This blog post will share free tools to help with your Nearpod presentations. We will cover the who, the what, the why, and how of enhancing any Nearpod presentation. However, you can use these tools for any presentation you are creating!

Why do visuals matter for presentations?

Nearpod is a powerful platform that supports educators and enterprises in creating high-quality visual presentations. You can create your presentation directly within Nearpod or drop in PowerPoint, Google Slides, or Keynote presentations. It allows for the integration of interactive experiences, which significantly enhances visual communication and presentations. When using Nearpod, educators can incorporate a variety of multimedia elements, such as video, audio, and interactive formative assessments, to engage participants. These tools help to highlight key messages and ensure that participants remain attentive and involved throughout the lesson.

To craft a great presentation with Nearpod, educators should pay attention to several important elements. By combining interactive professional development elements with Nearpod’s formative assessments, activities, and multimedia, educators can deliver presentations that convey information effectively while keeping participants engaged and actively participating. This holistic approach ensures that the key messages and material are truly retained, resulting in a more impactful and memorable learning experience.

New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for free below to access formative assessment activities and create interactive presentations. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Why do visuals matter for presentations?

• They help us communicate. If you’ve ever traveled to a foreign country, a visual of an arrow easily tells you where you should go.
• They help us remember.
• They provide visual models. As a bilingual teacher, visuals were important for visual models. If I had a student that was a limited speaker, I could rely on visuals so they could better understand and retain the information

Take a look at this example below. Which one is easier to understand?

Visuals help learners make connections, provide engagement, tie ideas together, collaborate, and accommodate different learning styles for audience understanding.

What are the challenges we face when creating visual presentations?

• Time to make it look presentable
• Meeting learners needs
• Formatting
• Designing to fully communicate the lesson
• Structuring and lack of flexibility
• Creating something creative without any knowledge of designing/art.
• Making it purposeful but not distracting

For the most part, everyone knows how to use Powerpoint. Powerpoint offers very generic templates. They are colorful and great but they do not always do the job. Have you ever found yourself using a PowerPoint template and started creating a presentation but cannot find the clip art to put in the slide, or you can’t even find the image you are looking for? Or you put an image in, and it messes everything up! Before you know it, you get frustrated, and your PowerPoint turns into one big Word Document.

What’s worse than having a PowerPoint read to you? A PowerPoint without visuals. Visuals serve a purpose even during times you may not realize it.

3 Free design tools to create visual presentations examples

1. Canva

Canva provides you with free templates for every type of presentation, flyers, infographics, and more. You can upload your own images to use. It has over 1,000 free resources to incorporate as well. You do have to register for an account to use Canva. However, it is free. Some features may require an upgrade.

2. Flat Icon

Flat Icon provides you with free icons that provide a visual representation for multiple activities, functions, or topics. All you have to do is search for an image, download the file, and attribute the source.  Icons are available in black and white or in color.

3. Unsplash

Unsplash provides free high-resolution images on a variety of topics that can be used as background or in presentations. This is a great resource for conveying stories, cover images or background images. Attribution to the artist is not required but highly recommended.

Start using Nearpod to create presentations

In conclusion, free design tools have made it easier than ever to create all types of visual presentations. In addition, incorporating bullet points can help break down information into manageable chunks, making it easier for students to follow along. With tools like Canva, Flat Icon, and Unsplash, anyone can enhance their slides with templates, icons, and high-resolution images. By harnessing the power of visuals, you can effectively communicate your message, engage your audience, and leave a lasting impact.

New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for free below to access formative assessment activities and create interactive presentations. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Victor Villegas

Victor taught 5th grade bilingual for three years and was an instructional technologist for two years. He currently works in Clinical Education as a Senior Learning Consultant for the largest hospital facility in North America. He is also a Nearpod PioNear.

The post 3 Free design tools to create visual presentations (with examples!) appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

4 Ways to amplify instruction for English language learners using Nearpod EL

1. A research-based approach to ELL instruction

A report by WestEd (2014) found that teachers of English language learners (ELL) must design their instruction to “amplify rather than simplify” concepts to offer the academic rigor necessary for students’ learning (p. 11). In other words, teachers must augment their lessons to include multiple pathways to learning, particularly when it comes to providing plenty of verbal and nonverbal messages (11). This is challenging, especially for teachers who may teach a range of students.

Nearpod EL aligns with this model of amplification and supports teachers in its implementation. With Nearpod EL, ready-to-teach lessons provide an interactive, standards-aligned curriculum designed to engage and inspire ELLs across subject areas and grade levels. Nearpod lessons leverage digital activities and research-based formative assessments to seamlessly connect instruction and evaluation to meet the unique learning needs of ELL students. The lessons are designed to teach rigorous Math, English Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies content through scaffolded instruction and strategies to support language acquisition.

Nearpod became integral to Compton Unified School District’s (CUSD) efforts to support English Language Learners (ELLs). Nearpod’s adaptability enabled effective scaffolding of instruction, providing multiple points of entry and immediate feedback crucial for language development.

2. Interactive lessons with clear learning goals

Within the design of each Nearpod EL interactive lesson, ELL students are at the center of teaching and learning. As the WestEd report demonstrates, interactive lessons created for ELL students should begin with clearly defined learning goals and objectives. Nearpod EL lessons are guided by these constructs and use learning progressions and success criteria as indicators of comprehension. By promoting a continual process of instruction, assessment, and feedback, lessons allow teachers to design their own instruction by immediately identifying gaps between current levels of learning and expected levels of learning.

With clear direction on learning goals, the Nearpod EL ready-to-teach lessons harness the power of interactive technologies and multimedia-rich content to highlight academic knowledge and academic language. As the lessons offer editable content, teachers further customize lessons according to individual needs and goals. This purposeful process of planning and building interactive lessons, and learning for ELL students becomes an enriched experience with great opportunity for growth.

3. Facilitates learning through authentic engagement

A best practice in instruction with ELL students facilitates learning through authentic engagement with interactive content and meaningful peer interactions and collaboration. Lessons within the Nearpod EL library balance direct instruction with experiential learning and continual practice in speaking and listening. Within a context of subject-matter learning, Nearpod lessons build on background knowledge by incorporating reference images and familiar multimedia, explicit references to key vocabulary, and metacognition and reflection. Through the gradual release of responsibility, students are empowered to reach for levels of independence with activities following an I do, we do, you do scaffolding of skill building.

Nearpod’s On the Fly feature lets teachers respond to teachable moments during instruction and encourage ELL students voice and choice within the lesson. Open-ended tasks allow for multiple points of entry, a practice described by WestEd as effective in revealing ELL students’ learning by demonstrating their understanding through varying modes of expression, including writing, speaking, drawing, and reading. With a range of interactive activities (such as Polls, Fill-in-the-Blanks, Quizzes, Draw It’s) and interactive content (including Nearpod Virtual Reality (VR) Field Trips, Nearpod 3D, interactive video, and audio responses), students are supported in all forms of learning.

ELL students participating in Nearpod EL lessons are not only part of the instruction process, but they become creators of their own learning by assessing their personal understanding and determining their particular readiness based on feedback and support embedded within each of the lessons.

