When bulletin board meets sticky note and technology the result is Popplet, a fun and intuitive Web 2.0 application that allows users to create galleries, mind maps and diagrams quickly and incredibly easily. Ridiculously easy. No kidding!

Popplet allow users to develop a wall of interactive multimedia sticky notes which can include text, images and videos from online services such as Flickr or Facebook. The same applies to You Tube videos. Media can also be uploaded from your computer to sticky notes, or “popples”. There is also a really cool feature that allows users to add their own drawings to a popple.

Once a Popplet is created, it can then then be shared on social networks or via email, exported as jpg or pdf files and/or embedded into websites.One can even invite others to collaborate on a Popplet, enabling realtime teacher-student collaboration and/or pair and group work.

Popplet is also an excellent presentation tool alternative. Once the content is placed on the board, the presentation order is determined via the presentation menu. While presenting, the application will zoom in on each popple in the order selected. This option provides an excellent, non-linear approach to presenting information to one’s audience—students, peers, colleagues, etc.

In addition to an iPad app, Popplet offers a browser bookmarklet that can be used to quickly and easily add content from other webpages to your Popplet pages.

Classroom Connection:  Popplet is a powerful and versatile Web 2.0 tool for helping students visualize the learning process.  Not only can teachers use Popplet to graphically enhance content, this resource can also be utilized in conjunction with a variety of  instructional strategies, such as a Do Now, Read Aloud and/or Exit Ticket. Popplet is also an excellent application for creating graphic organizers, concept maps, brainstorming diagrams, sorting activities and/or KWL charts.

Due to its ease of use and powerful features, Popplet has great potential for a wide range of classroom activities in all grade levels and content areas (i.e. to gauge student knowledge before teaching a unit, help students link concepts together, summarize information, assist retention and recall and/or as a multimedia collage). One can even use Popplet as a classroom homepage!