New to Nearpod? Learn how we help you drive student achievement through interactive instructional experiences.

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.

What’s new with Nearpod: Back to School 2024

Enhanced Quiz Experience

What is this update?

Our new Quiz experience enables teachers to combine formative questions and activities into a single assessment, simplifying the process of evaluating and tracking student learning. This update streamlines quiz creation, activities, and results, making formative assessments more efficient and effective. Create and combine gradable formative assessments and activities into a cohesive quiz experience to gain greater insights into learning with real-time student responses and aggregate performance data.

How does it work?

Combine any of our formative assessments or activities into a quiz, set a timer, and choose the delivery mode. Launch a Quiz on its own or add to a lesson. See how each student performed on every question and receive an overall score for the quiz. Real-time responses and aggregate performance data provide insights into student proficiency, allowing teachers to make in-the-moment instructional decisions. This also enhances the student experience by allowing them to navigate assessments more easily and benefit from timed questions that help guide pacing.

How can this be used?

• Prepare for high-stakes exams: Replicate an online exam experience and prepare students in a low-stakes environment by combining multiple types of questions into one assessment to evaluate various skills and knowledge areas.
• Data-driven instruction: Use real-time and performance data to inform and adjust your teaching strategies to each student’s needs.

Admin Usage Reports

What is this update?

Admin usage reports provide actionable data to support strategic implementation and decision-making. This update is essential for administrators to understand and optimize Nearpod usage across their schools and districts.

How does it work?

Admin usage reports provide data on lessons launched, student joins, and other usage metrics broken down by activity type and instructional delivery method. These insights allow school and district leaders to make strategic decisions regarding implementation and professional development by seeing how teachers and students use Nearpod. This information is only available to individuals set up as admins on a school or district Nearpod license.

How can it be used?

• Monitor implementation goals: Your Nearpod customer success manager works with you to establish what successful implementation looks like in your school or district. Use the admin usage reports to get real-time performance against those benchmarks.
• Identify Nearpod champions: See and celebrate teachers using Nearpod the most and who becomes a Nearpod Certified Educator. Give them the opportunity to work with educators new to Nearpod to share their expertise and streamline implementation.   
• Analyze instruction: Understand HOW teachers use Nearpod in the classroom and what students use the most.

Lesson Co-Editing and View Permissions

What is this update?

The new co-editing feature allows teachers, curriculum coaches, and content specialists to effortlessly share lessons and set editing permissions for colleagues within their school or district. This feature enhances collaborative planning and allows for lesson consistency across grade levels and subject areas.

No more resharing Nearpod lessons after every edit. The new co-editing feature allows teachers, curriculum coaches, and content specialists the ability to effortlessly share lessons and set editing permissions for colleagues within their school or district. Easily build Nearpod lessons as a team or maintain consistency across all groups with new “Can Edit” and “Can View” sharing options. This feature enhances collaborative planning and allows for lesson consistency across grade levels and subject areas.

How does it work?

Share a lesson with your colleagues via email or direct link and set appropriate permissions. Changes to a lesson are made for everyone with access! Lesson permission options: 

• Editor: Make edits on a shared lesson.
• Viewer: View updates made on a shared lesson.

**Note: Available for school and district licenses only. Only one user can make edits to a lesson at a time.

How can this be used?

• Curriculum consistency: Establish a common pedagogy for delivering lessons and ensuring quality instruction across different classes. This approach allows for the creation of common assessments to measure student understanding and progress consistently, while standardizing instructional methods and materials.
• ​​Collaborative planning: Work together to create and refine lessons, sharing insights and expertise.
• Standards alignment: Create and share lessons that align with state and national standards and district goals. Co-editing helps in maintaining consistency across all classes within a department.

Expanded Grading Options for Student Activities

What is this update?

This update introduces new grading options for various student activities, enhancing the feedback loop between teachers and students and providing teachers with more real-time, data-driven insights to drive effective instruction and improve student outcomes.

How does it work?

To build upon our Live Teacher Feedback feature, educators can now manually grade Draw It, Open-Ended Questions, Math Manipulatives, and Drag and Drop (auto-grading for Drag & Drop coming fall 2024). This enhancement offers deeper insights into student performance, allowing teachers to provide targeted support and feedback. By receiving timely and specific feedback, students are empowered to take actionable steps in their learning journey, creating a continuous improvement loop that benefits everyone involved.

How can this be used?

• Detailed feedback: Provide specific feedback on open-ended and interactive activities to guide student achievement.
• Efficient grading: Utilize auto-grading for quicker assessments and better insight into student understanding.

Student Reactions

What is this update?

Student reactions will allow teachers to receive real-time student feedback on a lesson, providing them with an at-a-glance view of student understanding. This will allow teachers to see which students feel confident with the material, which have questions, and which feel they need additional support. These actionable insights will empower teachers to be dynamic in their instructional approach and will allow for increased student voice in a Nearpod lesson.

How does it work?

Students can use reactions to ask for help or respond to quick checks, fostering real-time engagement and communication during lessons. This feature empowers students to take an active role in their learning, reflecting our mission to keep teachers and students connected.

How can this be used?

• Interactive sessions: Increase student participation and engagement during live lessons with immediate reactions.
• Formative feedback: Quickly gauge student understanding and address questions as they arise.

Improved Library Organization and Search Capabilities

What is this update?

Access the content you need when you need it with our enhanced Library and search features in the Lesson Library. 

How does it work?

• Add multiple lessons at once to a school or district library–including folders
• Customize school or district search results for the most relevant and aligned content
• Organize, copy, duplicate, and delete in bulk

How can this be used?

• Content management: Easily manage large volumes of content by organizing lessons into folders and bulk editing.
• Customized searches: Tailor search results to find the most relevant and aligned content quickly.

Updates to Nearpod Programs

Nearpod Program updates bring new and enhanced content across various subjects, aligning with updated standards and improving instructional quality. Allowing educators to deliver high-quality, standards-aligned content they can trust.

Nearpod 21st Century Readiness

We’re excited to answer one of our most popular requests by making standards alignment visible and available in-product for Keyboarding, Digital Citizenship & Literacy, Essential Technology Skills, and Coding & Computational Thinking subject areas. In addition, we’re updating and expanding lessons and activities to increase our coverage of newly implemented state standards and initiatives such as ISTE, CSTA, Texas TA-TEKS, and New York.

Nearpod EL

Academic Language Skills is a brand new series coming to Nearpod EL. This series helps educators merge WIDA standards for academic English skills into content area instruction with over 300 activities across K-8 math and 6-12 social studies topics.

Nearpod Social Studies

We launched Nearpod Social Studies last year, and our curriculum teams haven’t stopped publishing content. For 2024, we’re focused on our 6-12 content, increasing our standards coverage across several states.

Nearpod Math

Like our social studies team, the Nearpod Math curriculum team hasn’t stopped creating new content, with all new lessons, activities, and centers focused on teaching math skills.

Log in to explore the updates!

Nearpod’s new updates for the 2024-2025 school year are designed to create an even more dynamic and effective learning environment. By integrating new tools, enhancing existing features, and expanding our content library, we continue to support teachers in delivering engaging and impactful instruction. Stay tuned for more exciting developments as we strive to make every teaching and learning experience the best it can be and ultimately improve student outcomes for all.

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.

Bridget McKnight

Bridget McKnight is a Product Marketing Manager at Nearpod.

The post What’s new with Nearpod: Back to school 2024 appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

Don’t have a Nearpod account? Teachers can sign up for free below to access and create interactive lessons and activities mentioned in this article. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

June 21, 2024

Enhanced Quiz Experience

Our new Quiz experience enables teachers to combine formative questions and activities into a single assessment, simplifying the process of evaluating and tracking student learning.

Admin Usage Reports

Admin usage reports provide actionable data to support strategic implementation and decision-making. This update is essential for administrators to understand and optimize Nearpod usage across their schools and districts.

Lesson Co-Editing and View Permissions

The new co-editing feature allows teachers, curriculum coaches, and content specialists to effortlessly share lessons and set editing permissions for colleagues within their school or district.

Expanded Grading Options for Student Activities

This update introduces new grading options for various student activities, enhancing the feedback loop between teachers and students and providing teachers with more real-time, data-driven insights to drive effective instruction and improve student outcomes.

Student Reactions

Student reactions will allow teachers to receive real-time student feedback on a lesson, providing them with an at-a-glance view of student understanding. This will allow teachers to see which students feel confident with the material, which have questions, and which feel they need additional support.

Improved Library Organization and Search Capabilities

• Add multiple lessons at once to a school or district library–including folders
• Customize school or district search results for the most relevant and aligned content
• Organize, copy, duplicate, and delete in bulk

Updates to Nearpod Programs

• Nearpod 21st Century Readiness: Nearpod has integrated visible standards alignment and expanded its curriculum to cover new state standards and initiatives for subjects like Keyboarding, Digital Citizenship & Literacy, Essential Technology Skills, and Coding & Computational Thinking.
• Nearpod EL: Nearpod is introducing a new Academic Language Skills series with over 300 activities to help educators integrate WIDA standards for academic English into K-8 math and 6-12 social studies instruction.
• Nearpod Social Studies: Nearpod is enhancing its 6-12 social studies curriculum with increased standards coverage and new content for 2024.
• Nearpod Math: Nearpod’s Math curriculum team is continuously developing new lessons, activities, and centers to improve math skills instruction.

October 6, 2023

Teacher-to-student feedback stickers

Live Teacher Feedback STICKERS are here! This highly-requested feature enhances real-time feedback with a fun twist. Choose from various sticker designs to personalize interactions, boost student engagement, and promote success.