4. Access real-time data to help guide instruction

Within an instructional program for English language learners, constant interpretation of evidence of student progress is needed to inform instruction. Nearpod EL provides teachers with real-time feedback and reporting based on student interactions and responses. This continuous feedback offers the status of students’ current learning and provides direction for moving students toward identified learning goals. As the lessons are designed to minimize irrelevant language and unnecessary information, teachers can easily pinpoint and evaluate the intended learning targets. Based on feedback obtained in these embedded checks for understanding, systematic support in the forms of modeling, prompting, and repetition can scaffold ELL students and move them toward content understanding. For both teachers and students, learning progressions within Nearpod EL’s lessons allow for immediate feedback for in-the-moment adjustments to help anchor and monitor skills throughout the process of teaching and learning.

Formative assessment is essential when it comes to better ELL student learning in both academic content and the development of academic language. The Nearpod EL curriculum was developed with this in mind and provides an interactive and engaging long-term solution for instruction.

Bring Nearpod EL to your school or district

Following the understanding that desired changes must start with dedicated teacher support, Nearpod EL training targets ELL teachers and their unique instructional needs. Demonstrating best practices in the use of Nearpod lessons for teaching, teachers participating in the Nearpod PD discover ways to use Nearpod EL for whole group instruction, independent practice, and enhanced learning opportunities. With a focus on “amplification” of learning and empowering ELL students in the classroom, Nearpod EL advances culturally responsive instruction and brings agency to all students in all classrooms.

References

Alvarez, L., Ananda, S., Walqui, A., Sato, E., & Rabinowitz, S. (2014). Focusing formative assessment on the needs of English language learners. San Francisco: WestEd.

Nearpod Team

Nearpod’s award-winning platform is used by thousands of schools around the globe, transforming classroom engagement.

nearpod.com/

The post Amplify instruction for English language learners with Nearpod EL appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

Combining powerful education tech tools, like Nearpod and Flocabulary, to do more than either one can separately do is not a new concept. App smashing is “the process of developing content on multiple digital applications and then integrating or ‘smashing’ them together in order to create a richer, innovative digital product.” (Brenner & Hauser, 2015). App smashing can also increase the efficiency of using multiple edtech tools in the classroom. With an average of 42 tools used by an individual teacher in a classroom, it is more important than ever to use the tools in the most effective way possible.

What are the benefits of using Nearpod and Flocabulary together?

When you consider the platforms and the content available with Nearpod and Flocabulary, it becomes clear that each tool contributes to powerful learning in its own way.

Nearpod, at its core, is a robust, multi-purpose instructional platform that transforms instruction from direct teaching into an interactive, two-way learning experience that drives results. It has the functionality to bring most, if not all, of your instructional resources together for an efficient delivery. This can increase instruction by decreasing the time needed to move between tools, so you avoid losing students between tabs.

Flocabulary, on its own, accelerates learning and academic vocabulary of Tier 2 and Tier 3 words through rigorous and authentically engaging learning experiences centered on video-based lessons. Using a tiered word system helps teachers and students focus on the words they need to be successful in the academic space.

Dr. Laura Rigolosi, Curriculum & Literacy Specialist at the Center for Professional Education of Teachers, references Dr. Isabel Beck’s work when she describes the tiers as follows.

“Tier 1 words are basic words that students typically know, unless they are an ELL, and in that case they may need to be taught that word. Tier 1 words include: computer, sunlight, coffee, sleep, etc.

Tier 2 words are those that are often used in classrooms and extend beyond one particular subject area, including: analyze, tweak, estimate, determine—words in that academic arena.

Tier 3 words are highly specific for each content area, and are housed within a particular subject. Examples of Tier 3 words include: parabola, hypotenuse, simile, monarchy, osmosis, etc.”

Through the Flocabulary video, students have a first introduction to a set of vocabulary words in a given context. Flocabulary’s memorable and rigorous activities then allow students to have multiple exposures and practice opportunities to apply their learning.

The two platforms, Nearpod and Flocabulary, can significantly impact learning all by themselves, but have you ever wondered what might be possible if these tools were used together in creative ways?

How to add Flocabulary to Nearpod

Nearpod lessons can easily house activities from any other platform using the Web Content option. But adding a link is just the beginning. Imagine one of your favorite Flocabulary activities as part of your best Nearpod lesson, or finding an entire lesson in Nearpod that is built around a Flocabulary video. These are just a few of the ideas we consider as we explore how to bring Nearpod and Flocabulary together.

How to find Flocabulary lessons on Nearpod

Additionally, you can explore Flocabulary lessons in the Nearpod Lesson Library. Search “Flocabulary” and filter lessons by grade level, subject, and type. To view lessons only, click on “Lessons” at the top of the screen. If you have a Flocabulary account, you can access various lessons, videos, and activities. If you don’t have access to Flocabulary, check out these unlocked lessons! Keep reading to explore how Nearpod and Flocabulary can be combined to deepen the learning experience.

Foster a love of learning in every student with Nearpod and Flocabulary. Teachers can sign up for free below to access and create interactive lessons on Nearpod. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod and Flocabulary for schools and districts.

How to combine the power of Nearpod and Flocabulary

1. Topic Sparks and Literacy Across Media lessons

Prebuilt and editable lessons are always a teacher’s go-to resource when things get busy during the school year when faced with unfamiliar new content, or when the ideas are just not flowing to create something new. The stellar Nearpod and Flocabulary content creators collaborate to create two sets of lessons that strategically combine the superpowers of each platform. Each lesson includes instructional content wrapped around a high-quality hip-hop based video. These lesson series are called Topic Spark lessons and Literacy Across Media lessons.

Topic Spark lessons are 25- to 30-minute learning experiences that feature a Flocabulary video and best-loved Nearpod features, such as a Collaborate Board to continue the discussion or a Draw It to build on the creativity from the video.  These lessons are designed to introduce students to new topics, provide an opportunity for review, or be used in stations or blended learning classrooms.

Here are some of our favorite sample lessons!

• Active Listening (Grades 4-8)
• Statue of Liberty (Grades K-3)

Literacy Across Media lessons are 45- to 60-minute learning experiences that use Nearpod features in conjunction with a Flocabulary video to build content knowledge and apply literacy skills to multiple types of media. These lessons are designed to provide rigorous, grade-level differentiated instruction, encourage critical thinking, support culturally responsive learning environments, and focus on one section of a Flocabulary video for close reading and analysis.

Here are some of our favorite unlocked lessons!

• Location, Latitude, and Longitude (Grades 4-5)
• Intro to Long Division (Grades 4-5)

2. Embed Flocabulary videos

The most famous component of any Flocabulary lesson is the video, especially if you’re interested in learning how to add Flocabulary to Nearpod! The video, on its own, provides students with an opportunity for a memorable learning experience that can be used to introduce new topics and the academic vocabulary words that are key to unlocking the content.

An effective practice when using a video in a lesson, especially with Flocabulary videos, is to play it uninterrupted. The first time, allow it to play straight through to simply enjoy the media and take in some of the initial learning. Then play the video again, with either a specific purpose for watching or with embedded questions using the Nearpod Interactive Video tool to check for understanding with open-ended and multiple-choice questions.

