Nearpod has some great new updates:
- interactive videos (choose from videos already in the Nearpod library, find a video on YouTube or upload one from your computer); add in some questions and now your video has built in check points
- Microsoft Immersive Reader (ability to read and interact with raw text on the slides)
- partnerships (it seems there are new partners every day bringing even more engaging content to Nearpod); my new favorite is Calm, where you can build in some much needed mindfulness activities as we continue this journey of virtual learning
I knew about Immersive Reader as it is popping up in many technology tools now, but the session by Angie Bakke showed me all of the amazing things it can do!
- it reads raw text (this means it needs to be words typed on the slide)
- it highlights the words as it reads them
- you can change the pace of how it is read
- select only one line of text highlighted at a time
- select parts of speech (for example, you can choose for all adjectives to be labeled in blue)
- translate words into over 60 languages!
In Julie Cobb's session and Tiffanye McCoy-Thomas's session, I learned about some ways to take Nearpod to the next level in my instruction.
- start your lesson with some type of drawing slide (for example, draw a face of how you are feeling). This gives students something to do as you are waiting for others to join your lesson
- make the objective slide interactive (asks students to highlights important words that they are unfamiliar with). This can lead to a great discussion about academic vocabulary that may show up during the lesson
- if you have an website or some resource you want students to use while answering some of the interactive question types, add it with the directions at the top of the slide
One of the struggles that I have been having with Nearpod in my whole group sessions, is that some of my students are able to work on their own to complete the activity after the mini-lesson, while some students need to continue working together as a whole group. I wish there was an ability to seamlessly switch from instructor-paced to student-paced in the middle of the lesson. However, Phil Wagener shared a great work around for this in his session.
I created a new Nearpod lesson with the independent activity. I set it up as student-paced and then copied the link. I then created a Google Presentation slide with 2 options. Stay and work on the activity together with the teacher (this option requires the students to just stay where they are) or they can choose to work on the activity by themselves. If students want to choose this option then they click on the image, which takes them to the student-paced version. In my original Nearpod lesson that I used for my mini-lesson, I created a Web Content slide. The link I used goes directly to the Google Presentation slide that I just mentioned. This allows students to easily click on the Nearpod link without having to go back to Google Classroom or enter a new code, etc.
I love learning new things about the technology I already know and am using. I hope that Nearpod continues to grow and adapt to our ever-changing needs, as well as, continue to host these amazing, relevant, and FREE professional development opportunities for teachers.
If you want to check out one of my interactive Nearpod lessons click this link:
https://share.nearpod.com/Wq8O9460xbb
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