New Tool: Nearpod

 

What is Nearpod!? 

Nearpod is a tool that educators can use to make their lessons more interactive. Teachers create lessons and students can access the lesson and interact with it on their personal devices. This resource is compatible with Google, Microsoft and Clever making it easy to incorporate into the classroom. It allows teachers to formally assess students by having features such as polls, collaboration boards, quizzes and open ended discussion questions. When using nearpod in your class it enhances student engagement and participation. It is very easy to personalize your nearpod lessons and fit them into your everyday routine. 

How does it work?

When starting with nearpod you have two options: you can either create slides on nearpod or you can easily upload pre-made slides from google. Once you have created the slides that you want to incorporate in your instruction you have the option to add content or activities. When adding content you can audio, videos, PDFs and links from the web. On top of that you can add activities to your lesson such as collaboration boards, quizzes and polls. Once you have created your nearpod lesson you have two options when presenting it to students. First, you can select student-paced. Using student pace allows students to go through each slides at their own pace taking as much time as they need. The other option is live participation. Using this option students can only be on the slide their instructor is on. This allows teachers to control what their students are seeing and when. 

How I use it in my classroom:

I have depended greatly on nearpod during remote instruction. When using nearpod it allows for more student voice in my lessons and collaboration, which is something I have been struggling with in remote teaching. I love using nearpod when reading books with students. I upload all the photos from the book which allows students to see the pictures more clearly on their device. Then to help with engagement I incorporate different questions and activities in the lesson. One I love is the collaboration board. All my students want to share their ideas. Using the collaboration board allows everyone to answer and I can informally check for understanding. 

Tips:

• I create the slides that I use for my nearpod lessons on google slides first. I find that uploading pre-made slides is easier to use then making slides on nearpod.
• When using collaboration boards with my class I always turn on the teacher approval feature. This allows me to preview students responses before they are posted to the class board. 

How could it work in your classroom:

• Use this feature when you have a substitute. Create the slides and use the audio feature for your instruction. Have your substitute set the lesson for student pace. You will be able to check students work based on their answers from the open ended questions and and quizzes. 
• Upload real aloud books to nearpod so students can look at the pictures on their screen. 
• The collaboration board and open ended question activity can be used to check for comprehension.
• Share resources with students. 
• Distributing a variety of resources. 
• Use the polls feature to have students vote on class decisions.