What is Nearpod?
Nearpod is a cloud-based program that allows you to create interactive mobile presentations, accessible through a variety of devices. These presentations can be given in real-time with all devices synced to the device of the presenter, or they can be accessed individually and self-paced by the viewer. The presentations can contain videos, pictures, PDFs, text, audio, a live Twitter stream, a webpage, open-ended questions, polls, quizzes, drawing activities, matching pairs, and fill-in-the-blank questions.
Nearpod has very good analytics. When a viewer logs in to a presentation they enter their name. As they progress through the interactive presentation, all of their work is saved and able to be reviewed later by the creator of the presentation. As the work is completed, it can be automatically graded if the creator pre-selects right and wrong answers. While in a synced live view, the presenter may also choose to share student samples of work, or share quiz answers with students so they have instant feedback on how they performed on the quiz.
Nearpod has taken steps to protect users' data. Although data are kept remotely on a cloud storage system, it is outsourced to Amazon Web Services, which is one of the most secure and scalable platforms today. Nearpod is classroom friendly, students do not need to provide an email address or create an account in order to log in and access a presentation. If you want to have students create accounts to make their own presentations, or have access to better analytics, but your school system will not allow outside cloud storage, the Nearpod staff is able to set up Nearpod in the system's local servers so that the school system can handle all security and storage.
If you do not wish to create your own presentation and are looking for existing resources to enhance instruction, Nearpod has an "Explore" area where presentations others created may be freely downloaded or purchased. You may search the existing presentations to find one that is right for your classroom, download it, and then use it as you would use a presentation you created.
Nearpod allows information to be efficiently distributed to an audience, and gives the creator of that presentation tools to check for understanding and to gather data on the audience. It is intuitive enough to use that teachers from all backgrounds should feel comfortable creating a presentation. With a little instruction, students are even able to use Nearpod to create artifacts of learning in the form of a culminating presentation. The program is adaptable enough to meet the needs of educators in all levels and content areas.
Nearpod has very good analytics. When a viewer logs in to a presentation they enter their name. As they progress through the interactive presentation, all of their work is saved and able to be reviewed later by the creator of the presentation. As the work is completed, it can be automatically graded if the creator pre-selects right and wrong answers. While in a synced live view, the presenter may also choose to share student samples of work, or share quiz answers with students so they have instant feedback on how they performed on the quiz.
Nearpod has taken steps to protect users' data. Although data are kept remotely on a cloud storage system, it is outsourced to Amazon Web Services, which is one of the most secure and scalable platforms today. Nearpod is classroom friendly, students do not need to provide an email address or create an account in order to log in and access a presentation. If you want to have students create accounts to make their own presentations, or have access to better analytics, but your school system will not allow outside cloud storage, the Nearpod staff is able to set up Nearpod in the system's local servers so that the school system can handle all security and storage.
If you do not wish to create your own presentation and are looking for existing resources to enhance instruction, Nearpod has an "Explore" area where presentations others created may be freely downloaded or purchased. You may search the existing presentations to find one that is right for your classroom, download it, and then use it as you would use a presentation you created.
Nearpod allows information to be efficiently distributed to an audience, and gives the creator of that presentation tools to check for understanding and to gather data on the audience. It is intuitive enough to use that teachers from all backgrounds should feel comfortable creating a presentation. With a little instruction, students are even able to use Nearpod to create artifacts of learning in the form of a culminating presentation. The program is adaptable enough to meet the needs of educators in all levels and content areas.
Below is an example of an Embedded Nearpod presentation
Resources
Rubric from: http://olc.onlinelearningconsortium.org/Web_2.0_Selection_Criteria_Save_Time_Choosing_an_Appropriate_Tool
IP Security information from: http://elearningbakery.com/nearpod/#sthash.W9L4CGl9.dpbs
Membership information graphic: http://www.nearpod.com/upgrade/
Rubric from: http://olc.onlinelearningconsortium.org/Web_2.0_Selection_Criteria_Save_Time_Choosing_an_Appropriate_Tool
IP Security information from: http://elearningbakery.com/nearpod/#sthash.W9L4CGl9.dpbs
Membership information graphic: http://www.nearpod.com/upgrade/
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