July 24, 2023

Teacher-to-student feedback

• Provide direct feedback on individual students’ work in drawable activities, such as Draw It, Drag & Drop, and Math Manipulatives* (math manipulatives are exclusive to the Nearpod Math Program).
• Gain access to a wealth of real-time insights and adjust your instruction on the spot to better support each student’s unique needs.

NEW Lesson Builder

• Create and build lessons with a streamlined, familiar experience 
• Quicker and easier lesson creation functionality—build, edit, and reorder slides and activities

Lesson Library search functionalities

• New search filter to easily find lessons created by specific publishers 
• New lesson counters 
• Related search term suggestions to better refine search results

Implementation of LTI 1.3

• LTI 1.3 provides an optimized learning journey that combines streamlined processes, advanced security features, and enhanced user authentication.

August 1, 2022

With the new Nearpod add-on, educators can do even more within Google Classroom:

• Seamlessly assign Nearpod lessons to their entire class or individual students
• Allow students to join Nearpod lessons without a code
• View post-session reports and assign a grad

Slide Editor and Toolbar

• Enhanced functionality, including drawing capabilities
• Drawing, rich text, math formulas, lines, and shapes on favorite activities like Draw It, Drag & Drop, and Virtual Math Manipulatives*

*Exclusive to Nearpod Math Program

Teacher Dashboard

• New slide carousel to easily navigate through lesson slides
• Numbered slides in the slide carousel (no more counting slides! Yay!)
• Ability to preview slide thumbnails before sharing with your class
• Easier access to activities, Brain Breaks**, Whiteboard, & Live Annotation

**Exclusive to Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program

Redesigned Reports

• Beautiful, modern, completely reimagined reporting interface
• Improved reporting capabilities for key activities such as Time to Climb, Draw It, Open-Ended-Question, and more
• Use new insights into the most frequently missed questions and misconception trends to drive your lessons and instruction

Enhanced Search & Enhanced Nearpod Library

• Search the Lesson Library, Programs, and My Library at once
• Predictive suggestions that appear as you type
• Search results are organized by assets type: lesson, activity, video
• Completely redesigned filtering experience

February 22, 2022

NEW Time to Climb Updates

With these new enhancements, Time to Climb options increase to bring you:

• Multiple correct answers
• Volume controls
• Pausing between questions
• All new teacher data on the dashboard

NEW Collaborate Board Updates

With these latest updates, Collaborate Board offers:

• New themes and backgrounds
• Ability to add more reference media
• New media options for students’ posts
• Ability for students to reply to posts*
• Ability for teachers to organize posts into columns*

*Available for School/District Premium Plus license

NEW Teacher Dashboard Updates

The Teacher Dashboard includes a new Menu that keeps your key teacher tools handy but out of the way, such as the option to add an activity on the fly or email your post-session report. There’s also a Presentation button that opens a student view of the Nearpod lesson in a new window.

February 10, 2022

NEW: Teacher Dashboard

Based on teacher feedback, we launched the new Teacher Dashboard to all users with improvements to toggle back and forth between what your students see and their responses to you. You’ll find all the same tools you know and love are there, but streamlined to make your classroom experience even easier! Try it now!

New Current Event Lesson

In this current events lesson, students explore historic examples of economic inflation and read about inflation in the US. Click here to preview.

New Lessons: myOn

We have added 20+ new lessons in partnership with myOn! (myOn subscription needed to access) Click here to preview.

New Lessons: Freckle

We have added 5+ new lessons in partnership with Freckle! Click here to preview.

New Higher Ed Lessons: OpenStax

We have added new science and social studies lessons from OpenStax for Higher Ed! Click here to preview.

New Drag & Drop activities in core subjects

• Science
• Social Studies
• Math
• ELA

January 28, 2022

New Nearpod Originals

We’re expanding our library of Nearpod Original Videos (check them all out here!). We’ve recently added new a new lesson on:

• Mixtures & Compounds

New Current Event Lesson

In this current events lesson, students explore the history of the Winter Olympics and read athletes’ quotes about their well-being. Click here to preview.

PBS Kids Lessons

We’ve added 43 videos on American Presidents from PBS Kids to our lesson library. Click here to preview.

ABCmouse Lessons

We’ve added 48 videos on ELA, Math, Life Skills, and Science from ABCmouse to our lesson library. Click here to preview.

January 14, 2022

New Higher Ed Lessons: OpenStax

We have new OER offerings of science and social studies lessons for OpenStax:

• American Government
• Anatomy & Physiology
• Biology
• Chemistry
• College Physics
• Psychology
• Sociology

New Drag & Drop activities in core subjects

• Science
• Social Studies
• Math
• ELA

December 30, 2021

New Nearpod Originals

We’re expanding our library of Nearpod Original Videos (check them all out here!). We’ve recently added new a new lesson on:

• The Paralympics
• Fossils
• Mixtures & Compounds

New Drag & Drop activities in core subjects

• Science
• Social Studies
• Math
• ELA

December 21, 2021

New Nearpod Originals

We’re expanding our library of Nearpod Original Videos (check them all out here!). We’ve recently added new a new lesson on:

• Photosynthesis
• The Taíno

New Current Event lesson

• Words of the Year for 2021
• End-of-Year Holidays
• Diplomatic Boycotts & the 2022 Winter Olympics

New Perspective Analysis Lessons

A collection of quick activities centered around one piece of media designed to build critical thinking and reflection skills with two types of activities. Check them out here. We’ve recently added new lessons on:

• Occupy Wall Street
• Risk Assessment Algorithms
• Wangari Maathai: Nobel Prize
• Environmental Justice Explained
• How did Kitty Cone Change Disability Rights?
• The Commercialization of Día de los Muertos

November 19, 2021

New Nearpod Originals

We’re expanding our library of Nearpod Original Videos (check them all out here!). We’ve recently added new a new lesson on:

• Five Themes of Geography
• Allusions
• Prime Numbers

New Current Event lessons

• Supply Chain Crisis
• Native American Heritage Month & Ancestral Lands

November 5, 2021

New Nearpod Originals

We’re expanding our library of Nearpod Original Videos (check them all out here!). We’ve recently added new a new lesson on:

• Lunar New Year
• Tecumseh
• Diwali
• Energy
• Katherine Johnson

New Current Event lesson

In this current events mini lesson, students will read an article and discuss the CDC’s proposed approach for trick-or-treating in 2021. Click here to preview.

October 22, 2021

New Nearpod Originals

We’re expanding our library of Nearpod Original Videos (check them all out here!). We’ve recently added new a new lesson on:

• Jupiter
• Kingdoms of Life
• Tundras
• Langston Hughes
• Opinion Writing
• Text Features
• Deserts
• Forests
• Cesar Chavez
• Grasslands

New Current Event lesson

In this current events lesson, students will explore the potential impact of TikTok challenges in schools and communities. Click here to preview.

September 24, 2021

New Nearpod Originals

We’re expanding our library of Nearpod Original Videos (check them all out here!). We’ve recently added new a new lesson on:

• The Oregon Trail
• Biography
• Percents

September 10, 2021

New Nearpod Originals

We’re expanding our library of Nearpod Original Videos (check them all out here!). We’ve recently added new a new lesson on:

• Equivalent Fractions
• Parallel & Perpendicular Lines
• Mass, Volume & Density
• Black Wall Street & the Tulsa Massacre
• Jazz
• Slavery in America
• What is Matter?

New Slide Editor Improvements
With Nearpod’s Improved Slide Editor teachers have one less tool to manage and can maximize the impact of any slide.

• Upload your own videos or add your favorite YouTube video
• Convert slides made with the new Slide Editor into Draw It activities
• Customize slides with larger font options

August 27, 2021

New Nearpod Originals

We’re expanding our library of Nearpod Original Videos (check them all out here!). We’ve recently added new a new lesson on:

• Making Inferences 
• Even & Odd
• Natural Resources
• Bar Graphs
• Divisibility Rules
• Juneteenth
• The Transcontinental Railroad
• Cardinal & Intermediate Directions
• Telling Time to the Hour

Drag & Drop got an upgrade! Now teachers can:

• Provide students a more seamless Drag & Drop experience and turn off unlimited copies of draggable items in any Drag & Drop activity 
• Turbocharge Drag & Drop activities with added Draw It tools for drawing and adding text
• Access premade standards-aligned Drag & Drop activity banks in the Google Slides Add-on

Note: this feature is available for Gold, Platinum, and School/District Premium Plus accounts. To learn more about our license types, visit our Pricing Page.

August 13, 2021

New Student Accounts

Student Accounts is an optional feature that administrators can enable for a school or district. Students will enjoy seamless access to lessons using their account, including the ability to change devices, take breaks or finish lessons later without losing their progress or submissions.

Note: this feature is available for School/District Premium Plus accounts. To learn more about our license types, visit our Pricing Page.

New Nearpod Collections Content

• English Learners
  • 200+ content companion lessons for science, math, social studies, and ELA

July 30, 2021

New Live to Student-Paced mode (launched 8/2)

With Live to Student-Paced mode teachers toggle between Live and Student-Paced mode for flexible instruction to support differentiating for student needs.

Note: this feature is available for School/District Premium Plus accounts. To learn more about our license types, visit our Pricing Page.

New Drag & Drop (launched 8/2)

Categorize, label, and sequence items or images with Nearpod’s new Drag & Drop activity.

Note: this feature is available for Gold, Platinum, and School/District Premium Plus accounts. To learn more about our license types, visit our Pricing Page.

New Slide Editor Improvements
With Nearpod’s Improved Slide Editor teachers have one less tool to manage and can maximize the impact of any slide.

