Nearpod: Bring the Wow!
Presented by Lauren Boucher
What you need to know about Nearpod...
Nearpod is an amazing tool that is available on any web-enabled device. It's a slide presentation on steroids that YOU, the teacher control. With the capability to gather formatively assess your students, move non-linearly through your lesson, track student participation, and by allowing your students to use the tools their drawn to, Nearpod is a must have in any classroom.
Nearpod...
- delivers instruction on the screens that matter most in a 1:1 class, not just the one a teacher has access to,
- transitions instruction to a learning activity, not just a teaching activity,
- creates a safe environment for students because knowledge and insights can be shared anonymously,
- liberates you from the front of the room and allows you to be where the learning goes on (makes for a great classroom management tool too),
- reports help you to
- know the effectiveness of instruction (instead of estimating it by test results)
- do informed differentiation
- reduce the need of more formative testing
- show accurate data on student progress in parent-teacher meetings
- uses existing learning resources (Powerpoints, video's, questions, websites etc) to build engaging learning activities that help you step up the SAMR ladder without you even trying
(This list created by Fons van den Berg - Nearpod Pionear)
NearpodizeThis!
Add this Chrome Extension to convert your Google Presentations to NPP in one step!
Adding Interactivity and Pop
Delivering a NPP
Lesson Delivery Options
- Live Session (Teacher-Paced)
- Share a Link (Self-Paced)
- Embed on a Website or LMS (Self-Paced)
- Share on Social Media (Self-Paced)
Nearpod: Best Practices
Structure of a Lesson
- Strong, clear lesson objectives (In this lesson, students will...")
- Hook Activity (An activity that either tests students prior knowledge or something that gets them very interested in the content they're getting ready to learn)
- Let's Review (Unless this is the first lesson ;) )
- Content Slids (You really don't want more than 12 to 15 of these)
- At least 1 interactive assessment every 3 to 4 slides (Be sure that each successive activity is a little more challenging than the last!)
- 1 to 2 short videos interspersed in your content slides (No longer than 2 to 3 minutes each)
- Weblinks (Let your students direct some of their learning)
- Analog activities (Give them a break from the technology and make them do something physical!)
- Exit Quiz
- If you're sharing this lesson with others, be sure to include a Teacher's Notes slide and one for useful resources
- Credits
Design Tips
- Use minimal text - Prioritize your ideas and group them in small messages.
- Make use of visuals - Use images on solid backgrounds and try to position your images and texts so that they flow together.
- Use well designed fonts that are appropriate for the message you are conveying.
- Use CAPITAL LETTERS rather than bolding text.
- Block alignment is boring! Consider where your students eyes will move to keep their attention.
- Only use one or two fonts; change the font size, not the font itself.
- Color matters; consider your palette.
- Use complementary contrasting colors between the fonts and the background.
- Text colors should match your predetermined palette.
- Use graphics and visual information (infographics), not graphs and charts (unless your teaching them ;) )
- Don't put too much information on the screen.
- There should be contrast between your background, font colors, and images.
- One statement, one image (if necessary, use more than one slide)
To see what this actually looks like, check out this awesome NPP from the Store:
Additional Resources
Nearpod Kickstart Guide
from Google Play for Education
Using Nearpod for Classroom Assessment Formal and Informal
Some Presentation Ideas
- Draw-It Activities: label parts of a map, matching activities, solve math problems, illustrate a process, labels parts of a science graphic, use the image upload option to have students snap a picture of them work and upload to the screen.
- Create interactive web slides by publishing Google Docs to the web and then linking them in the NPP.
- Rather than having students create the same 'ole slide presentation as a culminating project, have them create a NPP where they can quiz their classmates and deliver polls.
- Take formative assessment to the next level by moving non-linearly through your NPP when necessary.
- Rather than building a NPP from scratch, consider creating templates, like Today's Lesson.
- Use the Homework option to flip your lessons! Give the content for homework and do more hands-on, inquiry-based learning in the classroom!
Contact Information
Email: bouchel@pitt.k12.nc.us
Website: www.iteachteacherstech.com
Phone: 252-508-9138
Twitter: @BoucherLauren