Liven Up Your Lesson Using Nearpod
Are you looking for a way to liven up your lesson? I asked myself this very question a few years ago. I was a novice Career and Technical Education teacher in the subject area of sports medicine and found myself struggling to engage my students during the theory portion of my lessons. While I believe lectures are necessary at times for instructional purposes, they aren’t the most engaging for students and tend to lose their attention within the first 15 minutes. With the help of a colleague I discovered the Nearpod application. Nearpod is the answer to how to liven your daily lessons! Nearpod keeps students engaged, allows them to interact during the lesson, and provides them with instant feedback of their knowledge through the use of fun checking for understanding quizzes/activities. Not only does it provide students with a new experience than the everyday lecture, it helps you as the educator to receive feedback of your students' learning by providing you with data. To summarize Nearpod in a nutshell, the educator runs a presentation from their computer or iPad and it simultaneously streams to each student’s ipad or tablet. Throughout the presentation you can add various interactive slides. Some examples are: quizzes, polls/votes, drawing activities, links to the web, and videos. Worried about students using their iPad to play Candy Crush during your lesson? Don’t be! You can view when students are logged in and when students aren’t. If a student happens to stray from your presentation their name will turn red. Interested? How do you use it?
SETUP:
-Download the Nearpod application on students' iPads.
-Create your FREE account at www.nearpod.com.
-Simply upload your existing PowerPoint file(s) or start from scratch. I recommend uploading an existing PowerPoint as you can edit it later and add interactive slides. Nearpod will instantly create your presentation.
-Once your presentation is uploaded the fun begins. Right now your presentation will appear exactly as it did prior to uploading to Nearpod. You have the option to add different types of interactive slides.
-Click “Add Slide.”
-The options are open ended questions, quiz, poll, draw it, or fill in the blanks. Choose which type of interactive slide fits into your presentation and begin creating.
-Once you have customized your presentation, publish it and it is ready to be used for a live session.
HOW TO RUN A LIVE SESSION:
-Login to your Nearpod account from your computer or iPad.
-Go to “Library.”
-Choose your presentation and click “Live Session.”
-A unique code will appear.
-Instruct students to go to www.nearpod.com or the Nearpod app on their iPad.
-Instruct students to go to “Join a Session” and put in the unique code that you received.
-They will be prompted to sign in and then your presentation will be streamed to them.
-They will not be able to change the slides, as it will be completely run from your end.
OTHER TIPS:
-You have the option of downloading presentations that are already created. Keep in mind some do cost money.
-Please contact me at gvalenti@bcit.cc or extension 8349 for any help with using Nearpod. I would be more than happy to come to your classroom and help!
-If you are already using Nearpod in your classroom please leave a comment and add any additional tips.
-ENJOY!
Click "Explore" to find already created Nearpod lessons that fit your subject matter.
PICTURES OF NEARPOD BEING USED IN MY CLASSROOM:
The following two pictures are examples of the "Draw It" interactive slide. Students were promped to circle an anatomical landmark that is located in the femur. Students can use their finger or a stylus to draw on the iPad to complete the task. Once they are done the picture will be sent directly to your device so that you can check the results.
This is an example of what it would look like when students send their responses to you. To show students the correct answer you can share any student's drawing to the entire class. It will appear on their iPads.