• New themes

New Nearpod Originals

We’re expanding our library of Nearpod Original Videos (check them all out here!). We’ve recently added new a new lesson on:

• Commas
• Veterans Day
• Patriot Day
• Gender Identity & Expression
• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
• Voting
• Perimeter
• Plural Nouns
• Latitude & Longitude

New Nearpod Collections Content

• Digital Citizenship & Literacy
  • 60+ activities for K-12
• College & Career Exploration
  • 45+ activities for K-12

July 16, 2021

New Slide Editor Improvements
With Nearpod’s Improved Slide Editor teachers have one less tool to manage and can maximize the impact of any slide

• Show warning before clicking on a hyperlink and open link in a new tab
• Support for annotate feature on slides created with the new slide editor

New Nearpod Originals

We’re expanding our library of Nearpod Original Videos (check them all out here!). We’ve recently added new a new lesson on:

• Thanksgiving

New Nearpod Collections Content

• Social & Emotional Learning
  • 30+ videos for K-12
  • 40+ activities for K-12
• Digital Citizenship & Literacy
  • 70+ videos for K-12
• College & Career Exploration
  • 30+ College exploration videos
  • 15+ Learning strategies videos

July 02, 2021

New Slide Editor

With Nearpod’s Improved Slide Editor teachers have one less tool to manage and can maximize the impact of any slide

• Streamlines slide creation to save teachers time from creating slides in PowerPoint, Canva, or Keynote and bringing them into Nearpod
• Empower students and meet their needs with more opportunities for accessibility through Immersive Reader

New Nearpod Original Videos

We’re expanding our library of Nearpod Original Videos (check them all out here!). We’ve recently added lessons on lots of topics, including:

• Long Division
• Types of Rocks
• Food Chains
• Addition with Regrouping
• Yuri Kochiyama **AAPI Contest Winner**
• Ethos, Logos, and Pathos

June 18, 2021

New Nearpod Original Videos

We’re expanding our library of Nearpod Original Videos (check them all out here!). We’ve recently added lessons on lots of topics, including:

• Simple & Compound Sentences
• Capitalization
• The Sun
• Adaptations
• The Great Depression
• Bills & Coins
• Halloween
• Possessive Nouns
• Planets
• The Scientific Method
• Harriet Tubman
• Comparative & Superlative Adjectives

June 04, 2021

New Activity Banks
Find pre-made Time to Climb, Matching Pairs, and Draw It activities in the Nearpod Library. Use as stand-alone activities or embed into lessons. We’ve recently added new activities for:

• 250 Draw It, Matching Pairs, and Time to Climb activities in Spanish and Portuguese (grades 3-5)
• 20 Check for Understanding Draw It activities

New to the Nearpod Lesson Library

New Perspective Analysis Lessons: A collection of quick activities centered around one piece of media designed to build critical thinking and reflection skills with two types of activities. Check them out here. We’ve recently added new lessons on:

• Min Jee’s Lunch
• Marsha P. Johnson
• James Baldwin

New Nearpod Original Videos

We’re expanding our library of Nearpod Original Videos (check them all out here!). We’ve recently added lessons on lots of topics, including:

• Conjunctions
• Prefixes & Suffixes
• The Circulatory System
• Three Branches of Government
• Contractions
• Run-On Sentences
• Oceans

May 21, 2021

Find Higher-ed content in the Nearpod Library

We’ve added a higher-ed filter to the Nearpod lesson library to make it easier than ever to find our growing library of higher-ed content.

New to the Nearpod Lesson Library

10 New Perspective Analysis Lessons: A collection of quick activities centered around one piece of media designed to build critical thinking and reflection skills with two types of activities. Check them out here.

New Nearpod Original Videos

We’re expanding our library of Nearpod Original Videos (check them all out here!). We’ve recently added lessons on lots of topics, including:

• Ramadan & Eid al-Fitr
• Five Elements of a Story
• World War II

May 07, 2021 – New to the Nearpod Lesson Library

• 65+ Nearpod Training Videos – Tutorials and how-tos on Nearpod. Includes videos in Spanish and English
• PBS Kids – 12 lessons added to the Elinor Wonders Why collection, including 10 lessons in Spanish

May 07, 2021 – New Nearpod Original Videos

We’re expanding our library of Nearpod Original Videos (check them all out here!). We’ve recently added lessons on lots of topics, including:

• Idioms
• Lines of Symmetry
• Democracy in Ancient Greece
• Memorial Day
• Types of Triangles

April 23, 2021 – New Nearpod Original Videos

We’re expanding our library of Nearpod Original Videos (check them all out here!). We’ve recently added lessons on lots of topics, including:

• What is Poetry?
• Onomatopoeia
• Supply & Demand

April 9, 2021 – New Nearpod Original Videos

We’re expanding our library of Nearpod Original Videos (check them all out here!). We’ve recently added lessons on lots of topics, including:

• The Lost Colony of Roanoke
• Alliteration & Assonance
• Vowels
• Ruby Bridges
• Types of Angles
• Subject-Verb Agreement

March 29, 2021 – Lessons on using Nearpod

Need a way to teach students how to use Nearpod? Try these lessons:

• Nearpod Orientation (K-2)
• Nearpod Orientation (3-5)
• Nearpod Orientation (6-12)

March 29, 2021 – New Nearpod Original Videos

We’re expanding our library of Nearpod Original Videos (check them all out here!). We’ve recently added lessons on lots of topics, including:

• Respect
• End Punctuation
• Correlation & Causation
• The Skeletal System
• Sacagawea
• Internet Safety
• Plot Structure
• Why Do We Need Fractions?
• Growth Mindset

March 22, 2021 — iOS update!
Have teachers and students update their app for these updates:

• Rich text for OEQs, Quizzes, and Polls
• Support for math formulas 
• Co-teaching support 

…and more!

March 15, 2021 — Co-Teaching with Nearpod

With co-teaching on Nearpod, teachers who co-teach can both facilitate the lesson. Here’s how. With this new feature, both teachers:

• Get real-time insights into learning so both can see what every student knows in the moment
• Control the pace of the lesson for seamless co-instruction

Note: this feature is available to teachers with a school or district Premium Plus license. To learn more about our license types, visit nearpod.com/features.pdf.

February 25, 2021 — SEL Check-Ins

We’ve added two new lessons to our SEL Premium Collection on helping others. Check out the K-2 and 3-12 versions to help students identify and share ways they can identify and help others in need.

February 25, 2021 — NEW Nearpod Original Videos 

We’re expanding our library of Nearpod Original Videos (check them all out here!). We’ve recently added lessons on lots of topics, including:

• Adjectives
• Personification
• Mesopotamia & the Fertile Crescent
• Adverbs
• The Digestive System
• Continents
• History of the Atom
• Pronouns & Gender Identity

February 12, 2021 — Updated Post-Session Reports for Interactive Video

We’re incorporating Video Multiple Choice Question and Open-Ended Question reports into the reports, rather than having them live on a class board.

February 12, 2021 — Math formula editor

Teachers can now add more complex math formulae to the following features: Open-Ended Question, Quiz, and Poll. Insert stacked fractions, matrices, and more!

February 12, 2021 — Toggle off left-swipe transition between slides

We’ve received a lot of teacher feedback asking to have an option to remove the swiping slide transitions. Now, teachers can turn this off in their Lesson Details!

January 29, 2021 — Video & Activity Library

Download pre-made Matching Pairs, Draw It, and Time to Climb Activities and Interactive Videos to use on their own, or embed them directly into your lesson to create Nearpods even faster! Learn how here.

Available to teachers with an individual Silver, Gold, or Platinum account or a  Premium Plus school or district account.

January 29, 2021 — Live Teacher Annotations

Draw, write, or highlight on any content slide (one you’ve created within Nearpod, or brought in from PPT or Google Slides), and students will see your annotation in real-time on their device. Learn how here.

Available to teachers with a Premium Plus school or district account.

January 29, 2021 — Live Teacher Whiteboard

Pull up a blank whiteboard on your teacher view. You can write and draw, and students will see on their device in real-time. Learn how here.

January 12, 2021 — iOS app update

It’s time to update your iOS app! We’re constantly improving how Nearpod works on apple devices, so make sure you and your students are up-to-date!

December 27, 2020 — Create questions with rich-text

Teachers can now use text bolding, color, and more when creating Polls and Open-Ended Questions in Nearpod to get even more out of their formative assessments. We’ll be adding this to the other question types too!

November 27, 2020 — A new way to provide feedback!

Nearpod has started using a platform to hear from educators like you for how we can be even better. If you or your teachers have feedback, head to nearpod.com/feedback to share your ideas.

November 13, 2020 — New ELA & Math skill practice lessons

Check out over 250 lessons for ELA and Math skill-based lessons, perfect for review or extra practice opportunities.

November 13, 2020 — Smithsonian videos added to the Nearpod Video Library

We’ve added 40+ Interactive versions of videos from the Smithsonian archives to our Video Library. See them all here!

November 13, 2020 — New Nearpod Original Videos 

We’re expanding our library of Nearpod Original Videos. This week, we’ve added lessons on: 

• Mean, Median, Mode
• Weathering & Erosion
• Word Choice 
• Primary vs. Secondary Sources
• The Periodic Table

Check them all out here!

November 2, 2020 — New lesson partnership with Calm

Nearpod brings Calm into the classroom with 9 lessons that include guided meditations to help boost confidence, reduce stress and anxiety, and teach students the basics of mindfulness meditation for a happier, healthier life. 

These lessons are a part of our SEL collection, but we’re making unlocked versions of them available to ALL teachers to support positive, empowering classroom environments.

November 2, 2020 — Multiple correct answers on video Multiple Choice Questions

While adding Multiple-Choice Questions within a video, you can now select multiple correct answers. Simply choose all of your correct answers while creating the question.

November 2, 2020 — iOS App Update

Update your app today! With the newest version of the iOS app:

• students will be able to use Immersive Reader in the iOS app if their teacher has this feature enabled
• teachers will be able to launch and facilitate Interactive Video from within the app

November 2, 2020 — Update to our reference media audio recorder

Now, when you record audio for reference media, the audio recorder will not cover the rest of the activity. This will allow you to see the text you’ve entered while recording.

