For this week’s assignment I decided to explore Popplet. Prior to today I had never heard of or seen this platform. When I saw the name I got excited as it was listed as a mapping resource and I have yet to use a platform in my classroom for that purpose. To start, I went to the website’s homepage to explore and possibly sign up. I was a bit discourage as their entire website was just one sentence with a photo and a link to either sign in or join. There was zero information on the platform, how it works, pricing etc.
I was a bit turned off a this point as I believe good platforms will have plenty of information and examples for you to view prior to having to sign up. I did some quick googling to try and find more information. It appears that the platform is free for the website version, but the app store lists it as 3.99 for the app named Popplet, or free for something called Popplet Lite ( I am not sure the difference between the two…). I ended up having to go to Youtube to find more information on the site. Before signing up I wanted to see what it could actually do and their website did not offer that. I did find this video which seemed to be the best explanation of how to use the platform:
It seemed like something that would work well to use with all ages of students. I teach middle years and thought it might be a good fit so I made an account. All they asked for when I signed up was my name, email, and a password. I quickly created a Popplet based on a few things from our current novel study:
I found that when saving I could only save from my computer as a PDF, it would not let me save as a JPEG. I am guessing that is a function only for use on the ipad. Having to take a screenshot makes it difficult to read all of the text.
Positives
- Easy to naviagate
- App and computer version which could allow for usage in many types of classrooms & at different grade levels
- Free (at least the computer version and the Apple Lite version)
- Public popplets that could be used
- Allow students to be creative when using the platform
- Could be used for synchronous or asynchronous learning
Negatives
- One app version requires payment
- Website provides little to no help/information
- All students need their own accounts- seems to be the option to sign in with Google Drive or sign up with email/password like teachers would do
- Very basic, only useful for creating graphic organizers
- Not the best tool to use if you are wanting to collaborate as a class at the same time
- Can only save as a PDF or share to social media sites from the computer, no JPEG.
Final Thoughts
This seems like a basic platform that is easy to use and is good for the one thing it is designed to do. It appears to be a good choice if you are looking for something simple that younger students could navigate easily. I am still not sure whether this is a tool I want to use in my classroom. I don’t know if I want to have my students create accounts of their own. Since it allows a sign in with Google I am guessing it would be okay, but I would need to look more into our division policies and the websites’ privacy information before commiting to letting my students make accounts.
Mme.Cookie 
Hello! Thanks for exploring this resource for all of us! I have never heard of popplet before however online mind maps are a great tool to use in the classroom. I agree with you that sometimes working with younger students making individual accounts can be difficult. In the other class I am taking right now we use Mural as a collective mind map as a class and it works great and is simple to use!
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Even my very young students can use the app because of how simple it is to use. You can export the mindmaps and quickly carry on working. The color scheme is pleasing as well. The software is also excellent for education, both at basic and secondary levels. Thus far, we haven’t run into any issues. The pencil adds a blank drawing when you contact it. You can’t see it, but it’s there, thus shrinking the box won’t work. The kids frequently don’t know they touched the pencil, which is annoying. That is fantastic for use from elementary school through high school because we have a licence for our entire school district! Both teachers and students find it to be simple to use. The learning curve for many of the products we’ve tested in the past has been too steep for both teachers and students. Popplet, however, is incredibly user-friendly and simple to operate.
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