Padlet is often used for open-ended brainstorming and discussion, but newer features like custom fields allow you to add more structure to student responses. This can help guide participation, improve the quality of responses, and support more intentional learning activities. Learn how custom fields can help you design more focused and meaningful Padlet activities.

Padlet is a flexible tool for student engagement, but without structure, responses can sometimes be inconsistent or difficult to assess. Custom fields allow you to guide how students respond by adding specific prompts or required fields to each post.

Use Custom Fields to Guide Student Thinking

Custom fields allow you to add structured response areas to a Padlet post, such as requiring students to include specific types of information. Instead of only open-ended posts, you can prompt students to respond to multiple parts of a question or organize their thinking in a consistent way across the class. This can help students focus on key ideas and make responses easier to review, compare, or assess.

Teaching ideas:

• Ask students to submit a claim, evidence, and explanation in separate fields
• Structure peer review with fields for strengths, questions, and suggestions
• Guide reflections with prompts like “key takeaway” and “remaining question”

Combine Structure with Creativity

Custom fields work alongside other Padlet features like the submission form and layout options, which can help you design more intentional and engaging activities. For example, the submission form allows students to enter responses in a guided format before posting, while layouts like column or grid can help organize responses visually. Features like sections or breakout-style organization can also help you group student contributions by topic, team, or stage of an activity.

Teaching ideas:

• Use a submission form to collect structured responses before sharing to the board
• Organize student work by group or topic using sections
• Create project or discussion boards where each post follows the same response format

Custom fields can help you move from open-ended posting to more structured, purposeful interaction. By guiding how students respond, you can support deeper thinking, clearer communication, and more meaningful engagement with course content.

Interested in exploring more? 

• Listen to the Dialogues in Digital Teaching and Learning podcast episode “What Changes When Every Student Can Post: Padlet”
• Check out our Teaching Resources Article: “Padlet: Collaborative Boards For Teaching and Learning”
• Read more about Custom Fields and Sharing Options with Padlet