MOBILE

EDUCATIONAL MULTIMEDIA GUIDE: MOBILE

            There are many technology tool apps that can be used by both teachers and students. There are apps such as Plickers where students use cards to reply to questions or problems while the teacher uses their phone to view the results. Then there are apps that both teachers and students can use to participate in lessons or formative assessments using smart phones or laptops.   

One tool that engages both the teacher and student is Nearpod. Nearpod has a free version, but the upgraded version has many more features that make the cost worthwhile  https://nearpod.com/. There is also a comprehensive review of Nearpod at the Common Sense Education website (Common Sense Education, 2017) and Nearpod also has their own YouTube channel with many helpful videos https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvFJLTw-LJWne-fy5XvTn2w

            The primary educational benefit of Nearpod is engagement and data collection. When used in presentation mode, the teacher controls the pace of the lesson and can view the participation of the students. Using the different offering in Nearpod enables teachers to create lessons that appeal to all students and their different learning styles. One way that lessons can be differentiated would be to copy a lesson and then modify the lesson as needed. Then the students could be given the code to their lesson and work independently or in small groups on their lesson without all students realizing that they have different lessons based on needed modifications and /or accommodations. The types of assessments in Nearpod would be categorized as high-level formative assessment because of the many types of responses available (Mc Milan, 2018). Nearpod also meets the ISTE Student Standards for empowered learner (International Society for Technology in Education, 2016). Nearpod has many different options that, if inserted, into the presentation students can use to demonstrate their learning. For example, there is a discussion board where students can post sticky notes with questions or answers, free response options, and even a drawing tool. Understanding how a group of students can demonstrate their learning and then using the appropriate Nearpod tools enables all teachers to provide effective and meaningful lessons for their students.

Another positive aspect of Nearpod is when students are absent, they can obtain their class code when the teacher inserts the code into the One Note Class Notebook and they can participate at home. If a student is not able to participate live, then the code can be sent to the student, so they can go over the lesson on their own. This is one reason why Nearpod is ideal for a flipped classroom too. Nearpod could also be used to replace staff meetings where the principal reads off the agenda and there is no participation required.

            Nearpod offers many free presentations and low-cost presentations. The virtual reality lessons are particularly engaging for students. All the lessons can be edited and modified to fit the needs of a class. There are many options that can be inserted into existing or new lessons, such as Sways, videos, VR Field Trips, discussion boards, formative assessment tools like free-response questions or even responses that require students to draw their response. Creating presentations is easiest when inserting a PowerPoint and modifying the slides in Nearpod by inserting their custom choices but is very time consuming. Once a lesson is created, it can be copied and customized for each class and can also be shared with colleagues.