlet. It will show up on the creator's profile page and in Google search results.

Visitor permissions

You can also decide what permissions visitors have within your padlet. You control whether a visitor can leave comments on your padlet, make their own posts, or have editing access. You can also choose to keep your padlet completely private!

• No access - Only users added as collaborators can access the padlet.

• Reader - Assign visitors this permission if your padlet is designed to present stagnant information. If you set 'Visitor permissions' to Reader, users will be able to see everything on the padlet but can’t change the material or add to it.
• Commenter - This is a great option if you just want to collect feedback on posts. Users with this permission will be allowed to make Comments or react to posts as long as those features are enabled.
• Writer - This permission is ideal for padlets that you want your students to collaborate on and contribute to with their own posts.
• Moderator/Administrator - Set your 'Visitor permissions' to this setting to allow visitors to create, edit and approve others' posts. This is not recommended for Padlet for Schools accounts. If you'd like to use these permissions for one specific person, we encourage you to add them as a collaborator and assign the permissions that way.

Breakout links

Use breakout links to allow a group of users to collaborate in a single section of the padlet without being able to see the other sections. This is a great way to encourage group work on your padlet without seeing other students' contributions. Read more here!

Submission request links

Share a submission request link with your students to invite them to post on a board - without the ability to see the contents of the board beforehand. Once they've submitted their post, you can have them redirected back to the full padlet, to a confirmation page or encourage them to create another post. Read more about submission request links here!

Padlet settings

Customize your padlet with a title, wallpaper and different content and moderation settings within the Settings menu on your padlet. Simply click the Settings cog icon (⚙️) and start the customization process!

Choose a format

One of the first decisions you will make when you create a board is to decide on a format. A board's format dictates how its posts will be arranged. The Wall, Grid and Canvas formats allow you to see many of your posts at once on one large canvas. Timeline and Stream allow you to order posts sequentially, and the Map format allows you to place posts geographically.

Post fields

If you click on Post fields, you can customize the different options that are available to students in the post composer and create custom fields for your use case.

Under Attachments, you can choose which attachment options will be available for your contributors. If you don't want a Spotify link to be an option to choose from, toggle the button OFF next to 'Spotify.'

Learn more about Post fields here.

Content moderation

In the Content section of your Settings panel, you can click on the drop-down menu next to 'Moderation' to choose how much control you would like to have over the posts on the padlet.

• Choose None for posts/comments to be automatically approved and posted to the padlet.
• Choose Auto to automatically flag inappropriate posts/comments and require your approval.
• Choose Manual - Students only to require approval from the Owner/Moderator for all posts and comments created by students. Once approved, they will be visible on the padlet.
• Choose Manual - All to require approval from the Owner/Moderator for all posts and comments regardless of their role within the Padlet for Schools account.

Read more about the Moderation settings here.

Classroom examples

Here are a few of the most popular use cases for Padlet in the classroom.

Boards

Group discussion: Use a shared Wall or Grid padlet to gather and address students' thoughts in an organized fashion.

Study guide: You can post any file type on a padlet. Take advantage of this feature to build comprehensive study guides that gather pdf files, images, text, and video all in one place.

Lecture presentation with Slideshow: Padlet offers a feature called Slideshow, which allows you to build beautiful presentations with just one click. Slideshow is an easy way for students to build and present slideshows for the class and a great option for teachers that are sick of PowerPoint. Learn more here.

Daily schedule: Start the day off right by using a Timeline or Stream padlet to visualize your daily schedule.

Where you’ve been: Use a Map padlet to visualize the travel histories of everyone in your classroom.

Classroom bulletin board: Collect miscellaneous thoughts and ideas on a long-term shared class padlet.

Advanced organization - Central padlet: A great way to keep your padlets organized is with a central padlet. By posting all your favorite padlets in one central padlet you can keep track of them. You can even nest central padlets within other central padlets. This rabbit hole goes all the way down!

Sandbox

Interactive games: Create fun and interactive games to learn about certain subjects.

Reading reflection: Have your students read and reflect on a page of a book and jot down some notes!

Comparison charts: Go through the differences in time periods.

Geometry practice: Measure angles and work on your math skills.

Ice breakers: Fun ice breakers to get to know your class better!

KWL charts: Create a Sandbox with three different sections to make a KWL chart to map the learning process.