[Lesson Plan] Nearpod

Nearpod is an all-in-one application for educational activities, including multiple-choice questions, polls, quizzes, open-ended questions, video watching, and photographing. Teachers can create innovative activities or use existing presentations to deliver live instruction or assign homework to students via any mobile devices since it is compatible with Windows, Android and iOS systems.

iOS: https://goo.gl/Sp1J91
Android: https://goo.gl/DTCLQQ

Proceeding activities via Nearpod, students are significantly engaged in learning. With tapping and swiping on the screen, evaluation and collaboration can be done easily.

Above all, it's free!

How to use it?

If you're a little lost and don't know what to do with it, you can Explore abundant resources of graded presentations on various subjects. Otherwise, you can design and Create one on your own. All of the presentations you create or download will be archived in My Library. In class, you just need to give your students the "code" to Join the activities and then your students, and you can enjoy the magic of Nearpod.

Here is a new tutorial video for you to refer in case you may get those of older versions.

You can also try it with your fingers since it is very user-friendly!!! It's so incredible that Nearpod is so easy-to-use while it is robust and functional!

I just made one trail in 20 minutes by merely throwing stuff in and arranging it slightly. Try it if you like. :P

Why do you need it?

1. The classroom setting turns into student-centred. You can put guiding information, like reading resources, into slides.
2. Your teaching activities become various and vigorous.
3. You can total control your students' screens in case they are distracted in class.
4. You can conduct ongoing assessments throughout the presentation. Also, students can get immediate feedback when doing quizzes, polls, and other interactive activities.
5. Students can add annotations to slides, expressing themselves.
6.  Learners can understand the content in their own paces. Receiving feedback on performances enables them to deepen their own understanding of certain contents.

My positive reflections

1. It is web-based. With teacher's login code, students are able to access it not only inside but outside the classrooms. Or just like what I've done, embed it onto blogs.

2. The activities are customizable, making instruction individualised to some degree.

3. Ongoing assessment data gives an opportunity to monitor your classes’  progress and students' learning.

4. The interface is simple. User anxiety is quite low even if you're a technology immigrant. 

Limitations I notice

I find Nearpod very prominent and promising in creating lessons since it is web-based.  However, the biggest problem is that this tool heavily relies on the Internet connection.

It was a problem to me when I experienced an outdoor activity in one lecture. As I went outside the building, my iPad lost the wifi connection instantly. I couldn't recall what I had sent before leaving the classroom. What's worse, even when I re-connected to the Internet, I wasn't able to do the rest activities. I didn't know if exiting the lesson would lead to another glitch or failure, but it was a depressing accident.

Thus, I think it does require improvement in steadiness and in the function of saving current data during temporary off-line.

Implication

Nearpod is worth trying anyways. It brings more possibilities to teaching and learning.  Although in Taiwan it is unlikely to let every student use mobile devices in classrooms, teachers can use it to create some special assignments for summer and winter vacations. For example, you may ask students to read an article or to watch a video, checking their comprehensions immediately; you can have students interview someone or collect something based on a shared topic; collaboration is possible as well.  Trust me, you can give your students an impressive vacation through Nearpod!