Nearpod

An Emerging Technology Assessment

Kimberly Hoy | Hart County Charter System | August 2017
Embedded video takes a few seconds to load. Use this link if needed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3GVkM_GVa4
Overview, Vision, & Standards
Overview of Nearpod

Teacher: Create or Import Lesson

Teacher: Share Lesson & Control Student Screen

Student: Interacts & Submits Responses to Teacher

Teacher: Monitor Student Learning

Connection to Hart County’s Technology
Vision & Standards
 Technology is blended into instruction to enhance and integrate learning
experiences in all content areas.
 Nearpod’s interactive nature, 3D modeling, and engaging graphics help
teachers boost lessons to motivate learners.
 Teachers deliver instruction by coaching, monitoring, and verifying
student achievement of learning goals.
 Nearpod has built-in surveys, polls, discussion boards, drawing feature,
and quizzes to monitor student learning
 Digital literacy is developed through meaningful experiences that
promotes digital citizenship and lifelong skills.
 Nearpod has 75+ digital citizenship lessons ready-made for teachers to
use in developing digital citizenship skills.
Teaching & Learning with
Nearpod
Who Can Use Nearpod?

• General Education
K-12 Students • English-Language Learners
• Students with Disabilities

• Academic
Teachers • Fine Arts
• Career & Technical Education

• Curriculum Leaders
Administrators • Instructional Coaches
• Technology Coaches
How Teachers Use Nearpod

 Create Nearpod presentation by importing pre-existing PDFs, images, PowerPoints,

Google Slides, or website URLs
 No time to create? Teachers can browse free and paid Nearpod presentations and then
edit as needed
 Add features including: Open-ended question, Poll, Quiz, Draw It, Collaborate, Fill in the
Blanks, or Memory Test
 Draw It Feature – Allows students to draw answers using finger or mouse; great for
showing work to math problems; teacher can load an image to have students annotate
 Collaborate Feature – Allows students to write response or upload image to given prompt
on virtual discussion board for teacher and class to see; teacher can turn off names to
make responses anonymous
How Teachers Use Nearpod (continued)

 Share results from any feature instantly; can analyze class results on teacher
screen while students see their own results
 Analyze writing responses to open-ended questions by sharing individual student
responses to every student’s screen
 Keep students focused because the presentation is on their screen; teacher
controls when every student will see the next slide
 Explore Virtual Reality (VR) lessons
 Launch lessons in Self-Paced mode so students can work through material at
their own speed (good for flipped classroom model)
Connection to Student Content & Technology
Standards
 Search Nearpod Store for Common Core Only lessons or create lessons using GPS
Standards
 Addresses the following ISTE-S standards (https://www.iste.org/standards/standards/for-
students)
 1a - Students articulate and set personal learning goals, develop strategies leveraging
technology to achieve them and reflect on the learning process itself to improve learning
outcomes.
 1b - Students build networks and customize their learning environments in ways that
support the learning process.
 1c - Students use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice
and to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways.
 3d - Students build knowledge by actively exploring real-world issues and problems,
developing ideas and theories and pursuing answers and solutions.
 Cutting-Edge Instructional Strategies

Authentic Differentiation Higher Order Learner-Centered

Learning • Assign different Self- Thinking • Self-Paced lessons
• Explore 3D Models Paced Lessons based • Design Collaborate • Flipped Classroom
• Virtual Reality on student need Feature prompts to Model where
• Virtual Field Trips • Alter instruction have students students can re-
based on quizzes, analyze or watch needed
polls, or other synthesize information
feedback information
 Cutting-Edge Instructional Strategies

Scientific Inquiry Integrated Formative Presentation

• Manipulate 3D Writing Assessments Skills
Models on screen • Collaborate Feature • Quiz Feature • Justify Answers
• Complete Discovery Writing Prompts • Poll Feature • Write for purpose
Lessons • Open-ended • Evaluate student • Students submit
Questions work on Draw It content for Nearpod
Feature • Students present
Nearpod
Collaborative Learning with Nearpod

