Today’s tech snack can be found at the following url: http://nearpod.com
What is it and how can I use it with my students?
Nearpod is a free response system that allows you to gather feedback from students using your multimedia presentations and it works on any Internet-enabled device including tablets, laptops and smart phones. You may recall an earlier blog post where I discussed other response systems called Socrative, and Everyslide. (With both, participants can provide feedback via instant polls or question responses. With Socrative, you get text questions, whereas with Everyslide, you upload your powerpoint presentations and receive instant feedback as you present.) Well, with nearpod, participants can provide feedback via drawings, polls, and quiz questions as well as watch embedded content like websites and videos.
To begin using this site, you have to create a free account. Once you create your account, you will be taken to a premade presentation that shows you how to use all the features of nearpod. Once you have gone through this presentation, you are able to start creating your own nearpod lessons. Lessons are comprised of teacher-created slides that can include text, video, images, websites, questions, quizzes, polls, and assignments. You can use the premade templates on the site or you can upload your own existing powerpoints and then add to them. Students are able to follow the lesson on their own devices at their own pace or teachers can lead a synchronized session where students can follow the lesson in real-time.
If you are doing a real-time presentation, you control the pace of the lesson, and students are not able to move to the next screen until you advance the slide on your device. Students access the presentation by going to the site or the device app and putting in the pin number assigned to the particular presentation you want them to see. **Students do not need a username or password/account to access the presentation in real-time. They just need the pin number**.
**Another note: you can run a nearpod presentation without downloading the app on an ipad, though I found occassionally it can be a little tempermental if you use that method. Also, if you are including an interactive website in your nearpod that uses flash and you are using an android tablet or ipad, you have to run your nearpod presentation using the puffin brower. Puffin will run any website using flash. Click here to download it.
Every student uses their own student app to follow the screens and answer the questions. This provides immediate feedback about every student. If you create a presentation that you want students to access on their home so they can move at their own pace, the feedback can be emailed to you for later review.Additionally, Nearpod has data analytics embedded into the presentations, which allows teachers to address individual problems on assignments and assess students in real time. Reports can be accessed for both an individual student and the class as a whole.
**Note: This tool and app are free but additional features require payment. See below for more specifics about what is included within each plan:
Regardless of which plan you use, this is an excellent tool to use with your students. It makes your presentations more engaging and requires active participation from your students. Gone are the days of you simply showing a powerpoint presentation and hoping that students are actually getting the information you want them to learn. There's no passive listening when you are using this tool. To learn about how use this tool, click on the video link below:
http://player.vimeo.com/video/39006989?autoplay=1&api=1