How to Create a Padlet and Embed it into Moodle

July 28, 2020 /

Padlet is a collaborative bulletin board tool that allows teachers and students to share ideas and resources. It has a wide range of functionality and can allow users to share comments, links, YouTube videos, files, images, etc. This tutorial will demonstrate how to create a Padlet and how to embed it into a Moodle course site.

  1. To get started with Padlet, navigate to www.padlet.com in your browser and click “log in.” You can use your Trinity email account to create a Padlet account by clicking on “Log in with Microsoft.” Please note that you’ll be limited to 3 padlets at one time. (This can be managed by downloading padlets as pdfs or archiving them to preserve them which we will cover below).

2. Once you log in, you’ll arrive at the Padlet dashboard. To create your first Padlet, click on “make a padlet.”

3. Here you’ll see the various templates available to create a padlet: wall, canvas, stream, grid, shelf, backchannel, map and timeline. Each has its own uses which are worth spending time exploring. For the purposes of this tutorial, we will focus on creating a grid which arranges content in rows or boxes.

4. After selecting “Grid,” you’ll be invited to enter some descriptive information about your padlet including a title and description. You can also create a unique link to the padlet if you are going to keep it public. Designers can also customize the appearance of a padlet by selecting a wallpaper and color scheme from available templates, or providing a custom look.

5. Scrolling down in this window, you will see a heading called “Posting.” These are important customize fields that allow the instructor to control how students will interact with the padlet. Will students be asked to post anonymously, or with their names attached? Will students be asked to comment on content posted on the board?

  • By toggling “Attribution” under this heading, students’ names will appear with any comments or questions they post on the board. To create a board that allows for anonymous student questions about class content, for example, an instructor will want to leave this turned off.
    • In order for “Attribution” to work, students need to be logged into their Padlet accounts when they post. Anything a student posts when they are not signed in will show up as anonymous.
  • By toggling “Comments” on, the instructor allows students to comment on posts and creates a space for discussion on the board. To use it solely to post resources, leave this turned off.
  • There are also customization fields to require a moderator to approve of posts before they appear and to filter profanity which instructors may want to explore to mediate student contributions to a board used to host discussions.

6. Once these customizations are set, the instructor will be returned to the board where they can create their first post. Do so by clicking the plus sign that appears on the lower right hand side of the screen.

7. Clicking the plus sign will create a post on the board that an instructor can customize with a title, text, and content shared from numerous sources (file upload, image, link, google search, screencast recording, video, audio, drawings, etc.)

8. Once set up is complete and the board is ready for student contributions, the instructor can embed padlet in their Moodle course. To do so, click the three – dot icon in the top right corner. From the dropdown menu, an instructor can see and review privacy settings. Padlet will automatically set the padlet to “secret” which means the padlet will only be visible to those with whom it’s shared. The contributor setting is also set to “can write” which means students can contribute posts, comment on other posts, but cannot perform any administrative tasks (i.e. deleting a padlet or adding external contributors, for example).

9. Click “Export” and then “Embed in your blog or your website.” Click “copy” to copy the html code for your board to your clipboard.

10. Within your Moodle class, navigate to where you would like your padlet to appear and click “Add an activity or resource.” Select “Page” for best results.

11. After filling in the “Name” and “Description” fields, scroll down to “Page Content.” Select the “show/hide advanced button” and then the “html” button. Some sample html will appear which you can delete. Paste your padlet html into this box.

12. Scroll down and click “Save and Return to Course” or “Save and Display” and your padlet should appear.

Further Resources

To discover more ways Padlet can support your teaching, check out this resources:

From Padlet:

  • A Padlet Tour
  • Sample Padlets (by type)
  • The basics for educators (Video )
  • Overview of the Padlet Timeline format (Video)
  • How to use map format (Video)
  • How to moderate posts (Video)

Instructional Design Resources:

Sample Uses for Padlet in Instruction

  • Class introductions
  • A space to share ideas before class discussion
  • A space to collect student work
  • Track prior knowledge of an upcoming topic
  • Create mind maps
  • Organize group work
    • Each group can collaborate in different color notes so the class can review each group’s contributions and comment.
  • White board.
    • In class, a padlet can be useful as a space to share links and related content and resources. A class might analyze a shared quotation in common, for example. Users can also draw on the board.
  • A post-class reflection space.
    • A padlet posted in Moodle can allow students to reflect throughout the week and ask questions about what they’re learning as they may occur outside a class meeting time. Sample questions used to organize this kind of padlet may include: “what questions do you still have?” “what can I offer more information about?” An instructor can set up the padlet to let students ask questions anonymously and then answer them throughout the week. Without a pro account, a user is limited to three total padlets. To accommodate this limit, an instructor can download that padlet as a pdf at the end of each week, post it in Moodle, and then delete and repost that padlet to collect new questions the following week. (See the “Export and Reuse Padlet” resource cited above).