Adding formative assessments directly in the video allows students to have a moment to pause and focus on a specific vocabulary word or part of the content to make a lasting connection in their learning. Utilizing an Open-Ended Question specifically can move beyond a check for understanding. Crafting a well-worded question will encourage students to connect the new information to previous learning or push them to consider how it might apply to future work. Another idea would be to use the Open-ended question to prompt students to create or share questions they might have instead of answering one. Asking thoughtful questions is a critical thinking skill that will raise students’ levels of thinking.

All Flocabulary videos can be added to any Nearpod lesson in two ways with access to school/district accounts on both platforms. Having these options available through the Nearpod platform makes the transition between videos efficient and requires minimal movement between tabs and platforms, limiting the loss of instruction time that can occur when there are multiple logins and passwords.

Add videos from the Nearpod library

You can find your favorite Flocabulary video in Nearpod through the Interactive Video option when building a lesson, or by searching the Nearpod library for video content from Flocabulary. Flocabulary videos from the Nearpod library have comprehension and discussion questions already embedded in the video to create a more interactive experience.

Add Flocabulary lessons as Web Content

Another method to incorporate a Flocabulary video is by directly embedding it into the Nearpod lesson as Web Content using the lesson URL. When utilizing this approach, the Flocabulary video will open within the Flocabulary platform, granting students the ability to adjust the playback speed and access the lyrics. Unlike the previous method, this video will not contain embedded questions and can be played continuously without interruptions.

3. The Flocabulary lesson sequence

Switch up the Flocabulary sequence as you bring the activities from the lesson sequence into a Nearpod lesson. Add individual activities supporting a different lesson for additional vocabulary review, a creative introduction, or a quick assessment. You can re-create these activities using Nearpod or simply embed the URL of the Flocabulary activity using the Web Content feature.

Consider adding the Flocabulary Vocab Game as a bell ringer into your lesson or drop in the link to the Read and Respond activity for additional review of related vocabulary, a learning standard, or a specific topic.

Use the attached Vocab Card template in a Draw It activity and provide students with the opportunity to create their own vocabulary cards!

4. Connect to the Lyric Lab framework

The broadest option for bringing Flocabulary into any lesson at almost any grade is to use the Lyric Lab framework. While in the Nearpod lesson, provide the prompt and words students will need to include in their scaffolded writing experience through Lyric Lab.

Use this template to create your own slide if you would like it to look similar to the Lyric Lab experience.

Then, using the Nearpod Web Content option, link to any Lyric Lab in the Flocabulary platform. An example might be the End Punctuation lesson using this link. The vocabulary words listed can be a reminder to students to use the required punctuation as they write their lyrics around the content and vocabulary of your choosing … or theirs!

The power of Lyric Lab begins by giving students the creative avenue to share what they know or have learned about a topic. This can be expanded when students have the opportunity to perform their lyrics or read their writing to an authentic audience—an audience of more than their teacher and classmates! Tap into your school’s media options such as morning announcements, in-school news channels, or upcoming family night events.

5. The independent practice (a.k.a. homework)

Homework is one of the most debated topics in education. Do you give it? Do you not? Is it fair? Is it not? Is it for a grade? Is it for practice? No matter what your opinion is, we can all likely agree that students need some time to practice new learning on their own and would prefer it to incorporate an element of fun along with the required rigor.

Provide additional practice for students by linking a complementary Flocabulary lesson at the end of your Nearpod lesson. On Flocabulary, use the search by state standards option or the key word search to find the lesson that most closely supports the topic.

When you have decided on your Flocabulary lesson, add it to your Nearpod as Web Content. Send students directly to the Flocabulary lesson following the large group instruction. This can be designated in whatever way makes the most sense in your classroom: homework, classwork, small group work, station rotation, or centers. Switch from Live to Student-Paced mode to have students complete the work at their own pace. Linking it into the Nearpod lesson makes it more efficient for students to move from one platform to another without getting distracted by other technology and tabs.

Whatever you choose to call it, we call it a memorable learning experience that students will more than likely be interested in completing. Assign all or parts of the Flocabulary lesson depending on the needs of your students. You do not have to grade it; the students’ responses are provided for you in the Flocabulary lesson report and can be used as evidence of practice or translated into a grade based on your expectations.

Start using Nearpod and Flocabulary together

Using technology in the classroom is not a quick, impromptu decision. It takes deliberate, thoughtful planning to ensure the technology is being used to provide a positive impact on student learning as well as provide evidence of the impact on the learning experience. When combining tools like Nearpod and Flocabulary, there are any number of ways you might choose to use these two platforms together. We’ve just provided a few examples. Whether you use all parts of a Flocab lesson to follow large group instruction or choose just one or two Flocabulary activities to add variety, start with the approach that will best improve learning outcomes for your students and then let the learning flow!

Foster a love of learning in every student with Nearpod and Flocabulary. Teachers can sign up for free below to access and create interactive lessons on Nearpod. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod and Flocabulary for schools and districts.

Julie Cobb

Julie Cobb is a Senior Manager on the Nearpod Professional Services team, leading high-quality implementation and training consultations for Nearpod School and District partners across the United States. She has her Bachelors in Education of the Hearing Impaired and her Masters in Educational Leadership. Passionate about education technology, she was inspired to join Nearpod because she wanted to share innovative ways to transform teaching and learning using technology in the classroom and beyond.

The post 5 Ways combine the power of Nearpod and Flocabulary appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

Foster a love of learning in every student with Nearpod. Teachers can sign up for free below to access and create interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

How can I edit my Nearpod lesson?

Nearpod offers a lesson library of 22,000+ lessons from the Nearpod team as well as reliable content experts and trusted partner brands. With any of these lesson plans, you can make a copy and then edit the lesson as you see fit.

Nearpod gives you the ability to do the following:

• Add a slide or activity
• Remove a slide or activity
• Rearrange the order of the slides or activities
• Add an additional activity (or two!)

You may also decide to take an existing lesson and split it into more than one session to dedicate more time to specific concepts or skills and extend the learning further. Conversely, you may choose to combine lessons to create an immersive learning experience or to outline a suggested learning path. Really, the sky’s the limit when it comes to how you want to retain the original content or reimagine the learning objectives.

Editing Nearpod lessons is quite simple:

1. First, choose a lesson from the Nearpod Library. You can toggle by grade, subject, content type, publisher, and premium content. Plus, you can filter by standard (all the way down to a specific strand!) to find correlated lesson plans.
2. Then, select ADD TO MY LESSONS. 
3. Hover over the lesson tile and click on EDIT LESSON to see an overview of the slides and the lesson builder tool.
4. Drag and drop these slides into your desired sequence. 
5. Double-click into an individual slide to modify and customize the activities. Perhaps you want to reword the directions, add a timer, insert media-rich content (images, video, PDFs, audio, or web content), or layer on another interactive activity.
6. Simply SAVE & EXIT and then teach!