We’re starting with Open-Ended Question, and will be rolling this update out to additional activities!

November 2, 2020 — New lesson partnership: Elinor Wonders Why with PBS Kids

These Pre-K/K lessons promote an inquiry-based science approach to nature, getting students to ask questions like “What can I observe?” and “What do I think about the world?” Check out the lessons here.

November 2, 2020 — Interactive Smithsonian videos

Interactive Videos featuring a collection of science and social studies videos for elementary, middle, and high school from the Smithsonian’s collection.

October 19, 2020 — Trimming for Interactive Video

We’ve added the ability to trim the beginning and end of videos while you’re creating an Interactive Video in Nearpod! Learn more about our Interactive Video feature, if you’re not already up to speed, here.

October 19th, 2020 — Spanish Digital Citizenship Lessons

Just in time for Dig Cit week! Spanish versions of our K-8 Common Sense lessons are now available to make digital citizenship accessible to all students. Check out these lessons, and the rest of our sample Dig Cit content, here.

October 19th, 2020 — Mass enable Student Name Validation

District admin can now enable the feature that requires students to use their Google or Microsoft account to validate their names when joining a lesson for all teachers in your district! Learn more here.

October 19th, 2020 — New Nearpod Original video: What Is Irony?

Irony is often misunderstood. In this investigative video, students learn what irony is and what it is not. They follow a character as she seeks to understand irony and its different types, and they explain irony in their own words. Check it out here.

October 7th, 2020 — Election lesson collection

This set of lessons includes lessons from Vote by Design, iCivics, Teaching Tolerance, and more to help you discuss the election with your students.

October 7th, 2020 — New Nearpod Original Videos

We’ve released two new Nearpod Originals: engaging, relevant, and standards-aligned videos with interactive questions built-in. Check them out:

• Tuskegee Airmen
• Active Listening

October 7th, 2020 — Updates to Interactive Video

We’re continuing to add even more features to Interactive Video. Here’s what we’ve recently added:

• Students can slow down a video while watching. Just use the speed controls within the video player
• If teachers add a video from YouTube that has manually uploaded captions, these captions will be available within Nearpod, and students can adjust the language

October 7th, 2020 — Updates to creating a lesson

We’ve done some Fall Cleaning in My Library to make it more clear when you’re trying to create a new lesson or folder! Use the Create menu at the top (or above your lessons) to create a new lesson or video, and click “+Folder” if you’re trying to get organized.

October 7th, 2020 — Halloween themed Time to Climb

Teachers can now choose this spooky setting for their quiz games. The other themes are still available, for those who want to keep it classic. Check out this blog post for even more Halloween goodies!

October 7th, 2020 — Codes now contain numbers!

In order to keep up with all of the Nearpod lessons teachers are launching, we’re adding the numbers 2-9 to our Nearpod codes. Existing codes won’t be impacted.

September 24th, 2020 — Perspective Analysis lessons

We’ve added a collection of quick activities centered around one piece of media designed to build critical thinking and reflection skills with two types of activities. Check them out here.

There are two lesson types: 

• Windows & Mirrors invites students to reflect on the ways a piece of media does and does not reflect their own experience using a Collaborate Board.
• The Box invites students to take a step back from a piece of media and consider which perspectives are being emphasized, only mentioned or left out completely using a Draw It.

September 24th, 2020 — Updates to Interactive Video
We’ve made a ton of updates this week to our Interactive Video feature, including:

• YouTube Closed Captioning: When teachers create an Interactive Video with a video from YouTube, if closed captions are available for that video, they will be available for teachers and students in all three teaching modes. Note that this only applies to YouTube videos that already have closed captions built-in.
• Immersive Reader: Nearpod’s Immersive Reader integration now works on questions within Interactive Videos. Please note that this is available on browser only (exciting updates about that coming soon!)
• Convert a stand-alone video into a slides lesson: While creating an Interactive Video, if a teacher decides that they want that video to be part of a slides lesson, they can convert that video into a slides lesson within the video editor. Note that last week we also released the ability for teachers to add videos from their Library into a slides lesson.
• Auto submitting student responses: if a student navigates away from the video using the blue back/right arrows before clicking submit, their answer will be automatically recorded. This is applicable to videos within larger Nearpod lessons.

September 24th, 2020 — New iCivics Lessons

We’ve added two new lessons to our collection of iCivics resources. These lessons feature iCivics games that students and teachers love. There’s one on the campaign experience from a presidential candidate’s perspective and one about the voter experience. These are a part of our election content offering, which we’ll start highlighting next week.

September 10th, 2020 — Hair to the Queen lesson

These two lessons for K-5 teach about cancer in a compassionate and supportive way, through a short story that features diverse characters. One of the lessons provides read-aloud support where parts of the story are narrated by a child.  Download here. 

September 7th, 2020 — Mute sound for Time to Climb

Students know when they hear the Time to Climb theme song, class is about to get even more fun, but sometimes it’s better to play with the music off. Now, you can turn the sound off on Time to Climb for all students before starting the game!

September 7th, 2020 — Updates to Interactive Video

We’re continuing to add even more features to Interactive Video. Here’s what we’ve added today:

• Add videos from their library (ones they’ve downloaded or created) to a Nearpod lesson
• Allow students to edit and resubmit their answers in Live Participation mode

September 7th, 2020 — New Draw It colors

We’ve expanded our Draw It colors to give students even more opportunity to express creativity, especially since we’ve seen so many teachers are using Draw It for getting to know you activities at the start of the year.

August 24th, 2020 — Add Interactive Videos to your Google Slides

You can now embed a video with questions within your lesson through our Google Slides add-on! Simply add a video the same way you’d add any other media or interactive using the add-on.

August 24th, 2020 — Student name validation with Google and Microsoft SSO

Teachers can now validate student names with their Google and Microsoft accounts. When this setting is enabled, students will be required to enter their Google or Microsoft credentials to join the lesson or video, and the name associated with that account will be the name they use to join Nearpod.

August 3rd, 2020 — Make any video interactive

Now, you can take any video and make it interactive with Nearpod! Get started with a YouTube video, or one you upload and add in multiple-choice and open-ended questions, or search our library of standards-aligned videos, including Nearpod Original videos and partners like CrashCourse, LearnZillion, and more. Learn how.

August 3rd, 2020 — Nearpod Original videos

We’re launching a library of Nearpod Original videos, culturally relevant, engaging, and standards-aligned videos that make rigorous topics relatable for students.

July 7th, 2020 — Zoom Integration

With our new Zoom integration, you can launch a Zoom meeting from within Nearpod in just a few clicks. Then, your students join both the Nearpod and the Zoom with one code.
We’ve made sure it’s extra secure for you and your students by automatically enabling waiting room and password protection so you can control who is in the meeting.
Please note, you’ll need a Zoom account to use this new feature!

June 1st, 2020 — Immersive Reader beta Now on Google Slides Add-On

Our Immersive Reader integration now works for text on slides from presentations made using our Google Slides add-on! For any presentation created using the add-on, students can use text-to-speech, translation, and more for text typed on the slide. Learn more about Immersive Reader and Nearpod here.

May 29th, 2020 — New K-5 Spanish Lessons

We’ve added 200+ lessons for K-5 Spanish! These lessons are great for dual language setting and are conversation-based for authentic practice while teaching vocabulary in context and using images. As with all of our lessons, they’re built on evidence-based techniques! Check out the K-2 and 3-5 lessons today!

May 29th, 2020 — Blank Graph in Desmos Tool*

We’ve added a blank graph to our Desmos tool to make it even easier and flexible for teachers to share Desmos with their students. With Nearpod, teachers can easily embed a Desmos graph into their lesson, for seamless lesson delivery!
*Available for educators with School or District Nearpod accounts

May 15th, 2020 — Requiring Student Response Submissions

You can now require students to submit a response to certain activities before moving along to the next slide in Student-Paced mode in a web browser. Turn this on when you launch your Student-Paced code to ensure students don’t forget to submit their work! This will occur for Quiz, Poll, Draw It, and Open-Ended Question.

May 15th, 2020 — Fill in the Blanks in the Teacher View and Reports!

We’ve added Fill in the Blank scores to your Teacher View and post-session reports! Now, you can see how many correct responses students scored on a Fill-in-the-Blank assessment, for even deeper insights into student understanding.

April 30th, 2020 — New Time to Climb Character!

We’ve added a new face to the Time to Climb crew. Launch a gamified quiz to introduce your students today! 

April 20th, 2020 — Microsoft Teams Integration Now Supports Live Lessons!

Our Microsoft Teams integration now supports both Live and Student-Paced lessons. With this integration, you can easily share lessons with your students, and they can join your Nearpod directly within Teams, without needing a code. Check out this video to learn more!

April 17th, 2020 — Teacher View in Student-Paced Mode

Since teachers are using Student-Paced lessons more than ever to support distance learning, we’ve added a Teacher View for Student-Paced mode. Now you can:

• easily monitor and analyze student progress the same way you do during a live lesson
• quickly determine which students have joined the student-paced lesson
• get real-time insights into student understanding, even in Student-Paced mode
• moderate Collaborate! boards and manage student joins in your lesson

March 26th, 2020 — Time to Climb in Student-Paced Mode

To ensure you can use this favorite quiz game more flexibly, we’ve released Time to Climb in Student-Paced mode! Now, you can assign a Time to Climb quiz as part of a Student-Paced lesson, and your class can work on it on their own time. Try it with one of our pre-made quizzes, or create your own. Learn more here.

March 26th, 2020 –Moderate Student-Paced Collaborate Boards

Teachers now have the ability to delete posts from Student-Paced collaborate boards, by viewing the board in their reports. Learn how here.

