How do students evaluate and value the use of Padlet application as a learning and assessment tool during the sociolinguistics course? It attempts to answer the following research question: While previous research mainly focuses on the correlation between classroom engagement and students’ academic performance, the aim of the present study is to focus on how students perceive their level of behavioral, emotional, agentive and cognitive engagement while performing learning and assessment activities on Padlet.

This active engagement in classroom activities helps improve the learning environment and gets students more enthusiastic and motivated to learn (Shernoff et al., 2003 Freeman et al., 2014). Students’ collaboration in online learning contexts creates a positive emotional and cognitive environment (see Dewitt et al., 2015 Korkealehto & Siklander, 2018 Majid, 2014 Siklander et al., 2017). It can encourage students to interact and collaborate with their peers and thus help to enhance all aspects of classroom engagement. Using Padlet as a web 2.0 tool in an academic course can thus promote positive learning experiences and trigger more engagement (Freeman et al., 2014 & Korkealehto & Siklander, 2018) 1. In higher education, students particularly need to learn not just academic concepts, “but more importantly the skills of acquiring, internalizing, applying and creating new knowledge” (Dewitt et al., 2015, p.27). They provide the platform for generating new knowledge as students share relevant materials and acquire new ideas from the materials shared by their peers (Rogers et al., 2010 Webster, 2018 & Zhu, 2012). Integrating web 2.0 tools in the instructional design enhances student engagement through their features e.g., sharing posts, engaging in discussions, collaborating in projects and other meaningful opportunities for learning. Recent research in educational psychology has shown that students’ active engagement is the core of successful learning and a key factor behind academic achievement (Mäkitalo, 2016 Rajala et al., 2016). However, teachers could use a combination of online and written assessments to compensate for this shortcoming. Its major shortcoming as an assessment tool was the lack of written feedback to students. Its perceived effectiveness was mainly due to Padlet features that supported student collaboration, promoted students' agency and helped in creating a positive learning atmosphere. The results showed that using Padlet enhanced student engagement, fostered active learning and offered positive assessment experiences. At the end of the course, a survey and a personal interview were used to get students' feedback on the effectiveness of Padlet through addressing various aspects of their perceived engagement. The exploratory study was conducted on 27 female students in a 3-credit sociolinguistics course in which Padlet was used as a learning and assessment tool.

Padlet is a virtual wall that allows students to interact and contribute to class discussions and at the same time provides teachers with feedback on the learning process. The present study investigates students' perceptions about the impact of Padlet as a learning and assessment tool on the four aspects of class engagement. AbstractStudent engagement is a multidimensional construct that includes four distinct, though interrelated, aspects: behavioral, emotional, agentive, and cognitive engagement.

Padlet in the elementary classroom