Assessing the Students’ Perception on the Effectiveness of Using Padlet in English Language Learning

Abstract

In the modern era where technology has reached its pinnacles, the strategies employed in English Language teaching have shifted beyond the borders of the walls of classrooms. ‘Padlet’ is an interactive platform used for collaborative learning. A descriptive cross-sectional study was aimed to assess the students’ perceptions on the web application ‘Padlet’ among first-year undergraduates in General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University (KDU), Sri Lanka. The study sample comprised of randomly selected forty-eight Law and twenty first-year Computing undergraduates. The students’ perceptions were assessed through an online questionnaire after four weeks of exposure to academic activities performed in the ‘Padlet’ web app. The descriptive statistics were analysed through Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 23.0. The mean age of the study population is 21.79±3.73, and the majority (60.3%) of them were females. Only 11.8% of the undergraduates had heard about the ‘Padlet’ web app before it was introduced, and 79.4% of the participants have heard about this app from university lecturers. The majority of the study population accepted that the ‘Padlet’ makes the learning experience interactive (79.4%), helps to explore new information and share knowledge with colleagues (92.6%), makes the experience of distance learning exciting (86.8%), allows learners to get engaged with colleagues and lecturers (78%), and effective (94.1%) and motivates (82.4%) academic platform in learning English. The study revealed that Padlet is a productive tool in English language learning. Therefore, it is recommended to utilize the ‘Padlet’ web app as a learning tool to enhance students’ motivation and academic performance.