Evaluating

Emerging
Technologies
Sarah Miller
7445: Multimedia and Web Design
July 2016
Nearpod in Education
Nearpod is a cloud-based content tool that allows teachers to create an
interactive presentation with a few clicks! Teachers can control the pace
of the interactive presentation or allow students to move at their own
pace. Below is a video from vimeo.com to get to know Nearpod.
Shared Vision
Nearpod supports Brantley County Middle School’s vision to “REACH every
student, every day” because of the many different capabilities it has to
offer. Among others, this tool allows teachers to quickly and easily use
formative assessments in the middle of their presentations, give immediate
feedback, and allows students to view how they ranked within the class
anonymously.

Student-directed pacing is crucial to personalized learning, a direction our

school is heading, and is made possible through Nearpod. Nearpod is
compatible with Google Classroom, a tool our school has been
implementing to achieve personalized learning.
Strategic Planning & Diffusion of Innovations
While there are several video tutorials available for creating Nearpod
presentations, I would like to propose integrating a “Nearpod How-To”
class (approx. one hour) in one of our Instructional Technology Professional
Development sessions. Nearpod offers self-paced webinars to support
teachers & administrators in creating & implementing lessons. Since I
conduct these sessions, I would be available to create this “how-to” session
and provide additional support through our tutorials website.

Because Nearpod is user-friendly and our faculty is familiar with Google

Classroom, the learning curve would be minimal.
Funding
Nearpod has several levels: silver, gold, school, and district. The basic level,
silver, is free. This, however, does not include the most valuable features of
Nearpod (ability to embed video, web content, and audio; student-
pacing setting). The Gold level allows for the aforementioned features for
only $10 per month.

Teachers interested could “apply” for the use of school funds to pay for
their subscription, or could pay using a fundraiser of their own. We, Science
Department, host our Beauty Pageant to fundraise for these types of
products. Teachers could also set up a Donorschoose.org account.
Content & Technology Standards
Because Nearpod is a cloud-based tool, teachers can create customized
lessons that are aligned to their standards. There is a bank of lessons that
have already been created and some are even aligned to Common Core
Math & ELA standards.

The bank of lessons is organized by grade level and content, but

remember, teachers can create their own lesson according to their
standard of focus.
Research-Based Learner-Centered Strategies
Learner-Centered Strategies Nearpod can facilitate are: engagement, student
reflection of learning, and student control over learning.

Since Nearpod allows teachers to create lessons with a variety of media, lessons can
be tailored to different interests. From personal experience, students are typically
more engaged with digital assignments than traditional paper-pencil assignments.

Nearpod lessons can incorporate a variety of formative assessments, giving an

opportunity for students to reflect on their learning during their learning, rather than
after their learning. While teachers can control the pace of the lessons, there is also
a “student-pace” setting. This setting allows students to complete lessons at their
own pace, giving them control. This control can also cater to the concept of
competency-based learning, depending on ways in which the teacher sets up
his/her Nearpod lessons.
Authentic Learning
Nearpod can be customized to addressed authentic learning by
prompting students to take on an “adult” or “professional” role in their
tasks. Teachers can design their lesson in a way that will direct students to
participate in guided research and create a product that can be
published.

Also, teachers can add a poll to their lesson. This can be used to vote on
different topics to explore, adding in a meaningful component.
Furthermore, Nearpod is compatible with Google Classroom, which will
allow for collaboration between students.
Higher-Order Thinking Skills
Higher-Order thinking skills can be reached through Nearpod. Teachers
can develop a scaffolding lesson through Nearpod that can seamlessly
lead into a project in which student evaluate or create.
Differentiation
Nearpod supports differentiation through its “Student-Paced” setting. This
setting can support competency-based learning. Teachers can insert
formative assessments into their lessons, and can direct students to
review/remediate based on their scores.

Since Nearpod requires a log-in code for presentation, teachers could

potentially create two different sets of lessons (higher and lower) to cover
the same topic. Maybe the teacher has the same notes, videos, etc., but
different types of formative assessments. Then, the teacher could assign
the codes accordingly.
Instructional Design and Collaborative Learning
If used in the “live stream” setting, students can interact with the teacher’s
presentation in real-time. This is interaction and collaboration is especially
beneficial in a middle school setting.

Allowing students to answer short quizzes, create a drawing, or answer a

poll during a presentation can provide great discussion starters for
collaboration. Further, students can receive immediate feedback during
their learning.
Equipment/Software & Technical Support
• Wifi or internet connection is required for Nearpod

• Nearpod is used in a 1:1 technology ratio classroom. Students either need a

computer lab or a device of their own (Chromebooks, tablets, phones, or laptops
are sufficient).