6 Ideas for planning and editing your Nearpod lesson

1. Differentiation

Teachers are masters of differentiating instruction and modifying learning objectives for those who need a bit of extra support, as well as those who need a bit more challenge. With Nearpod, you can edit a lesson to address the needs of a whole or small group and teach in Live Participation mode. Or you can target your instruction by sharing the lesson via Student-Paced mode. In that case, To modify a lesson for more targeted instruction, make adjustments for that group of students. Keep in mind, that modifications are never a detriment for anyone, so consider making more global support available to everyone in a single lesson. In both cases, your Teacher Dashboard will show students’ interactions in real time, so you can keep a tab on progress and use data-informed instructional practices to plan your next steps. Such a personalized approach will ensure that students are engaged, motivated, and feeling confident.

Here are some ideas! Explore more examples of differentiated instruction here.

• Open-Ended Questions for more in-depth responses
• Draw It for responses that need more than just words
• Time to Climb for the element of fun and competition
• Drag and Drop for questions open to multiple right answers
• Collaborate Board for making learning social
• Polls for taking a stance without peer pressure
• Matching Pairs to gamify repetitive learning
• Fill in the Blanks for contextual vocabulary practice
• VR Field Trips for exploring new places from the classroom

2. Small groups

Small group work is an effective instruction strategy, whether you are grouping students by similar needs or by similar interests. With Nearpod, you can modify lessons to meet both goals by duplicating and editing content as you see fit. With this amount of content at your fingertips, organization is the goal! Within Nearpod, you can search the Nearpod Library and then organize lessons within your own—My Lessons—or within a District Library or School Library. You can create folders by color, subject, theme, grade, or date; there are even subfolders. If small group work is a regular occurrence, you may want to organize by skill or teaching group. Take a look at these 17 tips for organizing your Nearpod content.

3. Homework

If you give homework, you know how important it is to make sure it is meaningful practice. Based on the formative assessment data you gathered during the day, consider how you can take one interactive activity and modify the directions to speak to various needs. Conversely, you may want to choose a handful of activities and dole them out depending on who needs which skill practice. You may want to provide a mix, where some activities are speaking to lower-level thinking skills and others are encouraging high-order thinking skills. You may also want to craft homework assignments that extend the learning further. Search in the Nearpod Library for a topic, and share a couple of related lessons … we’ll bet your students don’t just do one! The rich media and active learning will pique their curiosity and pull them in. Make sure to use Student-Paced mode and set a deadline if needed.

4. Accessibility

In today’s digital landscape, there is plenty of content, but not all of it is of high quality or even accessible for all. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.2) and Sections 504 and 508 of The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 provide guidelines for schools and districts to follow around edtech adoption. Consider the following features within Nearpod to promote accessibility for all:

• Enable closed captions for video so that students can read along through subtitles, whether in English or another language.
• Enable Microsoft Immersive Reader to provide students with text-to-speech, font size, voice speed, translations, and more on activities.
• Enable audio functions so that students can use audio responses as a type of formative assessment on Open-ended Questions and Collaborate Board.

5. Choice boards

Teachers know how valuable the concept of “voice and choice” is for students when it comes to appealing to their interests. One way to do so is to offer choice boards. Choice boards promote student agency and encourage students to take ownership of their own learning journeys. Let’s say you are teaching about the Civil War; simply search for the topic within the Nearpod Library to see the lesson options. Then create a new lesson that features links or Nearpod codes for the chosen lessons—for instance, you can create a 3×3 grid and use text or images from the lessons themselves to link to each. You may want to intersperse some interactive activities so that they can check their own understanding. Try using Choice boards during rotation stations. Create a board that focuses on a specific skill for each station. This station model can work well when students are reviewing skills as part of spring standardized test prep. Choice boards are also great for engaging students during Free Choice Fridays or other downtime, when students can work individually or in pairs.

6. Sub plans

Every teacher knows that preparing for an absence and making sure a substitute teacher is as prepared as possible is often more work than teaching! You can use Nearpod to prepare turnkey lessons that a sub can share during your day out of the classroom. Consider lessons that might not take a lot of preparation or knowledge on the substitute teacher’s part. For instance, maybe suggest that the class take a VR field trip. You might choose one of these top ten suggested VR field trips and edit it to include some open-ended discussion questions.

Start editing your Nearpod lessons

One of the rookie mistakes I made early on in my teaching career was assuming that my first year of lesson plans were “done” and that I could use them—turnkey—the next year. Well, when my second class of students entered the door, I quickly realized that I would have to modify my approach for almost every single lesson in order to fulfill my commitment to personalized learning. Oh, how I wish I had had a platform like Nearpod, where I could search for quality content and then make it my own. Like a cook in a kitchen, I realized that every year I would add a pinch of this and a dash of that to make it the best year possible for each individual student. So, while you may be tempted to reinvent the wheel, do lean on what is already available and just add your own personalized touch. Iteration is the name of the game, and your classroom will flourish with such TLC!

Foster a love of learning in every student with Nearpod. Teachers can sign up for free below to access and create interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Nearpod Team

Nearpod’s award-winning platform is used by thousands of schools around the globe, transforming classroom engagement.

nearpod.com/

The post 6 Ideas for planning and editing your Nearpod lesson appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

An introduction to Nearpod lessons

Foster a love of learning in every student with Nearpod. Teachers can sign up for free below to access and create interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Join us for Camp Engage: Back to School!

Join us for Camp Engage on July 25-27th! This FREE virtual professional development event is designed to provide educators with engaging, high-quality learning experiences, led by experts in the field. Our sessions are crafted to offer practical insights and strategies, ensuring immediate impact in the classroom.

Whether you’re new to Nearpod, a seasoned expert, or interested in learning, everyone is welcome to join!

What you need to know before creating a Nearpod lesson

As you begin creating lessons for students, it is important to understand Nearpod’s features. Interactive slides are broken down into three major categories:

Creation media

Slides, Sways, and Slideshows hold the essential content to guide your learners through the interactive lesson. The most common content media educators use is slides.

Dynamic media

Incorporate 3D objects, Simulations, and VR Field Trips to breathe life into your content, fostering a deeper understanding.

Interactive activities

Engage your students with captivating activities like Time to Climb, Draw It, Open-Ended Questions, and Collaborate Boards, which capture the pivotal moments of learning.

How to create a lesson on Nearpod

Our Lesson Builder features a user-friendly design familiar to those who have experience with tools like PowerPoint or Google Slides.

Step 1: Launch the Lesson Builder

Click on “Create” and select “Lesson” to launch the Lesson Builder.

Step 2: Choose your slides

Select “Slides” from the Activity Selector. The Slide Editor offers a variety of pre-designed templates and layout features, enabling you to curate content slides for your lessons. Unleash your creative style in text boxes, leveraging rich-text capabilities and the Nearpod Equation Editor. Layer images, GIFs, and even your own audio directly onto slides. Create your content even faster using the new quick add slide button!

Step 3: Incorporate interactive media and activities

Click “Add New” to continue adding Dynamic Media and Activities, to finish building your interactive lesson.

Include activities from the Nearpod lesson library to customize your lesson using the Activity Bank. With thousands of pre-made Time to Climb quizzes and Matching Pairs, Drag and Drop, and Draw It activities, teachers can easily customize any lesson in Nearpod with standards-aligned activities.

