Padlet Briefcase

What do you like best?

I've been using the free version of Padlet for a couple of years now and have always been impressed with the way it delivers a simple virtual notice board for our learners to engage with. However, on this zero cost plan you can only save up to 3 Padlets at a time which was very restrictive, so decided to try out a more comprehensive version. Padlet Briefcase for business offers the same type of interactive notice boards – all of which can be made public, private or used to invite selected individuals to co-collaborate in the learning by adding their own comments, pictures and even documents. We have also used successfully it to pose pre-determined questions on a given subject to build involvement and test learner retention levels.

What do you dislike?

It can get a little expensive if you are a large company because their pricing strategy is based on a per-user per-month basis, so it would be useful to provide the opportunity to purchase a more cost effective organizational licence. Also the in-built content filtering application can sometimes be a little over vigilant and has been known to remove certain (UK) phrases that are in common usage.

Recommendations to others considering the product:

Try out the free version first to find your way around, then (especially if in business), go for the paid for option.

What problems are you solving with the product? What benefits have you realized?

In essence, Padlet Briefcase delivers a more robust, enhanced version of the basic service – built around the familiar blank pages ( or ‘walls') on which you can add anything you like - including video clips and audio files to create a dynamic platform for learners to share ideas and interact. In particular, I love the free-form approach and the flexibility it offers. Feedback from learners suggests that they enjoy using it most to brainstorm and bouncing ideas off each other – rather than just with the person they are sat next to. In particular I like the fact that Padlet Briefcase is designed specifically for the business user. This means you have greater levels of security, can create your own unique domain name, plus you can brand pages using your organizational color scheme and logos for a more professional image and can upload much larger file sizes to your walls. Finally, we use GoogleDocs extensively and Padlet Briefcase works well with the full range of GSuite.