March 26th, 2020 — Immersive Reader Beta now on Matching Pairs

We’ve added our beta integration with Microsoft Immersive Reader to the Matching Pairs activity! Now, your students can have text read aloud, translated, and more on directions and cards for matching pairs. Learn more about Nearpod and Immersive Reader here.

March 19th, 2020 — Student Audio Submissions for Open-Ended Questions

Now, you can allow students to respond to an Open-Ended Question with audio, text, or both! Teachers can play back student audio submissions from the teacher dashboard, or later in the post-session reports. Learn more by watching this video. Please note that this feature works on the web only.

March 19th, 2020 — Nearpod App now available on Xbox

The Nearpod Microsoft app can now be accessed from an Xbox! As a reminder, this app is for students only.

March 18th, 2020 — Relevant Lessons about COVID-19, stress-management, hand washing, and more

We’re continuing to add relevant lessons that teachers can use to support students and keep them aware of what’s happening with COVID-19. Check them out here.

Recent lessons include:

• Current events lessons on COVID-19
• Mini-lessons featuring Flocabulary videos: Wash Your Hands & Bacteria and Viruses
• A K-5 lesson in Spanish on germs & staying healthy
• A 6-12 current events lesson in Spanish on the pandemic

March 17th, 2020 — FlipGrid as a Nearpod Activity

Teachers can easily add their Flipgrid links into Nearpod, and view/moderate the Flipgrid teacher dashboard within the Nearpod teacher view, while students are responding in a Nearpod lesson. You can check out a quick video tutorial here. Please note that this feature works on the web only.

March 15th, 2020 — Quick Launch Activities

Teachers can now quickly create individual activities within Nearpod, and launch them to their students in seconds with Quick Launch activities. You can “quick launch” Draw It, Open-Ended Question, Collaborate! and a NEW Nearpod timer!

March 5, 2020 – WORLD101 lessons 

Help students understand key global era issues with lessons in partnership with the Council on Foreign Relations. Check them out here.

February 21st, 2020 – Reference Images for Time to Climb

Teachers now have the ability to add reference images for questions in their Time to Climb quizzes. This means that images can be included for Time to Climb as questions and/or answers. Students can expand the image to look more closely.

February 20th, 2020 – Live View of Draw It Responses

Now, when teachers and students are both using Nearpod in a web browser, they can view student responses as they work!

February 10th, 2020 – Valentine’s Day Time to Climb Theme

This Valentine’s Day, bring a little bit of extra love to your classroom with our limited-edition Time to Climb theme. Available through 2/14!

February 1, 2020 –  New lessons for Black History Month

Five new Flocabulary Topic Sparks lessons released for Black History Month! Each lesson includes a Flocabulary video and best-loved Nearpod features. Check them out here.

January 10th, 2020 – Immersive Reader Beta Updates

Our Beta release of Microsoft’s Immersive Reader is now enabled for three new features: Draw It!, Quiz, and Poll, in addition to Open-Ended Questions and slides created within Nearpod.

December 4th, 2019 – Time to Climb Winter Theme

For the month of December, let it snow in your classroom with the Time to Climb winter theme. Teachers can select this new theme upon the launch of a Time to Climb activity.

November 18th, 2019 – Update to folder deletion in My Library!

By popular request, we’ve updated the behavior when you delete folders in My Library! Going forward, when you delete a folder, all contents of the folder will also be deleted, similarly to the behavior you’re used to in the file management platforms you work with, such as Google Drive.

November 15th, 2019 – Limit Time to Climb Questions to 5 or 10 Seconds!

We have updated the timer functionality within Time to Climb. With this update, you can now limit your students to 5 or 10 seconds per question.

November 1st, 2019 – We’ve removed our 2-slide restriction!

In an effort to make the lesson creation process easier, we’re removing the requirement that Nearpod lessons need to be 2 slides. This means that teachers can now create 1-slide Nearpods.

October 16th, 2019 – Nearpod Integrates with Microsoft’s Immersive Reader

Nearpod has expanded students’ ability to take ownership of learning by integrating with Microsoft’s Immersive Reader. This early integration with Immersive Reader, launching in beta, provides interactive tools to support students’ reading skills and comprehension, such as enhanced dictation and syllabification. This feature is currently available within Nearpod “slides” and Open Ended Question activities. To enable this feature, go to your advanced settings.

Enable now!

September 24th, 2019 – Resize the background image of your Draw It activity!

Teachers can now rotate and resize the images that they upload to the Draw It activity. This will make it easier to find the perfect background for your students to annotate.

September 20th, 2019 – Easily share lessons with this new improvement!

When applicable, users can easily copy editable links for lessons directly from the Link tab in the Share Lesson modal!

September 16th, 2019 – Classlink SSO

We now have a Classlink SSO application within Classlink’s Launchpad. Users can now add our Nearpod SSO button within Classlink to sign in with just one click! Below you will find some helpful documentation.

Install Our Application: https://support.classlink.com/hc/en-us/articles/115005631828-Adding-Additional-Apps

September 11th, 2019 – Time to Climb Now Supports Images as Answers

Nearpod’s newest gamified activity just got better! You can now add images as answer options within Time to Climb. Go to Nearpod to check it out!

July 31st, 2019 – Nearpod Add-on for Google Slides

You can now embed the magic of Nearpod directly into Google Slides. This new integration makes it easier than ever to create, edit and collaborate with peers. Leverage the flexibility of the Google Slides editor with your favorite Nearpod features and activities.

Learn More

July 31st, 2019 – App Navigation and Lesson Library Updates

We’ve made some changes to the Nearpod experience to make YOU more productive on Nearpod. You’ll experience a navigation side-bar that makes it easier to find all of your favorites in Nearpod, an improved search experience (including better filters), and more! Go to Nearpod to check it out!

July 31st, 2019 – Timer for Draw It

You can now experience the timer feature on a Nearpod favorite… Draw It. The timer feature helps with time management, creates a sense of urgency to complete the activity, and creates friendly competition to beat the clock.

Check it out!

July 30th, 2019 – User Permissions

Admins of our School and District Nearpod accounts can selectively grant user permissions to specific features without giving full admin access. This allows granular access control across a full list of permissions to be assigned for individual users within a School or District account.

July 22nd, 2019 – Nearpod iOS App Version 11.9 is Available!

Update your Nearpod iOS app to our latest version, 11.9. This version of the app includes minor improvements to the Nearpod experience.

July 22nd, 2019 – Share to Microsoft Teams!

You can now share Nearpod Live and Student-paced lessons to Microsoft Teams. This button will allow teachers to share a session directly to their Microsoft Team in two ways, either as an announcement or as an assignment. Students who see the post within Microsoft Teams can click the link and join the session in a new tab without the need to enter a Join CODE.

June 24th, 2019 – Up the engagement with Time to Climb!

Time to Climb is Nearpod’s NEW “game-like” activity filled with fun assessment challenges on subject-specific topics. Peak engagement by using Time to Climb in a lesson or as a stand-alone activity. Perfect for bell ringers, reviews, exit tickets, and more! Ignite the fun in learning with Time to Climb.

Learn more

June 24th, 2019 – Nearpod has a new and improved search engine!
When searching within the Nearpod Lesson Library, you’ll experience improved search results and faster searches so you can get what you need in lightning speed. If you have a Nearpod School or District account with access to supplemental curriculum lessons, results from those packages will appear in your searches as well.

April 24th, 2019 – Check out our Google Chrome Extension for Google Classroom!

With this brand new integration, teachers will have the ability to access their Nearpod Library and assign Live and Student-Paced lessons directly to Google Classroom. This extension is free, easy-to-use, and available to users of any subscription type.

Check out our FAQ’s here.

April 22nd, 2019 – iOS App Update!

We have released our latest version of our iOS app. This version of the app includes an updated look and feel of our Poll, Quiz, and Open-ended Question activities for students.

April 18th, 2019 – Keep your Nearpod library organized with these new features!

Effortlessly organize your library with our new “drag & drop” functionality and the availability of subfolders. Drag and drop, lessons into folders, folders into folders, and more!

April 5th, 2019 – Retail Purchase Changes:

Experience the new address collection form for retail purchases in the US!

April 5th, 2019 – Slide Editor – Audio Recorder Design Improvement:

You asked we listened! You can now view the entire screen when recording audio within the slide editor.

March 25th, 2019 – Update your iOS app!

We have recently released a new version of our iOS app. This is version 11.7.2 and includes minor bug fixes and improvements.

March 18th, 2019 – Updates for School and District Library!

Managing the School and District Libraries just got a lot easier! We have introduced Drag&Drop functionality on the admin side of both the School and District libraries. Now admins can drag and drop lessons into folders, drag and drop folders into other folders, and many more combinations!

Take a look at this blog for ideas on how to organize your School and District Library!

March 12th, 2019 – New PhET Simulations!

We’ve added 26 additional HTML5 PhET simulations for teachers to enhance their  Nearpod lessons. Now, teachers can incorporate simulations, like quadratic equations, masses and springs, and fractions.

February 25th, 2019 – Integration with Clever SSO!

Nearpod now integrates with Clever SSO! Teachers can now find our app in the official Clever library, and securely sign-in to Nearpod through Clever. If a teacher new to Nearpod uses this button, they will automatically have an account created for them. If they already have a Nearpod account, we match their email and automatically sign them in!

January 25th, 2019 – Timer for Poll, Quiz, and Open-ended Question 

Set the pace and up the engagement in our most loved activities! You can now specify a certain amount of time for your students to complete a poll, quiz, and open-ended question activity.

January 25th, 2019 –  Improved Student Experience for Poll, Quiz, and Open-ended Question

We have updated the student experience for poll, quiz, and open-ended question to be more delightful for students.

