Productivity Tool

 Today's subject is all about productivity. I will be informing you about an online tool that can help educators design and implement lesson plans or associated activities into their classroom. The online tool I explored is Padlet. Padlet is a tool that allows collaboration on a given subject through documents, videos, images, links, polls, or voice recordings. Not only can the teacher add information,

Productivity at its finest!

but students can as well. The tool is free to download and available on your desktop, mobile device, or tablets. The free subscription comes with 3 Padlets to create, 20MB of space to upload, and one user. You can also upgrade to the platinum plan for $9.99/month and get unlimited Padlets and more storage. The classroom plan, for $199/year has even more storage and allows 2 teachers along with 50 students. Lastly, the team plan includes all other upgrades and up to 50 users for $14.99/month. 

Using this tool was a breeze. Right when you create an account you have the option to watch a video taking you through all the steps and features of creating content on the site. I used it to create a slideshow on weather. I used pictures, videos from YouTube, links to weather related websites, and I included a link to a timed quiz for the students to take at the end of the slideshow. This tool is wonderful because it allows you to include many different types of media to present information to the students. It keeps them engaged because they can also add their own content of their choice. I had fun just creating the slideshow, so I know educators will benefit tremendously from this tool. 

This tool would definitely be used in my classroom. I love the layout, I love how customizable it is, and I love how simple it is to navigate. Although it does cost more for the feature where students can contribute as well, I think it is worth the price. Students like to have a role in how they learn, they love to have some type of responsibility. This tool would allow them to express what they know, in a creative and fun way. I would recommend teachers collaborate together and use this tool as a team to bring some excitement to the classroom.