Padlet as an Interactive Bulletin Board and Arts Integration Tool

Last Friday, 11/13/2020, WP Art Professor-in-Residence Triada Samaras presented a  workshop on Padlet and Screen Castify using Padlet in the William Paterson University 11th Annual Educational Technology Conference held digitally for public school teachers and others across New Jersey. This conference was organized and presented by Dr. Heejung An, Dodge Arts Integration Grant Director for the Paterson Public Schools together with Dr. Pei-Lin Weng from WP. 

Padlet is an online tool with many interactive features that can be used in a wide variety of ways in any classroom. A Padlet is a blank canvas. "We give you an empty page and you can put whatever you like on it. Drag in a video, record an interview, snap a selfie, write text posts or upload some documents, and voilà!" (Padlet.com)

Professor Samaras explained in her presentation on Padlet use in the classroom:

• Teachers and Students can add/edit/respond to own: Visual Images, Text, Audio, Video, Screencasts and more (Interdisciplinary Education)

• Teachers and Students can interact with the classroom community on Padlet (NJ SEL)

• Teachers and Students can experience an interdisciplinary educational platform (Multiple Intelligences as per Howard Gardner)

• Teachers and Students can engage with Career Readiness Practices (NJ CRPS)

• Increases Student Participation, Engagement, Comfort Level with Art (NJ SEL)

• Increases Opportunities for CRT Culturally Responsive Teaching

Teachers who attended Professor Samaras' workshop included the art teachers from two Dodge Arts Integration Grant schools in Paterson: Patty Kaminski, Don Bosco Technical Academy, and Raquel Ford, School 21.  They were both inspired to make Padlets of their own featuring the art projects done by their students from their on-line classrooms.  

These students now have the opportunity to see their works on-line, and the works of their classmates, and to now be able to create comments about these works using text, audio, screencastify using Padlet, visual drawings, and video.  This new range of possibilities means students have much more ability to create responses using any tool that feels most comfortable for them in their "classroom" at home. I

In the coming months Professor Samaras will be working with Ms. Ford and Ms. Kaminski to create specific lesson plans for Padlet that will enhance both students' technology skills and social and emotional learning skills.  

Stay tuned!

For More Resources See:

How to teach remotely with Padlet

Arts Integration User Guide for NJ