Nearpod - an all-in-one digital tool
When I say Nearpod is an all-in-one digital tool, I mean it has everything (not literally, but almost)! The premise of Nearpod is to engage students with technology and use digital tools to engage students with the content of the lesson. In the most basic use of Nearpod, it may look like any other presentation tool, but Nearpod includes live digital formative assessment tools as well. It works similar to a Kahoot! session in that students may access the lesson via a live code to view a student screen, and the formative assessment activities allow students to respond privately and simultaneously for the teacher to view and share (don't worry - the teacher can choose to hide student names). Many of these formative assessment tools include polls, multiple choice questions, open-ended questions, drawing opportunities, matching games, collaborate boards, and a Kahoot!-style game called Time to Climb! Not only does Nearpod host digital formative assessment opportunities, but they have many partners who allow them to host more engaging content such as BBC videos, 3-D models, 360cities virtual field trips, PhET lab simulations, and Flipgrid resources. This tool is great for 1-1 student to technology equipped schools and may function usefully for capable online learning environments.
Nearpod is an excellent tool for Domain 3 of Danielson's Framework for Teaching: Instruction. As in every kind of lesson, a teacher must communicate with the students in ways they will understand and benefit from. Nearpod allows teachers to communicate vocally while developing a concept, but it also allows teachers to communicate digitally via text, videos, and formative assessment techniques. As mentioned above, students can communicate comfortably in their responses to the prompts. In this way, Nearpod excels in sub-domain 3A - Communicating with Students. A class may still want to engage in cooperative group structures such as think-pair-share, though not hosted on the site, to compensate for silent and anonymous response types. My favorite Nearpod tool is their collaborate boards, where a teacher can pose a discussion question and students can type responses that appear as sticky notes. Students can view and "like" others' responses to have a virtual discussion, which can be supplemented by verbal in-class discussion. In this way, the feature excels in sub-domain 3B - Using Questioning/Prompts and Discussion. In ways thoroughly explained above, Nearpod also excels in sub-domains 3C - Engaging Students in Learning and 3D - Using Assessment in Instruction. Like I said, Nearpod does it all!
I could see myself using this tool in my classroom, but maybe not on an exclusive basis. I would definitely include it a few times to see how well it works with my classes and how well the students like using it before deciding how often I would have Nearpod lessons. If I ever teach live online classes, I will definitely make use of it for its formative assessment features. I know much more is available to Gold members (paid subscription) of Nearpod, including self-paced links for students to access the presentation on their own, so that may be somewhat of a letdown for people unwilling to upgrade. Fortunately, I have some experience with Nearpod on both ends, and I can testify that it is easy to use from both ends and really useful for education!
Nearpod also satisfies some ISTE standards for students. It allows the students to become Creative Communicators from the student and creator perspectives. Creators have to decide what the best way to communicate and practice conceptual ideas when selecting which formative assessment tools to employ at points in their lesson. The students also get to express themselves in a variety of digital formats across the varying styles of formative assessment response such as in drawing, collaborate boards, and open-ended questions. In these ways, Nearpod also embodies some of the 4Cs of growth mindset and 21st century skills. We see that students and creators have opportunities to be creative in their design of a lesson and in their responses. They also must be communicators who know how to effectively reach each other and express their ideas. In live sessions, students become collaborators, especially in collaborate boards; they can see how each other respond to higher-order questions and use those answers to build scaffolds in their learning from each other. Finally, the students become critical thinkers: by employing best practices to effectively reach students, by designing meaningful activities for their lessons, by answering higher-order questions, and by using Nearpod in essential ways to reach students in challenging times, such as a sudden switch to an online learning environment. It is a wonderful tool, for there is so much to explore.
Nearpod is an excellent tool for Domain 3 of Danielson's Framework for Teaching: Instruction. As in every kind of lesson, a teacher must communicate with the students in ways they will understand and benefit from. Nearpod allows teachers to communicate vocally while developing a concept, but it also allows teachers to communicate digitally via text, videos, and formative assessment techniques. As mentioned above, students can communicate comfortably in their responses to the prompts. In this way, Nearpod excels in sub-domain 3A - Communicating with Students. A class may still want to engage in cooperative group structures such as think-pair-share, though not hosted on the site, to compensate for silent and anonymous response types. My favorite Nearpod tool is their collaborate boards, where a teacher can pose a discussion question and students can type responses that appear as sticky notes. Students can view and "like" others' responses to have a virtual discussion, which can be supplemented by verbal in-class discussion. In this way, the feature excels in sub-domain 3B - Using Questioning/Prompts and Discussion. In ways thoroughly explained above, Nearpod also excels in sub-domains 3C - Engaging Students in Learning and 3D - Using Assessment in Instruction. Like I said, Nearpod does it all!
I could see myself using this tool in my classroom, but maybe not on an exclusive basis. I would definitely include it a few times to see how well it works with my classes and how well the students like using it before deciding how often I would have Nearpod lessons. If I ever teach live online classes, I will definitely make use of it for its formative assessment features. I know much more is available to Gold members (paid subscription) of Nearpod, including self-paced links for students to access the presentation on their own, so that may be somewhat of a letdown for people unwilling to upgrade. Fortunately, I have some experience with Nearpod on both ends, and I can testify that it is easy to use from both ends and really useful for education!
Nearpod also satisfies some ISTE standards for students. It allows the students to become Creative Communicators from the student and creator perspectives. Creators have to decide what the best way to communicate and practice conceptual ideas when selecting which formative assessment tools to employ at points in their lesson. The students also get to express themselves in a variety of digital formats across the varying styles of formative assessment response such as in drawing, collaborate boards, and open-ended questions. In these ways, Nearpod also embodies some of the 4Cs of growth mindset and 21st century skills. We see that students and creators have opportunities to be creative in their design of a lesson and in their responses. They also must be communicators who know how to effectively reach each other and express their ideas. In live sessions, students become collaborators, especially in collaborate boards; they can see how each other respond to higher-order questions and use those answers to build scaffolds in their learning from each other. Finally, the students become critical thinkers: by employing best practices to effectively reach students, by designing meaningful activities for their lessons, by answering higher-order questions, and by using Nearpod in essential ways to reach students in challenging times, such as a sudden switch to an online learning environment. It is a wonderful tool, for there is so much to explore.