Nearpod is a virtual learning tool that can be used to help design interactive lessons such as quizzes, polls, videos, collaborate boards, and more. Nearpod has many benefits, including 22,000+ pre-made standards-aligned lessons, videos, and activities for all K-12 subjects, featuring trusted publishers. You can also create your own slide-based lessons or videos with embedded interactive activities and assessments. Students can follow along on their own devices while the teacher has access to their responses in real time. Nearpod can also help increase student engagement and participation, students can feel comfortable responding to questions by answering digitally while the teacher encourages class discussion.
However, Nearpod also has some limitations. Nearpod is technology dependent and students don't always have access to their own laptops/tablets, and technology has a tendency to fail sometimes. Another drawback of Nearpod is the paid features, not everything in the program is made available for free, if you want access to more features you need to pay a yearly subscription which ranges from $120-$349. Some of the better features such as student-paced lessons, individual student reports, and access to thousands of ready to teach Nearpod lessons can only be used once you pay hundreds of dollars. Nearpod's slideshow functionality has also been described as subpar and it's recommended that you upload Google slides or PowerPoint slides into Nearpod instead of using their template.
There are many ways for teachers to implement Nearpod into their lesson plans whether in the classroom or virtually. First you can use Nearpod as a simple presentation delivery method like PowerPoint. Nearpod can also be used to distribute student resources like images or worksheets to the whole class. Teachers can use the app to do live formative assessments and see students' responses and check for their understanding in real time. Teachers can also use Nearpod to have students participate in interactive games and activities to add interest and excitement to everyday learning. Students can also use Nearpod to assess themselves using the "poll" feature.
This program does have many exciting prospects for the classroom. What do you think you would use this program for? When I made the free account to try it out some of the interactive features did remind me of the party games on consoles.
ReplyDeleteI like that you mentioned how some find it harder to create content using Nearpod rather than Google Slides or Powerpoint, I also found some sources saying that in my research too. Your mention of how teachers can use Nearpod to distribute worksheets was something that I learned, which could be helpful for schools that don't have access to Blackboard or Canvas, etc. If you used Nearpod in your future classroom, do you think that you'd pay for an upgraded version or just use the free one? I'm not sure if I would want to pay as much as it is for the upgrades and would probably try to find a similar tool instead.
ReplyDeleteHi Zach,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post about Nearpod. It sounds like a very useful and helpful tool to create lessons. I found it interesting when you mentioned the functionality of Nearpod’s slideshow feature being “described as subpar”. Since PowerPoints and Google Slides can be uploaded, do you think the benefits outweigh the limitations or do you think it would be more hassle than helpful?
Hi Zach,
ReplyDeleteI loved reading your perspective on Nearpod. Especially, the part about the drawbacks to how much the special features would cost. There is always a catch lol! What are your thoughts? Which way are you leaning more for your own classroom?