I was recently looking at some of the all-time most popular posts on Free Technology for Teachers. Among the twenty most-read posts is this one about using Wallwisher having my students share their web findings and thoughts about the 1920s. Reading that post again gave me the idea to create this list of online sticky note services that could be useful for teachers and students.
Since I started this post by mentioning Wallwisher, it just makes sense to start out with an explanation of what it is. Wallwisher is a virtual corkboard to which students can post multimedia notes. Notes can have up to 160 characters of text, video links, and image links. To get started simply go to Wallwisher.com and click “build a wall.” Then title your wall, choose a URL for your wall, enter your name and email, and start adding sticky notes to the wall. You can choose to make your wall private or public. If you choose the public option anyone can quickly add sticky notes to your wall. If you want to approve additions to the wall before they appear, that’s an option too. Update 2015: Wallwisher is now known as Padlet.com
Stixy is an organization and collaboration tool that I first wrote about four years ago. Stixy, as the name implies, allows you to write notes and stick them to a clipboard. Stixy allows you to share your notes with others and have them respond to your notes. The Stixy clipboard also gives you options for sticking and sharing documents, sticking and sharing photographs, and creating and sharing to-do lists. Update 2015: Stixy is no longer online.
Spaaze is a free online sticky note service that offers some handy functions for teachers and students. Spaaze allows you to write notes, edit notes and reorder your notes. Your notes can be simple text notes or you can create notes that contain videos, images, or links. Use the Spaaze browser bookmarklet to add a note to your collection anytime you come across an interesting find on the web. Spaaze is iPad friendly. The video below gives a good overview of what can be done with Spaaze.
Lino It is a free service that allows you to create a canvas of online multimedia sticky notes. In addition to basic text, the sticky notes you place on your canvas can contain videos, images, and file attachments. Unlike some similar sticky note services, Lino It allows you to alter the size and color of your fonts. You can use Lino It’s built-in calendar tool to set due dates on your sticky notes. To use Lino It, you have to register for an account. Once you’ve registered you can create as many sticky note canvases as you like. You can make your canvases and notes public or private. If you choose to make a canvas public other users can add sticky notes to it and read all of the notes on it.
Desktop sticky note applications are very handy for creating reminders for yourself and recording quick thoughts. But if you frequently work from more than one computer, a desktop sticky note application might not suit your needs. That’s where a service like Noterr can be helpful. Noterr is a free web-based sticky note service. Noterr provides a blank canvas for posting sticky notes to yourself. Individual notes, but not an entire canvas, can be shared with others via the link provided by Noterr.
Scrumblr is a site that provides an online space to create and share sticky notes with a group. Scrumblr can be used by anyone to quickly create an online space for sharing stickies. To get started just enter a name for your space. The name you choose will be a part of the url for your sticky note space. To add notes just click the “+” symbol in the bottom left corner of the screen. Then double click to edit your notes.
Primary Wall is designed with elementary school students in mind. To use it students just have to go to the URL for the wall you’ve created and click “add a note” or double click on the wall to start writing notes. Students can title their notes and attach their names (first name only please) to a note. Learn more about Primary Wall in the video below. Update 2015: Primary Wall is no longer free.
