Padlet!

Padlet (http://www.padlet.com), a site that lets you create a virtual wall onto which all manner of text, pictures, videos, and the like can be posted, is an incredible tool. My first impression of it was somewhat ambivalent, seeing it as a tool that, while useful, isn't anything new. It just seems to be a minimalist or streamlined combination of a few of the different tools we've seen before. As I used it to take notes on this week's articles, however, I really came to appreciate its effectiveness and utility. Creating new text boxes is as simple as double-clicking, and everything on the page can be dragged and dropped easily. 

In a classroom environment, I think this tool can be incredibly powerful. It's a powerful multimedia notepad that requires next to no training to use, but that can be used even more well by those with training (it includes embed codes and a self-generated QR code). The addition of moderation, allowing the wall's creator to verify everything that's posted, goes a long way toward countering the inevitable problems of internet communication- anonymity leading to bad behavior. A moderator can easily keep the discussion and information being presented on a padlet wall on topic. For small student groups, a wall could be used to organize a project or even to present one by (for example) setting it up as a timeline. It doesn't have a lot of the flashy transitions and effects of powerpoint and prezi, but that's not a bad thing. That simply means it will be easy to avoid the inevitably poor transition and effect choices students have and will always make in those programs.