Monday, October 1, 2018

Web 2.0 Tools

This week, I took the opportunity to dive into a Web 2.0 Tool that I have heard of, but never got the chance to explore. The tool was Nearpod. Below is a screencast about Nearpod. Take a look at it before you try out the app yourself.




What is it? 


Nearpod is an interactive learning tool for teachers and students. Teacher can use to it discover pre-made lessons or create their own lessons. Nearpod is used to engage students in a lesson by giving each child the lesson onto their own personal device. 

How it works


Teacher's chose a lesson or create their own. They assign the lesson to the students who sign in by using a class code. The students then take part in the lesson through their own device. They may be required to answer quiz questions, open-ended questions, fill-in-the-blank questions, and more. The teacher can instantly see the student work and use it to assess learning.

Nearpod activities to add to lessons (Source

Benefits to Nearpod


As I was exploring Nearpod, I found that there seems to be quite a few benefits to using this tool in your classroom. 

  • One of the benefits that really stood out to me was the ability to see instant results. If you assign your kids a quiz or activity with questions, the application grades it for you. This frees up so much time for the teacher. 
  • Another benefit to using Nearpod is that the teacher is able to control what the students see and when. When the students log into a lesson, the teacher sets the pace. This way no student is able to rush through the activity without actually working through it. 
  • A third benefit is the collaborate tool. This is great for kids who may not like to raise their hands in front of the whole class. They can post to collaborate and share their ideas without being out of their comfort zone. 

How I plan to use it


I feel like I have only brushed the surface of Nearpod. I really think that I will be able to use this in my room. My room currently is mostly boys and I am finding that they really need to be hands on to comprehend the task. I think by incorporating Nearpod a few times a week I could really reach those boys. I love the idea of having instant feedback and for the kids to get quick responses to their work. I always seem to fall victim to a growing pile of papers to grade. I'm hoping Nearpod can help alleviate some of that. 

5 comments:

  1. Thanks for a great introduction to Nearpod. This is something I saw at a conference several years ago, but haven't used it. I feel your pain regarding the never ending stack of papers and how hard it is to get feedback to kids in a timely manner. I remember thinking that the planning that would be required to get a nearpod lesson running seemed daunting, but this seems a little more accessible than I remember.
    Thanks
    Lisa

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  2. Thank you for the great info on Nearpod. It seems like a very useful resource for educators to use. I definitely would like to try this in my own classroom. I have suggested it to one of my co-workers and they wanted to further explore it!

    Posted by: Carmen Ortiz :)

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  3. Hello Elizabeth,

    I like the conveniency that Nearpod provides by helping with grading for teachers (which should save a lot of time). I also like that it doesn't allow teachers to do much cold-calling, which can be a nightmare for the students who are extremely shy. The filters feature is also useful to narrow down the searches. Thanks for showing us this tool!

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  4. Great post! It's very well organized and I liked the inclusion of the benefits and how your boys will enjoy the tool as well (and who would have known there were so many lessons on commas!).

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  5. I had never heard of NearPod. This seems like a great online resource that not only provides a great resource for teachers, but is also interactive for students. I wish that it was completely free for teachers. The tracking features are great also. Thanks for sharing.

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