Moodle (Post it) Board

Create – Collaborate – Share

Overview

Moodle Board is a recent addition to Clarkson Moodle (2021). Board is a virtual bulletin board tool very similar to Padlet, however, it is built right into Moodle. With the Board activity, you can place post-it notes with text or media to share with your students, or you could have students share their post its with you and each other. For educational purposes, Board is an excellent tool for curating and sharing digital content, having discussions or debates, collaboration and creating class community.

Like Padlet, Board is very easy to use and can be used in many ways. Because Board is integrated with Moodle, the activity is available in the Add an Activity or Resource area of a Moodle course. Teachers can use common Moodle features such as Restrict access, Completion activity and Groups. In addition, posts are restricted to students in that course.

Step-by-step guide

Add a Board Activity

To add a Board activity to your Moodle course:

1. navigate to the section where you want to have the activity,
2. click on the Add an activity resource link in the bottom right corner of the section.

1. 1. Enter a name for your Board and fill in the description.
   2. Choose from a variety of Settings based on the type of assignment planned:
      

3. Once the Board activity has been added, and the options entered or selected, students will see a link to the Board:

4. When students click on the Board assignment link, they will see the instructions for the assignment that were entered during the options selections.

5. Below the instructions are three Post it boards to get the class started in the Board Assignment. Board is laid out a in grid format of columns and rows. Note the Board Administration block is located to the right of the Boards. This block disappears when Course Editing is turned off. Students do not see this block, however, instructors can use the tools available for a variety of needs.

6. To add a Post it to the right, click on the plus sign to the right of the existing post its. Post its can also be added in Rows. (see Adding Post its to Boards below)

Add Content to a Post it

1. To add content, click on the plus sign within the post it.

2. The New post for column Heading window will open. Students will add information here as assigned in the instructions:

1. Post it Title
2. Content
3. Median
4. Click the Post button to save the board.

3. Once the post it has been saved, it might look like the image below:

Edit a Post it

To edit the information in the post it:

1. Double-click within the Content area to bring up the Edit post for column Heading window. Click on Post to save the changes.
   

2. Reply to post its by clicking on the plus sign (+) at the bottom of the post it.

3. Beware! Avoid clicking the X at the top of the board because everything in the column AND all of the content in the column will be removed!

   

4. Edit the Column Heading by double-clicking within the text area to activate the text box.

Adding Post its to a Board

In addition to adding columns across, add post its below Replies or below other Boards. For example, the image below shows a post it with pizza, a reply with a request for the recipe below, and a new post it below with macaroni and cheese.

Other Post it and Board Features

	Reorganize Boards Easily reorganize Boards by Drag and drop. Click and hold anywhere on the Board post and drag. Stars Rate post its by clicking on the star at the bottom of the post it.

Using Board in the Moodle Classroom

1. The My Favorite Food example above could be an activity within itself or could be carried forward throughout the semester, as a weekly assignment and/or in a variety of disciplines.

   1. For example, the next assignment in this series might be to determine nutrient values for the food in a chemistry or nutrition class.
   2. Alternatively, perhaps spark a research topic on the history of the particular food or culture.
   3. Think of adding a new board topic each week or continue with the Board theme throughout the semester.

2. This blog article 5 uses of #Moodle Board to engage students, will help spark ideas for using Board as an icebreaker, muddiest point, resource repository and more.

Others perspectives…

• Foster learner collaboration with Board – a new Moodle plugin

• How to add a Post it Board to your Moodle course

For more ideas on how to use Board in your class, see this article Padlet: Create – Collaborate - Share