https://anchor.fm/hitechpod/embed/episodes/15--Student-Engagement--Nearpod-e13d2dn

This Week's App: Nearpod

What is Nearpod?

Nearpod is the leading student response system in education. What is a student response system? It's any tool that allows you to facilitate interaction with your students in live time while teaching. This quick video does a great job of summarizing the full scope of features in Nearpod. If you want to take a quick poll, create simulations, provide interactive videos, or even do quizzes, Nearpod can help you accomplish this synchronously or asynchronously.

What can it be used for?

The straightforward and expected use of Nearpod is in a classroom: the teacher provides a slideshow with interspersed Nearpod activities. As the students watch your presentation, they see each of your slides on their device. If you prepared a poll, they will see it when you get to that slide. If you want to, you can even create a quick question on the fly using their platform. This practice works great from a mobile device like an iPad but it works just as well from a desktop version.

However, no need to limit Nearpod to just synchronous learning experiences. You can create asynchronous sessions with voice-over-slide recordings so that your students can listen to your lecture on their time. If you want, you can even put the interactions in your asynchronous session so that as the students go they complete questions and provide you insight into their learning process.

At the end of each synchronous or asynchronous session, the instructor receives a full report of all submissions students make, engagement averages to give you an insight to how much they interacted, and even help you take attendance.

How do I get started?

Head to Nearpod.com and sign up for free! The free version does have size limitations for your individual Nearpod sessions, so be sure to keep the pictures small and the number of slides as minimal as possible. For a full list of differences across the Nearpod licenses check out their license types. Nearpod offers a full support knowledgebase with great how-tos that will help you get started. Just check out their Help Center and start searching. We recommend starting to learn how to connect presentations.

You can connect your Nearpod to Google Slides or upload your PowerPoint and start creating interactions. It's a really easy process!