 Collaborate Feature of Nearpod

 Students work in groups to respond to teacher-made
prompt through writing or submitting image
 Students can view each other’s answers to spark discussion
or debate in class
 Students can work on quizzes or polls as teams for
collaborative and competitive environment
 Students can work in small groups on Self-Paced lessons for
extended learning opportunities
Communication Opportunities

 Peer to Peer: Students can discuss their learning with each other within a
Nearpod presentation (Collaborate Feature discussion board) or about
their learning during a Nearpod presentation
 Teacher to student: Teacher can use various features to probe student’s
understanding; Teacher can use results of polls and quizzes to give
specific verbal feedback to student
 Student to Parent: Self-Paced lessons can be viewed at anytime so
students and parents can review lesson content together
 Student to Global Community: So far, there is not a social component
embedded in Nearpod; Older students or teachers can post reflections
about learning with Nearpod via Twitter or other social media websites
Digital Learning Environment
Requirements
Equipment Requirements

 Teacher Needs:
 Any mobile device, PC, or Mac (can be provided
by school or student)
 Wi-Fi Access
 Student Needs:
 Any mobile device, PC, or Mac (can be provided
by school or student)
 Headphones (not required, but helpful when
many students listening to a video at once)
 Wi-Fi Access
Technical Support Options

 Self-Help Choices:
 Twitter - @nearpodhelp
 Web - https://nearpod.zendesk.com/hc/en-us
 Web - https://nearpod.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/community/topics

 School-Based Choices:
 Ask an Instructional Coach
 Peer to Peer Support

 District-Level Technology Support Team

 Technology Help Desk Website
 Submit Technology Ticket
Cost & Funding Sources
 Nearpod Site License Includes:
 Access to thousands of K-12 lessons
 VR Headsets & access to 100+ VR lessons
 75+ Digital Citizenship lessons
 In-person professional training
 Cost Analysis
 $19,500 for 5 schools (3 elementary, 1 middle, 1 high)
 Averages $55 per teacher license
 Approximately $5.60 per student
 Funding Sources
 Elementary and Middle – Title 1 Funds
 High School – Title VI Funds
 Individual Teachers can opt to write grants if site license isn’t funded
 Hart EMC Bright Idea’s Grant
 Donorschoose.org
Limitations & Potential Issues

 WiFi Access: WiFi must be working effectively for Nearpod to work

 WiFi Access: Students must have WiFi at home to do self-paced lessons
 Time: Creating a Nearpod presentation from scratch can be time-
consuming
 Money: Even with a site license, many pre-made lessons in Nearpod’s
store cost money
 Organization: Teachers cannot create folders to organize Nearpod lessons
Safety & Diversity
Safe, Healthy, Legal & Ethical Issues

 Safe: Students access their teacher’s Nearpod lesson via a unique code. There is
no access to other unidentified people unless the code is shared.
 Healthy: There are no known health concerns with the use of Nearpod other
than continuous viewing of a computer screen.
 Legal/Ethical: Nearpod does not collect any personally identifying information
from students. Nearpod is a signatory on the Student Privacy Pledge promising
not to collect, maintain, use or share student information. Students are
encouraged to use first name last initial while using a teacher’s Nearpod lesson.
Diversity & Equitable Access

 Nearpod for ELL: Over 550 lessons designed specifically for English Language
Learners (separate paid service)
 Students with Disabilities: Nearpod helps all students focus on lesson content,
but especially for those students that have attention deficit disorders. Because
students can have a device right in front of them with the content, there is a
better chance of keeping the students attention. The added features that are
embedded in lessons help struggling learners by providing check points and
feedback for teachers to intervene.
 All Students: Nearpod is a fun, engaging technology that delivers content like
traditional PowerPoint, but has so many features that motivate students to learn.
Implementation Plan &
Professional Learning Needs
Implementation Plan & Change Model

Option A (Partial) Option B (Full)

Instructional Instructional Provide

Create
Coaches Coaches structured
Pilot with teacher Train all
support support on-going
selected experts to teachers
more teachers at follow up
teachers train next initially
advanced various training
group
group levels sessions
Professional Learning – Initial Training