January 25th, 2019 – Desmos Interactive Graphic Calculator

Reach more students with a meaningful math rool for immersive experiences in upper-level math classrooms. Introducing our new Desmos integration! With Desmos, students will:

• Access the graphing calculator that is used on state and national assessments (plus SAT & ACT exames!)
• Engage and connect with students who may struggle with math concepts
• Explore and think critically

December 5th, 2018 – Update on Silver User Class Sizes! 

We know that many class sizes, particularly in states like Nevada, California, Oregon and Washington, teach more than 30 students in their classrooms. In an effort to support all classrooms, we have increased the class size for Silver users from 30 students to 40!

November 9th, 2018 – Product Update for Admins! 

We have reworked the *Impersonate* feature of our platform. Our previous iteration of the feature was clunky to use and required a logout/login to get back to where you left off. We know there is room for improvement on many of our old, backend features, and we are always looking for ways to reduce frictions and save admins time. Starting today, you should notice significant flow improvements to the *Impersonate* feature. Try it out for yourself!

November 9th, 2018 – Android Student App Update!

We are excited to announce that we have an updated version of the *Android App* in the Google Play store. This app is for students and includes access to matching pairs, as well as overall functionality improvements. If you are an Android user, go check it out!

October 30th, 2018 – Updates for Admins! 

We have made some improvements to the Nearpod Admin Usage Statistics and Graphs! Now, School/District Admins will see a few new and improved aspects of the “View Usage” section of the Nearpod Admin area of the platform.

• We have added an email column under “Usage Statistics”
• The default view for “Usage Statistics” is now descending from Total Sessions
• Timeframes for “Usage Statistics” and “Usage Graphs” have been updated. Admins can now view all historical data, giving increased insight into their school’s or district’s long-term Nearpod growth. Additionally, the “Last X Months” timeframe options should now include the current month in addition to the past X months.

October 10th, 2018 – iOS 11.5

We have recently released a new version of our iOS app! This new release includes the premium feature of updating Student-paced CODEs and minor improvements. Visit the app store to update your app.

September 9th, 2018 – Delete Lessons

We are enabling the Delete option for paid lessons from school or district users’ My Library. Users who add paid (but effectively free because of their content package) lessons to My Library, either from the store or from their School or District Library, will be able to delete unwanted lessons.

August 24th, 2018 – CODEs Expiration, Classlink Integration, Platinum License Updates

• CODEs Expiration
  Instructors can now adjust the length of student-paced CODEs for up to 365 days.

• Classlink Integration

Through this integration, Nearpod will import and manage your teacher rosters. Any changes to enrollments are synchronously applied behind the scenes for a seamless experience throughout the school year.

• Platinum License Updates

Users wanting to purchase Platinum will be able to do so through credit cards online (just like Gold).

August 1st, 2018 – Matching Pairs with Timer

This new activity allows teachers to select corresponding text and images for students to match. The timer feature allows the teacher to specify a time limit for the activity to be completed.

*This feature is available to gold, platinum, school and district users.

July 30th, 2018 – Improvements to My Library and Nearpod Lesson Library

• New look & feel for My Library: we have been making several changes to the My Library section to look even better!
• New organization for the My Lessons section, for the content that teachers create and save.
• Tips & Tricks section: we have added lots of self-training guides for new and existing Nearpod users.
• New look & feel for Nearpod Library search bar: the search bar is now left-aligned and longer, and the search filters have moved to the right.
• Auto-suggestions in Nearpod Library search: this is the reason why the search bar is growing longer! As the teacher types in the search bar, we’ll feed suggested searches.
• Updated Nearpod Library thumbnails: we have redesigned the lesson thumbnails so that they expand to display relevant information.
• Better visibility for Standards when searching by standards in the Nearpod Library: when teachers search by standards, they’ll see a Standards tab next to Related Content in the lesson preview pane, which will make it easier to decide whether this lesson fits the class’ needs.

June 27th, 2018 – Integration with Blackboard Learn

Nearpod now integrates with Blackboard Learn! Check out the guide to installing and using this new integration.

June 11th, 2018 – iOS Update

• Integration with Apple Schoolwork

Nearpod is first integrating support for Apple Schoolwork’s “integrated handouts.” With integrated handouts, teachers will be able to send Nearpod student-paced lessons to each student. While students are completing the Nearpod handout, teachers will receive real-time feedback on each student’s progress within the lesson, including assessment results.

Learn more about how Nearpod integrates with Apple Schoolwork here.

May 24th, 2018 – Managing Multiple School Libraries

District Admins now have the ability to manage multiple school libraries. This will provide District Admins with more visibility into what is being shared across schools and offer additional means of organization.

Here is a quick video that demonstrates the new functionality:

Learn more about this update here.

May 23rd, 2018 – iOS Update

• Search by State and National Standards available.

• Redesign of the Student Notes feature

Before taking notes, students are now prompted to select the location in which they’d like to save their notes. Students can now save to Microsoft OneDrive, in addition to Google Drive and Email.

• Redesign of the Slideshow feature: we have redesigned this existing feature to enhance the user’s experience.

• Updates to the Draw it Feature

Students can now rotate and flip images in the Draw-it activity.

May 10th, 2018 – Integration with itsLearning

Nearpod now integrates with itsLearning! This first version offers a full-site navigation of Nearpod within the itsLearning platform. We are exploring additional means of integration – more on this coming soon!

You can learn more about the current integration on our LMS landing page.

April 16th, 2018 – Draw It Improvements

• Teachers view more closely matches student view now and instructions can be up to 1,000 characters, images can be rotated.

April 11th, 2018 – Reference Media Audio Recorder

• Record audio directly onto Reference Media in Quiz. Coming soon also to Draw It and Poll.

April 10th, 2018 – Fine Arts as Subject

• Teachers can now choose Fine Arts as the Subject for their lessons when creating one.

March 16th, 2018 – iOS 10.5 Update

• A new version of our iOS app is available for download. In this version, School and District users can now access School and District Library and Content Packages, such as Nearpod EL, Ready to Run PD, and Digital Citizenship, on an iPad.

March 15th, 2018 – Student Notes Redesign

• The new design of the side drawer enables a natural experience with note-taking.
• Students can more easily navigate to notes on past slides and organize them.
• Notes Autosave Upfront to Google Drive, OneDrive or Email.

March 15th, 2018 – Subfolders in School and District Libraries

• Administrators are now able to more easily organize lessons in the libraries. Note that teachers who are not admins won’t be able to create and organize lessons into these subfolders.

February 15th, 2018 – Content Search Filters

• Teachers are now able to search the Nearpod Store for lessons that meet 5 state standards in addition to 3 national standards.
• The state standards are Florida, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas.
• The national standards are CCSS, NGSS, and NCSS.
• The remaining 45 states will be ready for the back-to-school season in August.

February 15th, 2018 – Content Search Filters

• Teachers are able to search the Nearpod Store for lessons that meet 5 state standards in addition to 3 national standards.
• The state standards are Florida, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas.
• The national standards are CCSS, NGSS, and NCSS.
• The remaining 45 states will be ready to go by back to school in August.

February 8th, 2018 – New PhET simulations

• We just added 20 NEW PhET simulations for you to use in your next lesson, and therefore provide your students with hands-on discovery in Science!

January 31st, 2018 – Convert to Draw It

• The full “Convert to Draw It” feature is now available for Gold, School and District users.

January 22nd, 2018 – New Version of Slide Editor

• We listen to you, teachers! We’ve added seven new themes with different background colors and fonts, and also a new slide layout option for you to customize the design of your presentations.

January 17th, 2018 – Easier, Faster Quiz Creation

• Up to 1.000 character questions
• 500 character answers
• 15 answer choices
• Better previews of reference media
• Easier reordering of questions and answers

November 22nd, 2017 – Collaborate! in the Student-Paced mode

• Teachers can now deliver Collaborate! boards in Student-Paced Lessons.
• This option can be turned on in the Advanced Setting. After changing the setting, a new lesson code needs to be generated for the option to take effect.
• Teachers won’t be able to delete Collaborate posts in Student-Paced lessons.

November 16th, 2017 – Share your next Nearpod lesson through Remind

• More than 2.5 million teachers and 70% of U.S. public schools use Remind to communicate with students and parents. We’ve added a Remind button for teachers to share their lessons with their class in a faster and more effective way.

November 15th, 2017 – BBC Videos for any Nearpod lesson

• The new BBC Video Tool is now available on Nearpod. Choose from over 50 high-resolution videos to use in your next lesson. Ready-to-teach lessons that feature this striking media are also available in the Nearpod store.

November 13th, 2017 – Student Mode on the Teacher Dashboard

• Student Mode allows the teacher to toggle between the traditional Teacher View they are used to and the Student View. This way you’re able to demonstrate how to use a Draw It or play a video to your class without risking showing a quiz dashboard accidentally.

To learn more about this feature you can read more about it here.

October 19th, 2017 – Flip images for Draw it

• Students will now be able to flip images inserted into a Draw it either horizontally or vertically or rotate them anywhere from 1-360 degrees. This gives students greater flexibility to be creative in their responses. This feature is currently available on the Web-based Nearpod app and will be available in iOS by the end of this year.

October 17th, 2017 – Modify Student Submissions

• With this new feature, students will be able to edit answers that they have previously submitted during a Live Lesson and resubmit them (for Quizzes, Polls, OEQ, and Draw It activities). Only the most recently submitted answer is shown to the teacher. This feature is automatically on for students during Live Lessons. It can be toggled off in the Advanced tab within Account Settings. Currently, this feature is available only on computers.

September 28th, 2017 – Standalone version of Collaborate!

