How to Create PDFs of Padlet Walls

Padlet has always had an option for saving the contents of the walls that you make with students. The trouble with doing that has always been that the formatting was kind of wacky when you printed contents of the wall. Recently, that changed when Padlet introduced new options for formatting PDF versions of your Padlet walls. In the following video I demonstrate how to create and format a PDF of your Padlet walls.


Check out the other videos in my Padlet tutorials playlist to learn about all of the great features that Padlet has to offer.

Pin-a-note - Sticky Notes for Your Windows 8 Start Screen

The more I use Windows 8 the more I get the hang of the shortcuts and the utility of the start screen. This morning I added a new utility to the start screen, sticky notes. Pin-a-note is a free Windows 8 app that you can use to write and pin sticky notes to your start screen. Pin-a-note is a simple sticky note application that doesn't have a color coding option, but it does everything else that I use sticky notes for on my Windows 7 computer and on my MacBook.

Applications for Education
If your school is starting to use Windows 8 computers and tablets, you're probably looking to continue to use some of your favorite productivity tools on this new operating system. Pin-a-note brings the commonly used sticky notes to Windows 8.

Noterr - A Simple Sticky Note Service

Desktop sticky note applications are very handy for creating reminders for yourself and recording quick thoughts. But if you frequently work from more than one computer, a desktop sticky note application might not suit your needs. That's where a service like Noterr can be helpful. Noterr is a free web-based sticky note service. Noterr provides a blank canvas for posting sticky notes to yourself. Individual notes, but not an entire canvas, can be shared with others via the link provided by Noterr. Learn more about Noterr in the video below.


Applications for Education
If you teach in a school in which students don't have their own netbooks or laptops, a web-based service like Noterr could be helpful for them to keep track of tasks.

Here are some related items that may be of interest to you:
Lino It - Collaborative, Multimedia Sticky Notes
Spaaze - Online Sticky Notes and More
Interesting Ways to Use Wallwisher in the Classroom

Lino It - Collaborative, Multimedia Sticky Notes

Lino It is a free service that allows you to create a canvas of online multimedia sticky notes. In addition to basic text, the sticky notes you place on your canvas can contain videos, images, and file attachments. Unlike some similar sticky note services, Lino It allows you to alter the size and color of your fonts. You can use Lino It's built-in calendar tool to set due dates on your sticky notes.

To use Lino It, you have to register for an account. Once you've registered you can create as many sticky note canvases as you like. You can make your canvases and notes public or private. If you choose to make a canvas public other users can add sticky notes to it and read all of the notes on it.

Applications for Education
Lino It is very similar to Wall Wisher which I've used a few times this year for brainstorming sessions and to create collages of student-contributed information. Those same things and more could be done with Lino It. Students could use Lino It to brainstorm on collaborative projects then outline tasks necessary to complete those projects. The tasks can be assigned due dates on each sticky note. Attaching files to Lino It stickies allows you and your students to post PDFs or other documents that may not be available online.



Here are some related items that may be of interest to you:
Building a Video Collage With Wallwisher
Spaaze - Online Sticky Notes and More
Organize and Collaborate with Stixy
Collaborative Sticky Notes

Spaaze - Online Sticky Notes and More

Spaaze is a free online sticky note service that offers some handy functions for teachers and students. Spaaze allows you to write notes, edit notes and reorder your notes. Your notes can be simple text notes or you can create notes that contain videos, images, or links. Use the Spaaze browser bookmarklet to add a note to your collection anytime you come across an interesting find on the web. The video below gives a good overview of what can be done with Spaaze.


Applications for Education
Spaaze could be used by students as a personal organizer. Spaaze could be particularly useful for students who don't have their own computers and need to rely on computer labs in order to get work done online. By using Spaaze those students can create notes of what they need to do, what they have done, and create notes about the useful things they find while researching on the web.

Here are some related items that may be of interest to you:
Organize and Collaborate with Stixy
Collaborative Sticky Notes
Building a Video Collage With Wallwisher

Building a Video Collage With Wallwisher

Today, I showed my special education students a short (18 minutes) video about cultural changes that took place in the US during the 1920's. After the video we discussed what they saw. Then I had students search online for other examples of cultural change in the 1920's. When they found examples they put them onto a Wallwisher wall that I projected onto a wall in my classroom. The wall started with just text being added to the wall and quickly progressed to YouTube videos being added to the wall. Once every student had contributed a video we stopped, watched the videos, and discussed.









At first my students were a little unsure of what Wallwisher is all about, but they quickly figured it out and they all enjoyed the class. The two comments in the screen capture below capture the vibe of the room.







