Getting Started With Padlet (For Non-Teaching Staff)

This helpsheet takes staff through the process of using Padlet with students outside of a specific module site or programme of study.

Padlet is a power tool for online collaboration and student engagement, however it currently has limited web accessibility features. Therefore, when using please be prepared to provide alternative arrangements for your students when needed.

Important Note

This helpsheet is designed to support staff who are not formally teaching, such as professional service departments which deliver workshops to students and wish to use Padlet. In such cases a Padlet link cannot be added to a module site, as it may need to be shared with a larger cohort of students who are attending a session, from across a variety of modules.

This helpsheet can also be used to share a Padlet as part of a guest lecture or other public facing event with a defined list of attendees, such as a conference or public lecture.

This guidance is not for teaching staff who wish to share Padlet with their students, please see Helpsheet PD_001 for specific teaching guidance.

To get added to the UoL account, staff need to:

1. Go to https://uol.padlet.org
2. Click ‘Log in with Microsoft’
3. Enter their Lincoln email address and follow the login prompts (including MFA)

You will be able to merge your account with a free account which was created using your staff email address, if you have one. Within Padlet you will then be able to access both your free and UoL staff account and switch between them.

Creating a board

Once logged in:

1. Click ‘Gallery’ to for examples of use to inspire your own practice
2. Click ‘Make a Padlet’ to begin
3. You are then presented with a selection of 8 templates plus a blank canvas.
4. Click ‘Select’ to choose one.

• Complete and customise the areas on the Modify wizard.
  • You may want to turn the Filter Profanity setting to on.
  • Please name your Padlet appropriately for your session.

Building the structure of your Padlet

There are a number of options that you have for building a Padlet. You can use a pre-defined template or create one of your own.

When using Padlet for the first time, we recommend using the ‘Shelf’ option from the ‘Make a Padlet’ menu as this is the most common example of a Padlet. Once you have more experience with using the tool, you can explore the other layout options.

1. Follow steps 5 and 6 above to create your ‘Shelf’ Padlet board and complete the setup options.

• Name your ‘First Column’ in the Padlet and hit ‘Save’.

• You now have the option of adding additional columns, as many as you require. Click ‘Add Column’ to add a new column and repeat until you have created as many columns as you need.

• You need to add instructions for the students, by creating an example post in each column. To do this, click the plus icon which is denoted in the screenshot above.

• You are now ready to share this board with the students.

Making your Padlet available to students

As you will be sharing your Padlet with a group of students who are not on a defined module site. There are some specific steps that you need to follow before your share your Padlet.

The below guidance is not for teaching staff who wish to share Padlet with their students, please see Helpsheet PD_001 for specific teaching guidance.

1. Navigate to your Padlet. Within Padlet click ‘Share’ on the top right of the screen and select ‘Change Privacy’.

• Select ‘Password’ from the list of options by checking the button to the right of this menu item. Then enter a password in the box at the bottom of the menu and ensure you set your ‘Visitor Permission’ dependant on what you wish your students to be able to do:

Visitor Preferences are:

• Click ‘Save’ to save your password preference choices.

• Click ‘Back’ to return to the share menu

• At the top of your list of share options, you will see a message informing you that the Padlet is password protected. Make sure you have noted down the password.

Click the ‘Copy link to Clipboard’ button.

• You now need to contact all of your participants by email.

You should:

• Paste into the email, the link which you copied from your Padlet.
• Include a clear reference to the password which you set and inform your participants that they will need to enter this password to access the Padlet.

Note: Under no circumstances should you share this Padlet link and password in a public domain. Do not share it on social media, a public website or in another public location. Doing this could result in unwanted external attendees finding your Padlet and contributing to it.