Step 4: Input lesson details to stay organized

Click on “Lesson Details” to give your lesson a title, provide a description for the lesson, and tag the lesson with relevant grade levels and subjects. This metadata enhances searchability, making it easier to find and share your lessons.

Step 5: Launch and observe the magic

Launch your lesson in either Live Participation or Student-Paced modes and see the impact of Nearpod in action!

Tips for creating your own Nearpod lesson

As you design interactive lessons for students, here are some tips to get you started!

Tip #1: Use the lesson library for inspiration

It can be difficult knowing where to start when building lessons for your students. Nearpod’s curriculum team comprises former educators who design lessons around the latest research into active learning strategies, such as the 5 E’s Model and Guided Inquiry. Filter the Nearpod Library by grade level, subject, or state standards to discover new ways to approach your content. You can even copy and paste library resource content directly into your lessons!

Tip #2: Use what you already have

We know you already have amazing resources in other formats. Use the Upload Slides feature to quickly upload your PowerPoints and Google Slides into Nearpod, transforming them from static presentations to lessons for your students. You can even use worksheets for Draw It or Drag and Drop activities. Learn more about how to convert your existing presentations into a Nearpod lesson.

Tip #3: Enhance your Google Slides with the Nearpod Add-On

If you prefer to “Nearpodize” your existing Google Slides while working within the familiar Slides tool set, Gold, Platinum, and School or District users can integrate Nearpod activities and dynamic media content directly with the Nearpod add-on! With the Nearpod Slides add-on, your embedded hyperlinks stay active, and Microsoft Immersive Reader will be able to read all the text on your Slides to support all learners. Learn more about integrating your Nearpod lessons in Google Slides.

Already have access to a free Nearpod account? Click below to upgrade to Gold!

Tip #4: Organize ALL of your digital resources in one space

As we incorporate technology into our classrooms, it is easy to lose students to an array of open tabs. Direct students to specific websites, district curricular resources, or collaborative learning experiences with Google or Microsoft tools quickly and easily, using Nearpod’s Web Content feature. Using Web Content, all of those links can be easily integrated directly into your interactive lessons, ensuring you and your students are always on the same page. Learn more about enhancing your lessons with Web Content.

Tip #5: Combine dynamic media and activities

When creating lessons, it is important to remember all of the magic you have available to you in Nearpod. VR Field Trips, PhET Simulations, and 3D objects help the learning come to life. But did you know that you can easily pair that dynamic media content with one of Nearpod’s activities to truly make student thinking visible?

• Combine several VR Field Trips for a compare and contrast interactive classroom activity. Students can explore the various locations and then use a Collaborate Board to discuss or even debate their findings with their peers.
• Add a blank Draw It after a Simulation for students to upload their discoveries. First, they experience the simulation and then take a screenshot of their work. They can upload their image and then annotate right on top of it to explain what they have uncovered. 
• Create a Drag & Drop activity to label the parts of a cell using a screenshot of a 3D object. Students can explore the cell in their browser and then demonstrate their understanding by correctly labeling the various parts they have seen.

Start creating lessons on Nearpod

Whether you are using pre-made lessons from the Nearpod Library, enhancing your own materials, or even working directly in Google Slides, Nearpod makes it easy to create lessons for your students’ learning needs.

Foster a love of learning in every student with Nearpod. Teachers can sign up for free below to access and create interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Nearpod Team

Nearpod’s award-winning platform is used by thousands of schools around the globe, transforming classroom engagement.

nearpod.com/

The post How to create interactive lessons for students with Nearpod appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

Nearpod helps educators make any lesson interactive, whether in the classroom or virtual. The concept is simple. A teacher can create interactive presentations that can contain Quizzes, Polls, Videos, Collaborate Boards, and more. You can access thousands of premade K-12 standards-aligned lessons or upload your existing lessons and make them interactive using Nearpod in the classroom. Nearpod makes teaching easier with the interactive tools, resources, and content teachers need, all in one place. You can sign up for a free account today and learn 5 ways to use a free Nearpod account.

The students can access a teacher’s Live Participation presentation through a code, and the teacher then moves the class through the lesson and lets students interact with the media as they go. Teachers can also opt for Student-Paced mode, where the student controls the flow of the lesson. This mode is perfect for remote learning, hybrid learning, sub days, homework assignments, or independent work. The app is web-based and works on any device with an internet connection.

New to Nearpod? Sign up for free below to create your own interactive lessons and access engaging standards-aligned resources!

Join us for Camp Engage: Back to School!

Camp Engage, which is July 25-27th, is a FREE virtual professional development event packed with interactive, expert-led sessions focused on topics you care about, and innovative strategies to support your instruction.

Each session is crafted to provide immediate classroom impact, so you can apply what you learn at Camp Engage right from the start— just in time for back to school. Whether you’re new to Nearpod, a seasoned expert, or interested in learning, everyone is welcome to join!

10 ways to use Nearpod in the classroom

Below are just ten simple ways you can utilize this multiple-solutions-in-one tool:

1. Simple presentation delivery

At its most simple, you can use Nearpod as a substitute for other presentation tools. Instead of running a Powerpoint or Google Slides, you can utilize Nearpod and make the lesson more interactive. You can even ‘drag and drop’ your existing Google Slides, PDFs, and PowerPoints into the app for it to instantly create a Nearpod presentation. Then you can select from countless interactive activities and formative assessments. The presentations will be beamed to each student’s device in the classroom. You also do not have to rely on students being able to see the board.

2. Personalized provision and differentiation

Following on from the idea of using Nearpod as a simple presentation tool, you could isolate the use of the app to one student or a small group. It could be that you are beaming extra teaching provisions to particular pupils during a starter. This could be the missing link that provides more support for a child with visual impairments. It could provide that extra bit of help for a low attainer in your class. You can also duplicate the lesson and modify to deliver differentiated content to your students. You can edit these lessons with personalized formative assessment activities, collect feedback, and inclusive accessibility.

3. Distributing student resources

Using the app to distribute resources is another simple way of using it in the classroom. You can fill your presentation with images or worksheets and ask the students to use the Students Notes feature to save the presentation to their drive to access the information later when studying for an exam or completing homework. 

4. Live formative assessment

The app can become even more useful if you insert one of Nearpod’s many formative assessment activities into your presentation. As a teacher, you can create customized Quizzes, Polls, Open-ended Questions, Matching Pairs, Draw It activities, and more. Use these tools to view their responses and check for students’ understanding in real-time. The teacher can instantly gain insights into the classes’ overall understanding and make adjustments on the fly.

5. Interactive gamification and activities

One simple way to implement Nearpod into your daily instruction is to have students do an interactive activity. Add interest and excitement into everyday learning with Drag & Drop, Draw It, Time to Climb, Matching Pairs, and Collaborate Board. To review a unit use the gamified multiple-choice quiz, Time to Climb. With Collaborate Board, teachers can host classroom discussions with students using an interactive board to share ideas in real-time.

6. Self-assessment

It is common practice in Primary and Secondary schools for students to assess themselves and evaluate their own confidence levels. This is usually achieved through a traffic light system that children are encouraged to draw in their workbooks. Red indicates a poor confidence level, amber indicates a fair understanding and green indicates a very good understanding of any given learning topic.

