Nearpod

With the current trend, especially in the younger generations (many Millennials and nearly all of Generation Z), to be attached to their phones, whether it be Facebook, Twitter, or Vine, it can often be a struggle for teachers to maintain the attention of students and learners when they are often subconsciously checking their phones for updates. I've been a victim of it myself; I've actually had to delete the Facebook app from my iPhone because I found myself addicted and unable to tear myself away from it. I once even closed down my Macbook because I was wasting my afternoon on Facebook, only to instinctively pick up my iPad and open the Facebook app. After realising this I put the iPad down, only to realise a few minutes later that i was browsing the app on my phone. The reason I tell this story is because I completely understand why students appear constantly glued to their phones. I've always considered that making students go cold-turkey from their smart-devices is probably a bad idea; they're just as likely to be distracted by the thought of what they're missing out on. Instead, the better idea would be to distract them from one app with another. When I discovered NearPod it seemed as though somebody else had been thinking along those same lines.

At its heart, NearPod is essentially a multi-screen wireless display for presentations; and those other displays are computers, tablets and smartphones, but it's brilliance lies in its other capabilities.

1. Teachers create enriched multimedia presentations with interactive features anywhere using the Cloud-based NearPod Content Tool.
2. In the classroom, teachers share content with the students and control the activity with the NearPod app.
3. Students receive curricular content and submit responses on their mobile devices using the NearPod app on mobile devices or any web browser (PC/Mac).
4. Teachers monitor classroom activity and measure student results on an individual and aggregate basis.

The technology involved allows for each student to have a screen in-front of them that is controlled by the teacher; this means an end to students moving around to see the projector screen or squinting to see it from the back. It also allows dyslexic students to cater for themselves in regards to colour screens etc and for students who struggle with vision to have their own zoom settings on their smart-device. A great thing here that doesn't appear to be promoted in the NearPod marketing strategy is that the students will be able to take a screenshot of the slides at any time they want (this function would make many of my lessons easier as I often find myself standing at the side of a board while the students take photos of it before I wipe it).

Another unmentioned bonus of this is that the students always have the internet at their fingertips, so they can easily switch to a browser app and search for information on a question that you have posed, before switching back to answer it. I used the phrase "switching back to answer it" intentionally there, as that is another of the great functions of NearPod that really help sell it (don't worry, it's free). NearPod has quite a number of interactive functions: You can pose questions to students, ask them multiple choice questions to assess their understanding of something, ask them to fill in a questionnaire, or even get them to input text answers to a question. 

With these answers you are fed with streams of data on percentage who got it correct, the overall score of each student, and the individual answers of each learner. It also possesses the capability to pull up an answer (this can be posted anonymously) and project it onto each students screen, prompting a discussion on it.

The bonus' here are instant assessment and instant feedback on both the student's learning as well as the teacher's delivery. With the application compiling all of the data and giving you the results it certainly takes a lot of the leg-work out of assessing the learning of students. All of this with the added advantage that your students aren't trying to check Twitter the entire time.

NearPod could easily be used in almost every lesson throughout a school-year by simply prompting the students to install the NearPod app on the first day and to use it from there onwards, thus negating the need to book computer labs when such work needs to be done. The issue would be to expect that all students have a smartphone. It's an easy assumption to make based on how adults conceive the younger generation, but it could just as easily single out the poorer students*

This is my first review that has been entirely positive. I've tried to find negative aspects to this software but I have struggled to find anything that I consider a let-down. I'm going to attempt to integrate this into some of my lessons throughout the year, but I think i'll need a few practice sessions on it to make sure it all runs flawlessly, as is the trouble with using new technologies in the classroom.

*I recognise that cost is not the only reason someone wouldn't own a smartphone, but it could be considered the most embarrassing.