Using Padlet and FeedbackFruits for activities in an online Fine Arts subject

In this article we explore the use of FeedbackFruits and Padlet for a Fine Arts subject (FINA20026 Painting Techniques) delivered online in 2023 as an intensive and standard semester-based subject.

Painting Techniques introduces students to the techniques and processes used in contemporary painting, where students undertake project-based experimentation and are guided through a range of techniques. Students maintain an annotated visual diary, where they document set exercises, develop their ideas and reflect on their progress, and progressively submit sections of their visual diary as they also work on their project proposal and final folio. The ability for students to easily share their work with peers and teaching staff was an important part of this subject, and the use of FeedbackFruits and Padlet combined helped to achieve this.

The tables below compare assessment due dates for the standard semester version of FINA20026, alongside the intensive version.

Standard semester delivery
Week 1 Week 2 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10 Week 11 Week 12
    AT1: Online quiz due     AT2: Annotated visual diary due   AT3: Project proposal due    AT4: Final project folio due
Intensive delivery
Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6
  AT1: Online quiz due   AT2: Annotated visual diary due AT3: Project proposal due
 
AT2: Annotated visual diary feedback received. 		AT3: Project proposal feedback received
 
AT4: Final project folio due after day 6

Why Padlet and FeedbackFruits?

One of the challenges of designing this subject was the need to ensure students could easily and equitably access collaborative tools in the same way for both standard and intensive delivery modes. To ensure this, we needed to explore a range of tools. Those that stood out the most were Padlet and FeedbackFruits.

We first explored the use of FeedbackFruits as the primary tool for sharing work with staff and peers. Although this tool has expanded its functionality over the years by offering a larger suite of options to suit many teaching and learning contexts, the issue with using FeedbackFruits alone was that for some activities, the process of submitting work, providing feedback for others and receiving feedback involved multiple steps that made the process more involved than intended. was not as streamlined was clunky. We therefore considered alternative tools that simplified the process which led us to consider Padlet.

The benefit of using Padlet was that students could easily access a Padlet wall to post their work and to have it presented in a visually stimulating way. Students simply needed to take a picture of their work, upload it onto the Padlet, and see it alongside other students’ work for further reflection and inspiration.

An example of a Padlet wall, where students submit their work and are able to see comments provided by both teaching staff and their peers. This would be accessed during a session, but students would also engage with it outside class time

Although Padlet proved very useful, one particular activity required a deeper level of analysis and peer-feedback. For this activity, FeedbackFruits was found to be the better option. By using FeedbackFruits, students could follow a step-by-step process that involved submitting their work onto a platform, having it reviewed by their peers, and reviewing their peers’ work with an integrated rubric. By configuring the activity with set dates such as when students were required to submit their initial submissions or when feedback was to be released, and by setting other conditions, such as the number of peers each student needed to review, this more automated and controlled environment helped scaffold the task to students and further reduced stress for students and staff.

In combination, Padlet and FeedbackFruits allowed for richer communication and collaboration between peers and teaching staff. Padlet provided greater ease of use, which was especially useful for the intensive version of this subject, whereas FeedbackFruits provided more customised options for a well-scaffolded and more sophisticated approach to providing and receiving peer feedback.

How was Padlet integrated into this subject?

One of the challenges initially met was to find a way to integrate Padlet into the LMS so it could be used across a number of modules and for multiple student groups. To make this possible, a number of Padlets were created, with instructions on how to access each provided on relevant LMS pages.

As students would engage with this tool prior to, during, and after their live session, there was a need to make this clear in the study schedules contained in each module. Each module corresponded to each week in the semester, or each day in the intensive.

A study schedule page presented at the beginning of each module includes easy-to-access links that would direct students to their group Padlet. This informed students on how they were to engage with Padlet through the week, prior to during and after their class

By clicking the Go to group Padlet button, students would be taken to a page that then gave them access to their group’s Padlet. This corresponded to the tutorial group they were enrolled in.

A group Padlet page was created to provide an index of groups that would then direct students to their individual group Padlet page that contained further links to a number of Padlets

To ensure students would not accidentally direct themselves to the wrong Padlet, these group Padlet pages were set up in the Assessments section of the LMS that then allowed the option to ‘assign’ each page to the respective section. This meant, students enrolled in Group 1 would only be able to access the list of Padlets assigned to Group 1, and would be informed they do not have access permissions if they tried to access other groups.

An individual group Padlet page for Group 1, set up as an assessment page in the LMS, with a series of links that directed students to the six Padlet walls they needed to engage with throughout the subject. Instructions were also provided on when they were required to submit to the Padlet wall, and what it was they needed to submit. Further instructions on the task itself were also presented in each of the modules.

A Canvas LMS module

A number of Group Padlet pages needed to be set up as assessment pages to allow staff to assign each group Padlet page to each individual group. This prevented students accidentally submitting their work on the wrong Padlet

How to maintain this design for future delivery?

To ensure proper tutor facilitation and maintenance of all Padlets and FeedbackFruits across the teaching team, guides were developed for staff to refer to. These were created as unpublished pages in the LMS subject, so as to remain hidden from students and allow easy access for staff.

These guides also included end-of-semester and start-of-semester instructions for preparing for the next delivery stage so new students enrolled in the subject can start sharing their work in new Padlet walls that have been cleared from the prior offering. This helped reduce the administrative workload falling on the Subject Coordinator, and provided greater opportunities for tutors to become more familiar with the tools they use for teaching, and to get the support they need.

An example of a Padlet support page, presented as an unpublished page in the LMS for all staff to access. This is useful where consistent approaches to using a tool need to be implemented. Links to Learning Environments guides on Padlet are also provided.

An example of a Feedback Fruits support page, presented as an unpublished page in the LMS for all staff to access. This is useful where consistent approaches to using a tool need to be implemented. Links to Learning Environments guides on Feedback Fruits are also provided.

The results

Overall, students and teaching staff responded positively to the ease of use of both Padlet and FeedbackFruits.

Student benefits

  • It assimilated the students’ work more into an online environment.
  • It was an easy platform to rely upon where assessments were staggered across the semester and where the intensive mode demanded quick feedback.
  • Student anxiety was reduced by having the opportunity to not only share their work in a user-friendly online space, but to also see the work of their peers.
  • It provided a stronger framework for students to anchor their ideas and more critically reflect on their progress for their final (individual) project.

Staff benefits

It was easy for staff to provide immediate feedback.

The focus of the subject became more streamlined on practical assessed activities, allowing for greater connections to theory and practice.

By being able to access students work in a user-friendly environment, staff were more easily able to evaluate the needs of students.

Where to next?

If you are considering using Padlet in your subject, check out these online resources:

If you are interested in learning more about Feedback Fruits, check out these online resources:

Colleen Ahern and Georgina Cue are lecturers in the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music and have coordinated FINA20026 Painting Techniques for the past several years. This subject was granted FlexAP funding in 2022 and were both extensively involved in the redesign of this subject.