Nearpod contains the option of inserting a ‘Poll’. In this situation, students’ opinions are questioned. This makes the ‘Polling’ tool a perfect feature to use when ‘traffic lighting’ in the classroom. The information is then saved in the aforementioned reports!

7. Modeling

The app also has a feature called ‘Draw It’ that can be built into your presentations. This beams an interactive whiteboard to the students’ devices. The teacher’s device will display all of the students’ ‘drawings’ and the teacher can then ‘share’ individual whiteboards with the entire class. Hitting share will cause the chosen ‘drawing’ to appear on every device. This enables teachers to share good work and model good progressions.

8. Open-ended tasks

Nearpod in the classroom allows for creative flexibility. The ‘Open-Ended Questions’ feature allows the teacher to pose a question or set up a scenario for the students to respond to. With this tool, you can facilitate creative writing tasks. As a result, the advantage of using something like Nearpod for this kind of activity is that the ‘Open-Ended’ answers are then automatically logged in the reports.

9. Setting homework

All of the above examples revolve around the idea of using Nearpod in a Live session, but students can also engage on their own time. You can provide a Student-Paced code and they can access the Nearpod lesson at home, or anywhere with an internet connection.

10. Sharing and using pre-made resources

One way of using Nearpod involves almost no work at all. Once you log on, tap on the ‘Nearpod Library’ button on the left side and it will take you to a library of pre-made Nearpod lessons. You can find interactive presentations on almost anything for K-12 made by reliable subject experts. Near down your search by using the filters on the left side, typing into the search for, or browsing around our featured content. You can search by lesson type, standards, subjects, grade levels, and keywords.

Get started using Nearpod

The customizable nature of the app means that it can be applied to any age range and teaching context. It saves you time with real-time formative assessment and session reports and helps build a connected culture in and outside of the classroom.

New to Nearpod? Sign up for free below to create your own interactive lessons and access engaging standards-aligned resources!

Interested in downloading a PDF version of this resource? Download to access at any time and share with colleagues!

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Nearpod Team

Nearpod’s award-winning platform is used by thousands of schools around the globe, transforming classroom engagement.

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The post 10 ways to use Nearpod in the classroom appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

Nearpod’s lesson library is the perfect solution for those teachers who feel nervous about learning new tech but are excited to see the benefits of our interactive lesson platform. Here are three quick tips to get started using Nearpod’s pre-made standards-aligned K-12 content.

New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for a free Nearpod account below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

3 tips for using Nearpod’s lesson library

1. Use a pre-made lesson from the lesson library

Nearpod’s growing lesson library includes 22,000+ K-12 standards-aligned lessons that provide teachers with the additional content they need to fill in curriculum gaps and make lessons interactive.

Teachers no longer need to search for supplemental content and find ways to make worksheets and downloadable files more engaging. With Nearpod, teachers get all the benefits of pre-made standards-aligned content, built right into an interactive platform. Nearpod has interactive activities for students to show what they know and engaging media embedded right into lessons.

One of the best ways to jump into using Nearpod is to experience it for yourself first, and a pre-made lesson is a great way to save time creating a lesson on your own. Focus on finding standards-aligned content through our standards filters which include standard or state, subject, grade, and strand. You can also filter and search lessons by keywords, sources, and partners. When you’re ready, launch the lesson and watch how it impacts student engagement in your classroom. During the lesson, you can also get real-time insights into student morning.

After your lesson, head to your reports to find post-session reports you can share with other colleagues via email, or download as PDF and CSV files for your grading and records. Through these reports, teachers can print and share data on how the entire class did on a lesson, or create reports on individual students.

2. Customize an existing lesson

We know teachers love to take their supplemental content to the next level. When you’re feeling ready to create some content of your own in Nearpod, an easy way to save time is to customize a pre-made lesson with your own resources or with interactive activities like Draw It, Matching Pairs, Time to Climb, and more.

Find a pre-made lesson you love and customize it in three different ways:

• After you’ve found a lesson you’re interested in using, go through the slides and activities and cull them to focus on just what you need for your classroom and students. For example, you can change the wording of formative assessment questions or math problems to be a perfect fit for what you need from your content resources in the classroom.
• After you’ve perfected your lesson to present the content exactly how you want, you can add in existing PowerPoints, PDFs, or other resources you love into a lesson.
• Finally, teachers can add quick checks for understanding using Nearpod’s activity banks. These standards-aligned activities are the perfect way to customize a lesson. Nearpod’s activity banks help create engaging and interactive lessons while saving time.

3. Create your own lesson and keep it in your library for the future

Many teachers have developed content resources to support their lessons. Use the pre-made content on Nearpod’s lesson library as a guide to create your own. Don’t recreate the wheel and use what you already have as inspiration. Teachers can upload the resources they already have into Nearpod to create interactive lessons and then organize them into folders for future use.

Whether you have worksheets you’d like to digitize, PowerPoints you’d like to make interactive, videos, PDFs, slides, or web content from other online resources, Nearpod can combine them into one engaging and interactive learning experience.

When you combine the resources you already have with Nearpod’s interactive formative assessment types and engaging media, you turbocharge your content.

Start exploring Nearpod’s lessons

Discover a plethora of free quality lessons and teaching resources available for educators to utilize and enhance their classroom experience. Whether you’re new to Nearpod or looking to enhance your lessons, these three tips provide a quick start to leveraging its interactive platform effectively. Join the Nearpod community today to access a wealth of standards-aligned content and transform your classroom experience.

New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for a free Nearpod account below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Nearpod Team

Nearpod’s award-winning platform is used by thousands of schools around the globe, transforming classroom engagement.

nearpod.com/

The post 3 Tips for using Nearpod’s lesson library appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

Student engagement refers to when students actively participate, contribute, question, personalize, and take ownership of their learning. There are usually some telltale hints, such as hands waving in the air, students jumping in their seats, and eyes literally sparkling. Student engagement strategies make a teacher’s job easier and fulfill their goal of developing students into lifelong learners.

Classrooms have changed and will continue to change as times evolve. Methodologies and pedagogies should shift as new philosophies, research, and technology come into play. Gone are the days of a “sage on a stage” preaching to rows of children.

Nearpod’s instructional platform supports both teachers and students in individualizing the learning process so growth and progress are optimized over time. Explore strategies to increase student engagement in your classroom with Nearpod’s support.

New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for a free Nearpod account below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

6 Strategies to elevate student engagement in the classroom

1. Leverage real-time insights

Formative assessment is the process through which teachers gather real-time feedback and evidence of learning to guide the next steps of their instruction. For instance, let’s say a teacher delivers a math lesson on finding the lowest common denominator. During a quick check for understanding, only half the class can accurately answer a question and correctly find the lowest common denominator. The teacher uses that evidence and most likely reteaches the concept before moving on. Such real-time insights are key to a teacher addressing not only the learning objectives and standards but also ensuring every student’s learning needs are being met, which will support classroom student engagement.

Nearpod was designed to give teachers these powerful real-time insights! Teachers have access to in-the-moment student responses. They can use this evidence of learning to share them with the whole class, address misconceptions in the moment, and modify instruction to support learning through these student engagement strategies. The intuitive Nearpod dashboard provides quantifiable data in a visual format, making it easier for a teacher to determine the next steps with a quick glance and a bit of instructional ingenuity. And it’s not just in-the-moment data: after completing a Nearpod session, teachers can review the post-session reports to inform their data-driven instruction further.

