Nearpod: a Powerhouse of Teacher Tools!

Nearpod = All-in-One Platform

• an interactive presentation tool

• a collaboration tool 

• an assessment tool 

Want to deliver content, sprinkle some collaborative activities and quick comprehension checks throughout and maybe even finish with a formal assessment WITHOUT having to run 3 or 4 different tools simultaneously?  Nearpod can do it.  

Teachers love the instant engagement of all students and the control it provides. When the teacher launches a lesson on Nearpod, students connect using a code. At that point, the teacher is in control of what is displayed on the students’ screens and the pace of the lesson. There are ready-made lessons (some free, some not) that span a wide range of grade levels and subjects, including some lessons that are more focused on soft skills like creative thinking and communication. Here are a few examples of free offerings:       

    

You can create your own Nearpod lessons as well, adding content and/or activities that will suit the needs of your students. In terms of content you can add slides (maybe from a powerpoint or Google Slide presentation you already have), cool 3D images, PHET simulations, SWAYs (interactive canvases that scrolls like a webpage) and slideshows.  

For activities, there are open-ended questions, polls, quizzes, drawing boards and collaboration screens that allow students to put post-it notes of their ideas on a collective bulletin board. All of this is free! Of course, there are several other features available if you upgrade and become a paying subscriber.

Head over to Nearpod to check out this powerhouse platform!  And remember, anything new can seem overwhelming at first. Just ask your ITRT for help!