Padlet is an incredibly versatile tool for teaching. You can use it to create instructional materials for your students as well as assignments. It also offers robust collaboration features. This post will focus on a less-common padlet format: maps.
If you’ve never used Padlet before, take a look at our introductory video for Padlet.
Other padlet formats allow users to create posts anywhere on the background. With a map padlet, the background is from Google Maps. When you or a student first visits the padlet, a wide-angle map will be displayed. Posts can be added either by zooming in on the map and clicking, or using the menu to search for a specific location. Once a post’s location has been set, a wide variety of content can be added to it, just like with other padlet formats: text, pictures, sounds, videos, links … nearly any digital content. Users can also draw and label connections between posts, and comment on posts.
You also have the ability to change the appearance of the map – changing colors, satellite imagery, even a watercolor version.
Here are a few ideas of how to use the map format:
- As an icebreaker, asking the students to post about where they’re from, where they consider home, or where they’d love to visit
- As an instructional tool, placing posts indicating locations relevant to class material
- As an assignment, asking students to locate examples of concepts covered in class, including digital media to provide more content for their responses.