2. Active learning

Active learning quite simply means that the child is physically and mentally engaged in the learning at hand. Teachers use all sorts of traditional and innovative engagement strategies to promote such participation. From hands on heads to think-pair-share, teachers aim to invite each student to make personal or real-world connections to their learning. Teachers want each and every student to know they have a role and a responsibility as they enter the classroom.

When schools reopened for in-person learning after the COVID shutdowns, we saw endearing social media posts of teachers welcoming kids back into the classroom actively, where the kids chose the greeting—such a simple activity can help involve kids in their learning process.

Technology can also foster active learning. When using Nearpod for active engagement strategies, students are more actively involved in their own learning, with features and interactive activities that support many of the principles James Paul Gee highlighted in his 16 Principles of Good Video Game-Based Learning. Students are challenged cognitively and socially; many of Nearpod’s activities act as springboards for meaningful in-person conversations. Nearpod encourages students to have a sense of agency and be the drivers of their own learning.

3. Focus on student motivation

In a world of constant beeps, chirps, and buzzes, it can be hard for students to avoid distractions, stay focused, and be motivated to succeed and learn. Sure, we can use extrinsic motivators to give students a carrot or a brass ring to reach for. But ideally, our tactics lead them to find the internal motivation to accomplish a task at hand and take the next steps without much prodding.

Nearpod’s educational game, Time to Climb, provides friendly competition to incentivize engagement. As they make progress (moving or “climbing” up the mountain), their own intrinsic motivation grows, and their confidence and enjoyment build as they learn. Teachers can create their own version of this gamified multiple-choice quiz on any topic or use one of the hundreds of pre-made Time to Climbs available in Nearpod. These student-centered games motivate students and foster classroom engagement.

4. Student voice

Often, you may hear educators talk about “student voice and choice.” Student voice is when kids are empowered to share their stories, their opinions, and their perspectives. Not only does such dialog promote community, but it helps hone children’s developing sense of self, independence, and individuality. To do so, teachers seek to challenge students’ high-order thinking skills, like evaluating, problem-solving, and creating. Creativity is just one of the “4Cs” for 21st-century education: Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, and Creativity (Battelle for Kids). Regardless of age, all children need to hold on to their sense of wonder, feed their bubbling curiosity, and bolster their questioning attitude. In doing so, they refine their voices to continue contributing and engaging in the classroom.

Using Nearpod strategies for student engagement encourages all kids to employ high-order thinking skills, especially through interactive activities like Draw It and Collaborate Board. With Draw It, students use a drawing assessment tool to explore new concepts through visually rich approach and hands-on student engagement activities. And as a picture says a thousand words, they also can express themselves creatively in yet another manner. The Collaborate Board invites all students to the virtual table to exchange ideas. Students write their thoughts and ideas into a virtual bulletin board using text or rich media for everyone to see. This activity promotes the best of peer-to-peer learning as well.

5. Student choice

Now, onto the second part of that phrase: student choice. As part of their burgeoning independence, students are more actively engaged in their learning environment when they have a choice in what they are learning, how they are learning, and when they are learning. Such successful child-led learning opportunities help students develop in a safe environment. Student engagement will be at an all-time high as they explore, interact, inquire, and progress toward mastery. Maria Montessori wrote about the importance of this sense of agency and ownership in the 1800s.

The greatest sign of success for a teacher … is to be able to say, ‘The children are now working as if I did not exist

Maria Montessori

Nearpod’s thousands of pre-lessons allow teachers to tap into students’ various interests, as they can share various resources with different kids. A student can take a deeper dive into a topic by embarking on a Virtual Reality (VR) Field Trip or engaging in an Interactive Video. With their eyes on the real-time data, teachers can support students to work independently in the moment and progress at their own pace. This academic and emotional engagement will encourage them to be proud of their independent growth resulting in student success.

6. Differentiation

As part of a teacher’s quest to personalize and individualize instruction for students, they often showcase their artistry by modifying a lesson to meet the various needs within their classroom. Teachers can differentiate instruction through lessons by modifying the steps, amassing a variety of supporting resources, and appealing to various learning styles. Such differentiation will help increase student engagement by hooking their interest and appealing to their strengths in various ways.

With Nearpod, teachers can distribute a variety of resources to various children throughout a lesson. They can encourage students to personalize their Student Notes to help reframe a concept or further illustrate it. Teachers can also take an existing lesson, duplicate it, and modify it in several different ways, thus ending up with a variety of student engagement activities or lessons that take different paths to achieving similar learning objectives. Use Student-Paced mode to have students do independent or small group work.

Boost student engagement with Nearpod

Capturing students’ attention is paramount across all types of engagement strategies. Educators forever grapple with how to increase student engagement—it can be a daily pursuit if not a challenge. Those beloved teachers are often revered because they took the time to invest in students individually. They showed respect to their students by figuring out how to address their learning needs best and make them engaged in their own learning. A teacher’s craft truly is part science and part artistry!

New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for a free Nearpod account below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Darri Stephens

Darri Stephens is a dedicated LX (learning experience) designer, passionate about creating quality content and programs for kids, families, and educators. With MAs in Education from both Harvard and Stanford, and work experience at best-in-class ed tech organizations including Wonder Workshop, Nickelodeon, and Common Sense Education, she is steeped in the design thinking process and committed to agile and iterative project management, which has resulted in multi-award-winning programs and products.

The post 6 Strategies to elevate student engagement in the classroom appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

What is the SAMR Model?

The SAMR model is a framework that educators can use to integrate technology effectively into their teaching practices. Dr. Ruben Puentedura developed it as a way to guide educators in leveraging technology to enhance student learning. SAMR stands for Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition, representing different levels of technology integration.

The acronym provides a structure for understanding how technology can be used in the classroom, ranging from simple substitution to transformative redefinition. Each level builds upon the previous one, allowing educators to gradually move towards more complex and innovative uses of technology in education.

How is the SAMR Model beneficial to educators?

The SAMR model is highly beneficial to educators, particularly in the context of educational technology. It provides a clear roadmap for integrating technology into their teaching practices in a meaningful way. By following the SAMR framework, educators move beyond using technology as a mere substitute for traditional tools and methods and instead utilize it to augment, modify, or even redefine the learning experience for their students.

One popular education technology platform that aligns well with the SAMR model is Nearpod. Nearpod is an instructional platform teachers can use to create engaging and interactive lessons, quizzes, and even virtual reality experiences. By leveraging the SAMR model with tools like Nearpod, educators can unlock the full potential of technology in the classroom.

Foster a love of learning in every student with Nearpod. Teachers can sign up for free below to access and create interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Practical SAMR model examples to integrate educational technology

Substitution

At the substitution stage of the SAMR model, technological tools are used as a direct substitute for traditional tools or processes without any significant functional change. For example, students might type their responses using a word-processing application instead of using paper and pencil for a writing assignment. This substitution increases efficiency and ease of editing but doesn’t fundamentally alter the writing task.

