Using Padlet to reflect on contents

Name partner organisation: University of Padova

Description of the course:

Within a blended course on Organizational Culture. Teaching & Learning Methods (6 ECT), 12 hours was planned as online activities.

Reflection on contents: connect knowledge and share learning with Padlet (3 points).

The online platform was used to encourage a deeper understanding of contents and the relationship between attending and non-attending students. Chapters related to this activity were clearly identified, communicated to the students before the beginning of the course, and indicated into the syllabus. A specific syllabus concerning online activities was available since 2 week before the beginning of the course.

Three collective outputs was realized, involving attending and non-attending students.

Aim of testing project:

Using Padlet in order to:

–          go deepen in contents

–          encourage a more in-depth understanding of contents

–          brainstorm ideas from the class

–          involve non-attending students

–          foster interactions among attending and non-attending students

–          create a memory of the course

Date(s) of the testing project: From December 4th to December 23th

Target group: Master students      

Number of participants: 15

Nationality of the participants: 13 Italian, 1 German, 1 Libyan

Sex of the participants: females­­­­­­­­­­ 13  man­­­ 2

Age of the participants: 22 to 40

Amount of meetings with the learners: 1 to launch the online activity, total amount 12 hours online

(< 20 people)

15 people

(> 20 people)

  drawings

3 different walls related to the contents of the course. 3 different steps of Reflection promoted by obstruction

x

How did you organize your testing project (or to put it differently: as this is a testing project for experimenting, what will be different comparing to the same course you run the previous time)?

Each Padlet wall was related to specific chapters of the book that students were called to study for the course.

1)      In the first Padlet wall, I posted only the topic (Democratizing the Classroom and Teaching about Power: topic highlights) and I invited students to share ideas in a free way

2)      In the second Padlet wall, I launched the topic (Critical thinking) with a specific obstruction related to. Starting from a statement, students were invited to post their thoughts and connected their ideas to that of their colleagues

3)      In the third Padlet wall, I launched the topic (Teaching about power) with a stronger obstruction, asking students to related their thoughts to the statement and also forcing them to express their disagreement concerning thoughts and ideas expressed by their colleagues.

In general, how do you look at the results of your testing project?

I assessed the Padlet activity. The assessment was based on criteria, previously communicated to the students: Number of posts (and interactions) and coherence to the assignment.

Furthermore, I gave to the students a personal feedback about their work after each Padlet session, in order to improve the next one.

x

This was part of the creation of a reflective atmosphere, encouraged by Padlet, recognized by students (I collected their feedback about the activity) as a democratic space where it is possible to share perspectives and points of you in different way (using words, images, songs, videos or audios, link, etc.)

This is a crucial principle in this activity. One of the major aims was to encourage the interaction between attending and non-attending students and to let them

x

The 3 Padlet sessions followed this principle, deepening and complexing assignment wall by wall.