For those who have never tried Wallwisher before, it is very easy to use. To get started simply go to Wallwisher.com and click "build a wall." Then title your wall, choose a URL for your wall, enter your name and email, and start adding sticky notes to the wall. Sticky notes added to a Wallwisher wall can contain up to 160 characters of text plus links to images and videos. You can choose to make your wall private or public. If you choose the public option anyone can quickly add sticky notes to your wall. If you want to approve additions to the wall before they appear, that's an option too. Choosing the public settings is allows for the quickest set-up and use of Wallwisher as you only need to give students the URL of your wall in order for them to add notes to the wall.

Listhings - Your Sticky Notes on the Web

Listhings is a fairly new web-based sticky note service. Like other services in its market, Listhings provides user with an online space to write notes, store notes, and sort notes. Listhings also gives users the option to share their sticky noteboards with others via email invitation. The one thing that makes Listhings different from some of its competitors is that users can create more than one page of notes in the same account. Listhings users can choose to share one sticky noteboard while keeping another sticky noteboard private.

As you might expect from a service like this, Listhings allows users to edit the colors of their notes. Users can also arrange notes on their noteboards using the simple drag and drop functionality.
(click to view full size)









Applications for Education
Listhings could be a good personal organization tool as well as a collaborative organization tool for students. A group of student working on a project could use Listhings to create a schedule of tasks. Similarly, students could use Listhings as a place to share ideas from a brainstorming session.

Here are some related items that may be of interest to you:
Organize and Collaborate with Stixy
Collaborative Sticky Notes
Sticky Screen - Your To-Do List Homepage

Squareleaf - Your Online Sticky Note System

Squareleaf is a simple system for creating and managing online sticky notes. To use Squareleaf just register for an account and begin creating notes. Your notes are displayed on an online "whiteboard." On your Squareleaf whiteboard you can arrange your sticky notes in any pattern that you like. The size and color of the sticky notes can also be adjusted.

Applications for Education
Squareleaf doesn't offer any fancy text alerts or Twitter reminders, but what it does do is offer students a very simple way to write reminders to themselves. Squareleaf could also be a good way for students to diagram stories they're planning to write or to organize the parts of project they need to complete.

Here are some related items that may be of interest to you:
Sticky Screen - Your To-do List Homepage
Organize and Collaborate With Stixy
Scriblink - Your Online Collaborative Whiteboard

Scriblink - Your Online Collaborative Whiteboard

Scriblink is essentially a whiteboard with an integrated instant messaging system. Scriblink users can draw, type, or edit images on a whiteboard. Users have the option of sharing their whiteboard with others and allowing other users to collaborate on the whiteboard. Scriblink does not require you to set up an account or register in order to use the whiteboard. Simply enter the email address of the person you want to collaborate with and they can join in on the fun. Every whiteboard created on Scriblink is assigned a url which you can use to share your whiteboard.

Applications for Education
Scriblink is an easy way to share notes, outlines, and drawings with students. Invite students to collaborate on an online whiteboard to work through difficult math problems or brainstorm on the completion of a graphic organizer.

Here are some related items that may be of interest to you:
Scribblar - Simple, Effective, Creative Collaboration
Postica - Collaborative Sticky Notes

Sticky Screen - Your To-Do List Homepage

There are a lot of reminder services and sticky note services available on the Internet. Sticky Screen might be the simplest of them all. Sticky Screen lets you put three short notes on a sticky placed in the center of your screen. Make sticky screen your Internet browser's homepage and your reminders stare you in the face every time you open a window or tab.


Applications for Education
Reminder services don't get any simpler than Sticky Screen. If getting on the Internet is a daily occurrence in your classroom, consider making Sticky Screen your students' homepage. Students can then quickly check their to-do list and update it accordingly.

Here are some other reminder and sticky services you might want to consider if Sticky Screen is too basic for your needs.
Postica
Stixy

Organize and Collaborate with Stixy

Stixy.com is a organization and collaboration web tool. Stixy, as the name implies, allows you to write notes and stick them to a clipboard. This sounds no different than the built in Sticky application on your Mac. Stixy takes it a step further by allowing you to share you notes with others and have them respond to your notes. The Stixy clipboard has three other great features, the ability to stick and share documents, stick and share photographs, and create and share a "to do" list on the clipboard and on a calendar. Stixy does not require any downloads and operates on any operating system. Below you will see a screen shot of the clipboard I'm using right now.










Applications for Education
Stixy is useful for creating a calendar of events or units of study to share with students and parents. Stixy shared "to do" list function could be useful to helping students stay organized while working on long projects. Finally, the ability to customize and personalize the look of the Stixy clipboard may encourage students to use their Stixy clipboard regularly.