Nearpod can be integrated at the substitution stage by replacing physical handouts or printed worksheets with digital versions. Teachers upload PDFs or documents to Nearpod, which students access through their devices. This substitution saves time, reduces paper usage, and provides a convenient way for students to access learning materials.

Augmentation

Moving up the SAMR ladder, the augmentation stage involves using technology to enhance the learning process beyond what was possible with traditional methods. For instance, instead of simply typing their responses, students could use a word-processing application that offers spelling and grammar checking, providing immediate feedback on their writing. This augmentation adds value to the writing task by improving the quality of student work.

Teachers can also use technology to access real-time insights into student learning by assigning digital assessments within presentations. Nearpod supports augmentation by offering interactive activities and assessments like Polls, Quizzes, Time to Climb, and more. Teachers create interactive presentations with embedded questions and multimedia elements, making lesson plans more engaging and interactive. Students then actively participate in learning by responding to questions, sharing their thoughts, and receiving real-time feedback.

Modification

In the modification stage, technology acts as a significant redesign of learning tasks and activities. It goes beyond enhancement and starts to transform the learning experience. For example, instead of writing a traditional research paper, students might collaborate on a shared document, conduct online interviews, and incorporate multimedia elements such as images, videos, and hyperlinks. This modification enables a more collaborative and multimedia-rich approach to research.

Nearpod facilitates modification by enabling collaborative activities and dynamic discussions among students. Interactive activities and features, such as Collaborate Board, Time to Climb, Draw It, and more, promote group work, encourage peer feedback, and foster collaborative problem-solving. Students actively engage with their peers in real-time, enhancing their communication and critical-thinking skills.

Redefinition

The highest level of the SAMR model is redefinition, where technology enables the creation of new learning experiences that were previously inconceivable. In this stage, technology completely transforms the task and opens up new possibilities for learning. For instance, instead of writing a traditional research paper, students might create a multimedia presentation, incorporating audio, video, and interactive elements to convey their ideas in a more engaging and creative way.

Educators can apply the redefinition to Nearpod using its collaborative features, such as Collaborate Board, Immersive Reader, and more, to create engaging and interactive learning experiences in their existing projects. Nearpod’s Virtual Reality (VR) Field Trips and 3D models take students on virtual field trips and simulations, providing immersive and hands-on learning opportunities through real-world examples. By integrating these features, teachers redefine traditional classroom practices, foster collaboration, and enable students to explore content in innovative ways.

Students redefine how they express their learning by creating interactive presentations that go beyond traditional slideshows. Dynamic and interactive lessons showcase students’ creativity, collaboration, and communication skills as they incorporate videos, audio recordings, interactive quizzes, and VR Field Trips. Tools like Nearpod cultivate students’ confidence in sharing their work with peers and teachers, preparing them for future platforms and interactions. These projects can be shared within the classroom and beyond, so students can showcase their abilities and build essential skills for the digital era.

Start integrating Nearpod through SAMR

In conclusion, the SAMR model provides a valuable framework for educators to integrate technology into their teaching and learning practices effectively. Tools like Nearpod enhance student learning, promote collaboration, and create transformative educational experiences by progressing through the stages of substitution, augmentation, modification, and redefinition. As technology continues to evolve, the SAMR model remains a guiding principle for educators who want to leverage its full potential.

Foster a love of learning in every student with Nearpod. Teachers can sign up for free below to access and create interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Nearpod Team

Nearpod’s award-winning platform is used by thousands of schools around the globe, transforming classroom engagement.

nearpod.com/

The post Practical SAMR model examples to integrate education technology appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

Why are games in the classroom important?

Using educational games for kids helps them learn additional skills beyond the academic concepts that are being taught. They will also build 21st-century social skills, and problem-solving skills, and build community all while learning subject material.

Games are most effective when well-planned and integrated into learning objectives. With Time to Climb, you can include an existing Nearpod lesson or use it as a quick stand-alone activity.

New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for free below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

How to use educational games in the classroom

1. Use gamified learning consistently to increase students’ skills

In the classroom, an educator hopes to teach the math, reading, writing, or science skills a student will need to succeed in the world. However, students need more skill sets beyond academics. They need to have social and emotional learning skills such as problem-solving, collaboration, behavior management, responsibility, social skills, and more to excel in the real world. These life skills get carried beyond the classroom into everyday life and can be used in nearly every setting.

When teachers bring gamification into the classroom, they provide students with the opportunity to practice these life skills as well as to see them in action from their peers. Whether students are narrowing down answer choices on a question, using logic to select the correct answer, or practicing decision-making opportunities, they’re working on those 21st-century skills.

In Nearpod’s Time to Climb, students compete to see who gets to the top of a mountain first by answering a series of questions both correctly and quickly to increase their own points to become one of the top three winners of the game.

This gamified quiz helps increase memory and allows students to become responsible for their own learning while developing social skills along the way. With the ability to select multiple correct answers and use images or text, teachers can customize a gamified quiz for their needs.

Explore our premade activities with interactive games that cover topics such as math, science, social studies, writing skills, and more.

2. Create engaging learning experiences

Educational games in the classroom can bring high levels of engagement to students during the learning process. When students engage in a game, their motivation increases, leading to better participation and the ability to form connections and positive memories of learning. Student outcomes and achievement increase when students are engaged and motivated to learn.

On Time to Climb, students can select their own characters and compete with them. The competitive nature and playful themes bring even more excitement and engagement to your classroom. Teachers can also select themes such as a beach, carnival, underwater, space, or mountain. Our Valentine’s, Halloween, and Winter Holiday themes will be accessible during these holiday time frames.

3. Keep students on track with learning

Formative assessment as a daily practice in the classroom has many benefits. It can help teachers better understand where their students are on the learning continuum, collect feedback on how a lesson could be more effective, and know exactly which students may need additional support. Using learning games for kids is an effective way to assess students before, during, or after a lesson.

Time to Climb allows teachers to pause between questions and access new data as they teach. When a question is live, the teacher can collect instant data on students’ understanding of the concept. If pausing between questions is turned on, the teacher will have an opportunity to reflect quickly on that data to address any misconceptions in real time during the game. Teachers can ensure that when a student gets a question incorrect, they have an opportunity to strategize and try again.

Start using games in the classroom!

When Time to Climb is played in a live classroom environment, students of all grade levels laugh and enjoy the integrated community-building elements of their learning experience! This educational game is built with an instructional design that keeps students engaged in any learning environment. Teachers can create a gamified quiz as a Student-Paced activity or launch one in the classroom for Live Participation.

Gamified quizzes have always been a favorite for teachers and students. Some teachers use them as a pre-assessment to get a deeper understanding of what students already know before introducing a new concept. Others use them as an engaging formative assessment in the middle of a lesson, final assessment, exit ticket, or opportunity to review key concepts for test prep. No matter how you assess, a gamified assessment can help you transform quizzes into engaging instructional moments in the classroom to help students learn.

New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for free below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Nearpod Team

Nearpod’s award-winning platform is used by thousands of schools around the globe, transforming classroom engagement.

nearpod.com/

The post How to use educational games in the classroom appeared first on Nearpod Blog.