• We have launched a standalone version of Collaborate. You can create a board independent of a Nearpod presentation from this site: https://collaborate.nearpod.com/new or by clicking “Try it now” on the Collaborate web page https://nearpod.com/collaborate.

September 14th, 2017 – New iOS app

• A new version of our iOS app is available for download. In this version we’ve made some new improvements and bug fixes in preparation to Apple’s new iOS operating system (iOS 11).

September 11th, 2017 – PhET Sims on Nearpod

• We have added PhET Simulations to Nearpod! PhET Sims are free interactive math and science simulations that are based on extensive education research and engage students through an intuitive, game-like environment where students learn through exploration and discovery. PhET Sims can be added from the “Add Content” section of the Content Creation Tool.

August 7th, 2017 – New Nearpod 10 for iOS

• This update features several improvements designed to enhance the teaching experience from your iPhone or iPad.
• Reference Media allows teachers to add a video, audio, website, PDF or image to their interactive activities such as Draw Its for more engaging and in-depth assessments. Reference Media is available for Open-Ended Questions, Polls, Quizzes, and Draw It activities.

• Showing Quiz Results During Student-paced Lessons: Students can now see results from their Student-paced sessions in real-time, on their own. By enabling this feature, students can quickly and easily determine their level of knowledge and self-assess before reviewing with their teacher.

Teachers can enable this feature from their Account Advanced Settings.

• Now Teachers can Launch Collaborate! from their iPhone and iPad. Here’s what it looks like on the new iPhone app.

• Folders can now easily be shared from My Library (iPad only).

• Auto-correct is now enabled from student view.

• You can download the latest version of the Nearpod app here.

July 28th, 2017 – Showing Quiz Results During Student-paced Lessons on iOS devices

• Students can now see results from their Student-paced sessions in real-time, on their own. By enabling this feature, students can quickly and easily determine their level of knowledge and self-assess before reviewing with their teacher.

• Teachers can enable this feature from their Account Advanced Settings.

July 5th, 2017 – Collaborate! Improvements

• With this update, teachers are now given the option to preview and approve or reject student comments when launching a Collaborate! slide in a live lesson. The purpose is to prevent inappropriate or off topics comments from populating the board, keeping students focused on the topic of the lesson. Watch this video to learn how to use this new feature:

July 5th, 2017 – Reference Media

• Now videos, audio files, PDFs & websites can be added as reference media to assessment activities! With this feature teachers can ask students more in depth and richer questions. Watch this video to learn how to use this new feature:

• Reference Media is available for Open Ended Questions, Polls, Quizzes, and Draw It activities.

June 20th, 2017 – Canvas Student name and Gradebook integration

• The Canvas Gradebook integration allows teachers to easily access and grade students’ Nearpod post-session reports – all within Canvas. Watch this video to learn how to use this new feature:

June 5th, 2017 – My account settings

• We’ve given a fresh look to the account settings page within Nearpod!

• Navigate your profile and account settings easily and efficiently with the new layout.

• Quickly access advanced features like Student Notes and Student-paced quiz results.

June 5th, 2017 – Quiz results during Student-paced lessons

• Students can now validate their understanding of a lesson by receiving feedback in real-time.
• See how Student-paced results works below or read more about it in this blog post.

June 5th, 2017 – Limit Polls to one response

• Teachers can now add Polls to their Nearpod lessons that accept only 1 student response.
• To activate this feature, simply turn off the ‘multiple options’ setting when adding a Poll to your lesson.

• You may also revisit previously created lessons to enable this new feature for Polls!

May 24th, 2017 – iOS 9.8.5

• This is a new release of our iOS app that includes technical improvements and bug fixes.

May 23th, 2017 – School Library (beta)

• The beta version of the new School Library is now available for teachers with School or District accounts! Scroll down to learn about all of its great features.

• Teachers can now add lessons to their School Library directly from their Nearpod library.

• Admins are able to find lessons quicker and easier with improved search.

• The School Library has folders (with colors!) to organize lessons.

• No more need to access the store in order to reach School Library material!

May 20th, 2017 – New Student Notes format for teachers with School or District Editions

• Now when a students submit their notes, teachers receive a new editable layout (.docx) with references to the slides of the lesson as well as the associated student notes. View an example here!
• This new feature allows students to review their notes and answers to activities so they can rewatch videos and revisit 3D Objects.

April 24th, 2017 – Convert to Draw It

• Convert to Draw It allows teachers to transform any of their slides into interactive Draw It activities in one click! With these converted slides, students are able to engage with the content they are learning by highlighting, drawing, and annotating.

April 10th, 2017 – Control where videos are played and resize slide background images

• Teachers are now able to choose whether to play Youtube or Vimeo videos embedded in their lessons on all student devices or only their own.

• Resize your slide’s background images with ease using the Slide Editor tool!

March 27th, 2017 – Nearpod 9.6 for iOS now available

• Learn more about our latest update to the Nearpod iOS update here.

March 24th, 2017 – Schoology Integration

• If you love using Schoology, you can now access the entire Nearpod site within the Schoology platform. Create lessons, access reports, browse lessons, and all your favorite features.

• You can now also add Nearpod course materials in Schoology without requiring your students to use a code.

March 24th, 2017 – Draw It background image visible on the teacher dashboard

• From the teacher dashboard you can now see the background image used in your students’ submissions.

March 24th, 2017 – Upload PDF files

• If a PDF file is dragged or dropped into the Content tool, you are now able to add it as a document or individual slides.

• If you’re a Silver user, upgrade to Gold to access this feature.

March 1st, 2017 – Add .gifs and backgrounds to your slides

• Make your slides even more engaging when you add .gifs to them!

• In this latest update, you can now add backgrounds to your slides.

March 1st, 2017 – Math symbols in slide editor

• Math symbols are now accessible when creating activities such as Quizzes, Polls, Open-ended Questions, or a Draw It! Choose from various categories to pick the right symbol for your lesson.

February 6th 2017 – You can now share folders

• With this new feature, teachers are now able to share an entire folder with lessons with a colleague or friends.

• If the folder contains lessons that are purchased or downloaded from the store they will not be included in the shared folder.

New to Nearpod? Try it for free here!

January 31st 2017 – Displaying CODE in student devices

• We are now showing the session CODE on the Student devices.

January 30th 2017 – Collaborate!

• Collaborate!: an interactive brainstorming tool for teachers and students to share text and images in real time. While on a collaborative activity, students and teachers submit posts with text and images, they are able to see each other’s responses and like other’s posts in real time. The teacher can organize the discussion board and then share it via email, social media or link. Collaborate provides teachers with a new way to easily engage students and foster meaningful discussion in the classroom.
• Important notes:

~ Teachers can use Collaborate! to teach from a browser or an iPad.  At this point teachers cannot use the iPhone Teacher App with Collaborate!

~ In order to use Collaborate! from an iOS device, users must upgrade to Nearpod iOS 9.5 which is currently available in the App Store.

~ For now, the feature is free to be used by all teachers, no matter the type of account they have.

~ Collaborate! only works on Live lessons. Because of the lack of content moderation, it is not available for Student-paced sessions.

January 26th 2017 – Microsoft Windows App

• A new version of our Windows App is now available at the Microsoft Store. In terms of features, this version is a full catch up with the Web App. Here is the access to this app.

January 12th 2017 – Nearpod iOS 9.5 – iPad and iPhone apps 

• New and improved Content Search for iPhone teacher app

• Ask a question to the class. Works exactly as the “Open Ended Question” feature. Records answers in dashboard and post session reports. Only for iPhone teacher app.

• Updated Live lesson teacher dashboard. iPad only.

• Teachers can pause student devices for slides containing audio and video. This is a free feature available for iPad and iPhone teacher app.

• Multiple Active Codes is a paid feature and works for both iPad and iPhone teacher app .

• Support for Folders in My Library. iPhone teacher app .

• Students can now access images stored on their One Drive accounts from the Draw It. iPad and iPhone teacher app .

January 16th 2017 – Android app

• New version of the Android app is available in the Google Play Store. It is a student only app, what means that teachers will have to access via the web app if wanting to teach a lesson from an Android device.

December 30th 2016 –  Teachers can pause student devices for slides containing audio and video

• Teachers can pause student devices for slides containing audio and video. Teachers now have the option to pause student devices when presenting slides that contain audio or video. When projecting the teacher dashboard, this makes it easier to manage bandwidth and prevent distractions that arise when the playing the same video or audio across many student devices simultaneously.
• If a teacher launches a session from the up-to-date app or the web app, all student devices will support this feature – even students using an old version of the native app.
• This feature will affect any slide that contains multimedia:

~ Video Slides – both uploaded & Youtube videos

~ Audio Slides

~ Slide Editor Slides with any combination of audio and video

December 20th 2016 –  Nearpod <> Canvas integration improvements

• Live Lesson as a Canvas Module (until now, only Student-paced was possible)
• Live Lesson and Student-paced as a Canvas Assignment
• Both Live Lesson and Student-paced could be embed in a Canvas page
• Now teachers have ability to call Nearpod within Canvas

Learn more about the Nearpod <> Canvas integration here!

December 20th 2016 –  Draw It Collage

• Teachers can share the magic with parents and colleagues. The Draw It collage displays student work in an appealing way that can be shared easily.
• Here is how it works. Teacher teaches a live lesson that at least has a Draw It activity. This new functionality will randomly select 5 Draw It images submissions, assemble them in a graphic template and email the final collage to the teacher.

November 30th 2016 – Multiple Active Sessions

• Allows teachers to maintain several active sessions at once.
• Available only for Gold, School and District users.

November 24th 2016 – Renaming PIN to CODE

• Effective now, the unique identifier of a session is called CODE and no longer PIN.

November 20th 2016 – Teacher Dashboard Redesign

• The Scrubber has been divided into 3 parts:
  

~ The Student Roster has been moved from the top-bar and now occupies the left side of the scrubber.

