Teachers are headed back or will soon head back to their classrooms. I watch on social media as some promote or ask about tech opportunities for their students. In a recent tweet, a teacher asked if others could recommend free alternatives to Padlet and this started me wondering about the circumstances under which the teacher worked.
Those familiar with my writing probably understand that I am not necessarily a fan of free. I get particularly upset with those wanted to block ads as this attitude rejects the assumptions a content creator makes when offering content online. My reaction to free on a more general level relates to the recognition of the time and skill that go into crafting content and services. The ads that appear on this post are an expression of this position on my part. Google ads provide compensation only when a viewer clicks on the ads. My guess is that of the thousands of page views I generate a year I may get less than a click every 2-3 months. The dollar or so I generate is pretty much irrelevant. My inclusion of ads is intended more as a recognition that I value the time I invest and hope that those who read do so as well.
Consider that apps such as Padlet not only reflect a time commitment and skill level on the part of the developers, but also an ongoing investment in the infrastructure necessary to maintain the servers and store the content. Concepts such as copyright exist not just because of payment, but because of the recognition that the long term goal of encouraging development and innovation requires support. I like to encourage this same realization when thinking about paying for digital tools and content. What does the education community value in resources created by others?
I recognize that the circumstances educators work in and the attitudes of educators can be two different things. I don’t necessarily assume teachers should be expected to provide for the resources used in their classrooms out of pocket. Such support is the responsibility of administrators and ultimately the taxpayers of the district responsible for the education on learners. Apps should not be requested frivolously, but those apps used consistently should be purchased.
Padlet happens to be one of the apps/services I recommend within the category I call an embellished document. The price for an individual teacher is $12 a month, $100 for the year. I do think this is a little pricey and would personally value the product at about $8 a month. However, Padlet is versatile and can be one of those goto tools that is used frequently. The negative sentiments I have read associated with Padlet often seemed to originate in their initial free to teachers introduction that encouraged some to invest great amounts of time in creating content then to find that they could not continue to use all of this material when Padlet began to charge. Better to offer a trial offer focused on trial and not heavy investment. Lesson learned.