Using Padlet to Teach Source Credibility

The first ELA 9 project we worked on this included web credibility as a main learning target. We used the open source program Padlet as tool to help us check for student understanding, and I found it a great means of formative, real-time assessment.


I began this lesson with an overvew of the "5 W's of Source Credibility": who, what, when, where, and why.  I discussed these briefly then modeled a sample website for the class, explaining why the website in question was/was not credible. Once the modeling was over, I asked students to work in groups to evaluate the credibility of two web links listed on the Libguide created for the project. Once finished, they wrote notes on and embedded Padlet board explaining which of the two sources was most credible and why, based on the guidelines we'd previously discussed. When all groups had finished, we read the explanations aloud and discussed the correct answer together.

Padlet is an online program where anyone with the link can post comments, links, documents, or multimedia to a virtual "board." I found this tool incredibly easy to use and a great means of informally assessing the entire class.  Padlet could also be used to facilitate discussions with remote participants or share ideas. It is so simple to use, evidenced by the fact that we tried it out for the first time with 9th graders, and it worked perfectly!

Once you create a new wall, share, edit wall info, or manage your wall information and look.

Embed your board, and students can post comments directly into your online classroom.