 On-site Professional Learning (included in Nearpod purchase price)

 Additional training and in-class support by District Instructional Coaches
 Ready to Run PD at https://nearpod.com/ready-to-run-pd

Experience- PD
Expert Rich Delivered
Content Delivery by In-
Techniques House Staff
Professional Learning – Sustained Support

 Live Webinars
 Self-Paced Webinars
 Instructional Videos on Nearpod’s YouTube Channel
 Peer-led learning sessions already prepped by Nearpod
 District Instructional Coach Role:
 Coaching Conversations
 In-Class Support
 Observation & Feedback
 Troubleshooting
Current Research Supporting
Nearpod
Research – External Sources

 Jennifer Sitkin on Common Sense Education (2017) says “For situations where direct
instruction is a necessity, Nearpod offers a fantastic way to increase student
involvement.”
 Krahenbuhl and Smith (2015) praise Nearpod as a tool to increase teacher questioning
strategies. “Teachers can apply this tool to transform teacher-driven presentations into
question-driven presentations.”
 Krahenbuhl and Mydland (2015) conducted a 2-year study that found students using
Nearpod scored 58% on a post lecture assessment versus students that multi-tasked
scoring only 24%.
 McKay and Ravenna (2016) found that “Students remained on task knowing that they
were held accountable for their participation and also, they didn’t have the option to
move ahead or stay behind in the lesson since the presentation is controlled and
monitored by the teacher.”
Research – Student Survey Results

 From Nearpod’s Website (survey of over 2,100 students):

 89% of students rated Nearpod activities as appropriately challenging.
 82% of students feel that they can express themselves creatively using Nearpod,
and 42% of students feel that Nearpod allows them to express themselves
creatively to a greater extent than other classroom activities.
 82% of students feel accountable for the work they do during Nearpod activities,
and 50% of students say they participate more when using Nearpod.
 73% of students say that during Nearpod activities, they interact with other
students in a way that helps them learn.
Personal Reflection on
Nearpod’s Effectiveness
*This section of the presentation contains my own
reflection about Nearpod’s potential impact on K-
12 students.
Personal Reflection

 I have used Nearpod to deliver professional development to teachers on Hattie’s

Teacher Clarity Effect Size. The content I was presenting on was not extremely
engaging, but I was able to put in several of Nearpod’s features to keep the
audience engaged. Teachers had an opportunity to post to the Collaborate
discussion board, flip through an embedded slide show before turning and
discussing content with peers, respond to a poll, and watch an embedded video
at their own speed.
 In my instructional coaching role, I have had a few teachers try out Nearpod’s
free platform. I was able to observe during one particular lesson where students
were using the Draw It feature to show their understanding to a geometry
problem.
Personal Reflection (continued)

 Although Nearpod doesn’t have lessons created for all singleton or specialty
subjects, it does provide the platform for any teacher to be able to create an
engaging lesson for any student. Nearpod is being used from kindergarten to
college.
 In the upcoming school year, I hope to use Nearpod to help those teachers that
are scared of technology. Hopefully, the transition from PowerPoint or Google
Slides to Nearpod will be doable, leading teachers to use more formative
assessment and questioning techniques.
 Nearpod is an excellent entry-point tool for low to mid-level technology users,
but one that can have a huge impact on student learning.
References

 Krahenbuhl, K. & Mydland, G. (2015). Investigating the impacts of multitasking on

Facebook during class. Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher
Education International Conference 2015 (pp. 2429-2434).
 Krahenbuhl, K. and Smith, K. (2015, January 8) Nearpod: A technology tool to engage
students in inquiry. ASCD Express 10(9). Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/ascd-
express/vol10/1009-krahenbuhl.aspx.
 McKay, K. and Ravenna, G. (2016) Nearpod and the impact on progress monitoring.
Newsletter for the California Council on Teacher Education 27(1). Retrieved from
http://ccte.org/wp-content/pdfs-newsletters/ccte-news-2016-spring.pdf
 Nearpod. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://nearpod.com/
 Sitkin, J. (2017). Common sense review of nearpod. Retrieved from
https://www.commonsense.org/education/app/nearpod