• Nearpod can be accessed through the web or through its free App.

• Depending on the lesson, headphones or microphones may be required. These

are optional based on the lesson assigned by the teacher

• The Nearpod website provides technical training and support for its users.
Limitations
According to graphite.org’s teacher reviews, there are some limitations to
Nearpod in the classroom. The space is very limited in the free version
(silver), and the high-quality, pre-made lessons must be paid for.

To overcome this limitation, users will have to upgrade to the “Gold” level
of Nearpod.

(Amy K. Teacher Reviews For Nearpod 2016)

Cost
As mentioned before, Nearpod offers a free version, but the most practical
version for teachers is the “Gold” level. The Gold level is $120 per year, per
teacher.

Please view the following slides for a breakdown of cost and features.
Cost Continued
Cost Continued
Research
According an independent study by Dr. Krahenbul, Assistant Professor of
Social Studies Pedagogy at Dakota State University, Nearpod proves to
effectively reduce the distractibility of students. In his study, students
following a college lesson with Nearpod scored an average of 58% on a
posttest, while students following the lesson with distractibility (without
Nearpod) scored 38% on the same posttest (Kovalskys 2015).

Not only does Nearpod allow teachers to give students access to different
forms of media during a lesson, but it also reduces the distractibility of their
students.

Click here for a link to more case studies done regarding Nearpod.
Communication
Nearpod promotes communication between students while they
participate in the lessons and interact with the teacher.

With Nearpod’s virtual field trip capabilities, students and teachers are also
able to collaborate with experts around the world.

Check out this third-grade class who spoke with Israeli engineers about
building a space craft!
Safe, Healthy, Legal & Ethical Issues
Because Nearpod does not require a student login, students’ identities are
protected. Nearpod is a cloud-based program, so the teacher’s
information, lessons, scores, etc. are stored in a remote cloud storage
system, which is outsourced by Amazon Web Services (Richardson).

Nearpod also offers free pre-made Digital Citizenship lessons, which can
help inform students to behave responsibly and possibly help with a
school’s e-rate funding qualification.
Diversity
With Nearpod’s code-entry to access lessons, teachers can assign different
lessons to students based on their needs (language barriers, cultural
interests, various disabilities or deficits, etc.). Teachers can modify or
differentiate presentations and easily assign to students discretely.

Another feature to accommodate diverse needs is the “Student-Paced”

setting. Teachers can effectively accommodate students’ different needs
by allowing students to progress at their own pace.
Professional Learning
Teachers accustomed to Google Classroom should have a minimal
learning curve. Nearpod is easy to use and has similar symbols when
adding content.

There are multiple free tutorials on the Nearpod website and YouTube for
teachers to familiarize themselves with the site.

However, if this is not sufficient, Nearpod offers webinars and professional

development opportunities to those with a subscription (some are free,
some are paid).
Continuous Learning
Because there is such a huge amount of features to add in a lesson,
teachers will be able to experience virtual learning, blended classrooms,
and potentially flipped classrooms in a user-friendly way.

These features are relatively new to most teachers, so Nearpod is a great

way to scaffold teachers into a blended setting or to virtual field trips.

It is vital for us, teachers, to continue to evaluate emerging technology in

order to prepare our students for our tech-savvy world. If we expect
students to be prepared, we have to keep up!
Reflection
Evaluating this emerging technology helped me to avoid my usual
impulsivity. Usually when I find fun technology, I jump right in. While this
works out sometimes, it can also lead to unfavorable outcomes.

I will use this strategy of analyzing emerging technology more closely,

especially before I recommend it to other teachers. Because I can be
impulsive when choosing technology, I tend to lack research on its
limitations, research of effectiveness, and legal/ethical issues (within
reason). This project helped me realize the benefit of slowing down to
really look at the benefits and deficits of the emerging technology in
question.
Resources
A.K. (n.d.). Teacher Reviews For Nearpod. Retrieved July 03, 2016, from
https://www.graphite.org/app/nearpod/teacher-reviews

Kovalskys, G. (2015). Limit Distraction, Improve Performance with Nearpod.

Retrieved July 8, 2016, from https://nearpod.com/page/pdf/research-
dakota-web.pdf

Richarson, R. (n.d.). Nearpod Tech Review. Retrieved July 08, 2016, from
http://robspetechblog.weebly.com/nearpod-tech-review.html