~ The middle part of the scrubber contains the slide navigator.

~ The right portion of the scrubber lets you show or hide student names.

• The button that launches On-The-Fly features has been moved to the top right toolbar.

October 31st 2016 – New Admin vertical menu and Manage district access

• The new side menu provides much more flexibility in terms of navigating the different components of the Admin/Support menus.
• In addition, the “Manage School/District” functionality can now be accessed from the Nearpod main menu.

October 31st 2016 – Content Tool Upload files

• Until now, it was only possible to drag and drop PPTs or PDFs into Nearpod. With this new functionality, teachers can now browse and navigate to their local or cloud files directly from the Content Tool.

October 15th 2016 – Nearpod 3D

• Nearpod 3D is a new feature of the Content Tool that lets teachers insert 3D objects slides into their lessons.
• We are hosting a library of almost 100 curated 3D objects separated in categories.

September 5th 2016 – Sway

• Teachers can enhance their lessons with high-quality, engaging Sways created by the Nearpod Content team. They can also create their own high-fidelity Sways and include them within a Nearpod lessons.
• The ability to use own existing Sways or create new ones is only available to Office 365 Business users.
• This feature is available for all types of Nearpod accounts.

August 15th 2016 – One Drive

• We are now supporting Microsoft One Drive in the same way we currently integrate with Google Drive, Dropbox and others.
• One Drive will be enabled to all the features of the Content Tool that support the uploading of files. Examples: Video, Slide Editor, etc.

August 5th 2016 – Admin Charts

• This new module is about showing usage stats information in graphs / charts format. It will only be available for District/School Admin users.
• In this first version we will support the following 4 charts:

~ Teacher scoreboard: Ranks teachers based on their platform usage considering how many valid sessions they have launched in the selected time period.

~ Sessions launched: Amount of valid sessions in the selected time period.

~ Students joined: Amount of students joined to valid sessions in the selected time period.

~ Active teachers: Amount of teachers that launched valid sessions in the selected time period.

July 30th 2016 – iOS 9

• Full support to Folders (iPad only)
• Content Search (iPad only)
• Interactive preview of NPPs (iPad only)
• Support for Office 365 (iPad and iPhone only)

July 12th 2016 – Nearpodize

• Turn your Google presentations into Nearpod lessons in just a few steps and instantly engage your students.
• The Nearpodize extension allows you to turn your existing Google presentations into Nearpod lessons in just a few steps.

Nearpod Team

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

nearpod.com/

The post Keeping up to date: The latest updates to Nearpod appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

Nearpod’s PD team: Professional Services

At Nearpod, I lead the work done by an amazing team called Professional Services. We are responsible for creating and delivering the professional development opportunities that educators at all levels have access to, so they can more effectively use the instructional tools and supplemental content from Nearpod and Flocabulary.

The Professional Services team is an impressive group of educators who combine their valuable knowledge and expertise to help support schools and districts worldwide. Our team members have diverse educational backgrounds, including expertise in elementary education, special education, leadership, technology, and more.

Before we create a slide, handout, catchy title, or description, we make sure that whatever learning and work we are asking teachers to do will positively impact and support the important work they are already doing.

There are multiple ways for all types and levels of educators to engage in these learning opportunities, especially when considering how to get professional development hours for teaching. From free to paid, from beginner to advanced, we have professional development you can access that will impact the teaching and learning happening in your classroom, school, and district.

Nearpod PD: How to get professional development hours for teachers

Earning professional development hours should not be complicated when you are spending time learning new skills and ideas to support your students. At Nearpod, we diligently strive to make all our professional development offerings easy to join, relevant to your instructional needs, designed for you as an adult learner, and of course sharing documentation for you to submit for professional development hours. And of course, our webinars are usually hosted through the Nearpod platform, making it an interactive PD experience for all participants. Any webinar, course, or session that you join will model the best uses of Nearpod as a learning and instruction platform, it will be engaging, and—dare we say—you might even have a bit of fun along the way. So, what are all the options for you to earn professional development hours with Nearpod?

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.

Free professional development with year-round public webinars

Let’s start with something free, because who doesn’t love some free learning? For all users of Nearpod and Flocabulary, we offer free public webinars year-round. These webinars are typically 60 minutes in length and support primarily the basics of each of the two platforms. For each session that is attended live, you will receive a certificate of attendance that can be used to support your professional development requirements in your district.

For Nearpod, we regularly offer the following webinars:

• Nearpod for Beginners
• Plan, Create, and Edit a Nearpod Lesson
• Using Nearpod with Google
• Using Nearpod with Microsoft
• Nearpod for Corporate Training
• Nearpod in Higher Education

For Flocabulary, we regularly offer the Beginner’s Guide to Flocabulary.

The calendar of available webinars can be viewed at Nearpod.com/Resources. Find the session that supports your learning needs and register!

• Sessions are presented using GoToWebinar.
• Recordings are provided for all who register.
• Certificates of attendance are automatically sent to those who attend the live webinar; these can be submitted to your school or district to clock hours for professional development.

Summer sessions: PD by the Pool

And for the summer, we add a little more fun and learning! Each summer from mid-June until the end of August, we offer PD by the Pool. 

These opportunities include our regularly scheduled webinars but also include new learning opportunities. Explore more Summer PD learning opportunities.

This summer, we are including sessions such as:

• Creating & Launching Choice Boards with Nearpod 
• Enhancing Vocabulary and Comprehension: Using Nearpod to Support the Science of Reading for All Grade Levels
• Achieving Balance: On-Screen and Off-Screen Teaching with Technology 
• Using AI to Generate Text to Differentiate for Students 
• Enhancing Academic Vocabulary and Comprehension: Using Word Up in Flocabulary to Support the Science of Reading for All Grade Levels
• Back to School with Nearpod 

A certificate of attendance will be provided for each session that a teacher attends live so they can gain free PD hours. This certificate can be shared with your school or district as evidence of professional development hours. 

If a live webinar doesn’t work within your schedule or your time zone, Nearpod and Flocabulary offer several options for learning the basics asynchronously. Although these options are designed specifically for those who have a paid school or district Nearpod or Flocabulary account, they are available for free. 

Getting to Know Nearpod

This course is meant to introduce Nearpod and support educators in learning the Nearpod platform to support daily instruction and formative assessment. Participants will learn about navigating the platform, finding and editing lessons from the Nearpod library, creating lessons using their own resources, launching lessons to students in two modes, and reviewing evidence of student learning in reports.

Getting to Know Flocabulary

This course is meant to introduce Flocabulary and support educators in learning the Flocabulary platform so they can continue to support learning academic vocabulary in the classroom. Participants will learn about navigating the platform, understanding the lesson sequence, creating classes and assignments, and reviewing evidence of student learning in reports.

Contact your Nearpod or Flocabulary school or district account manager for more details!

Camp Engage

Two times per year, Nearpod hosts an event unlike any other: It is called Camp Engage! This is an online, multi-day, free conference for anyone who wants to learn about Nearpod and Flocabulary or anyone who already uses these platforms and wants to level up their skills. This is a perfect way for teachers to earn PD hours!

Camp Engage is designed to provide quality professional development led by experts in Nearpod and Flocabulary. You will learn from educators who have been or are currently in the field using these tools every day! Attending any of our main learning sessions during a Camp Engage event includes the option of earning free professional development hours for teachers. These can be shared with your school or district as evidence of your professional growth. It is also an opportunity to build your community of fellow educators to learn and laugh with during this conference.

Save your spot now for Camp Engage: Back to School, July 25-27, to help you make the most of the upcoming school year and find creative ways to engage your students!

Personalized professional development for your school and district

When a district or an individual school purchases Nearpod or Flocabulary platforms, there is the option to access professional development designed to meet the learning needs specific to that district or school.

The Professional Services team aims to help schools and districts just like yours to cultivate an environment that encourages digital learning and interactivity, helping teachers utilize technology in the most effective way possible. Each session begins with essential questions and learning objectives that are connected to the ISTE Standards for Educators and Coaches. Sessions are delivered virtually or on-site and are always designed using adult learning strategies, best instructional practices, and of course a little element of fun!

These learning opportunities are designed for a personalized approach with custom-tailored sessions to help educators seamlessly integrate Nearpod’s tools to address their unique needs. Professional development can include an introduction to the latest methodologies and strategies for technology integration as well as equipping educators with tools for digital learning success in their classroom or school.

In the ever-evolving landscape of digital education, we’re here to be your guide, your mentor, and your partner. Let us support you as you take your district or school to new heights.

Check out the professional development currently offered, to encourage transformative instruction with Nearpod, with the purchase of professional development for Nearpod and/or Flocabulary. 
Contact nearpodcoach@nearpod.com if you’re interested in this PD opportunity!

Start exploring Nearpod’s PD

Most teachers are in the education profession because they enjoyed or excelled at being a students; at some point, they enjoyed the process of learning, challenging the status quo, and working to make something better. Sadly, for the last few years that love of learning may have waned a bit. This could be from a lack of resources, ever-changing expectations, or just sheer exhaustion!

At Nearpod and Flocabulary, we hear and see you! Our goal has been, and continues to be, to offer professional development that prioritizes learning relevant ideas and skills you can immediately implement in your classroom or your school. We strive to do this through an engaging platform, using adult learning strategies, all while providing you with the evidence needed to meet accountability demands.

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.

Julie Cobb

Julie Cobb is a Director of Professional Services at Nearpod, 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 Extend your professional development learning and earn Nearpod PD hours for teachers appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

Camp Engage: Back to School is returning July 25-27! 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. Register by clicking below!

As schools shifted to virtual environments, many educators turned to Nearpod to support their classroom needs. Armed with new tools, educators sought out PD resources for best practices to maximize engagement, flexibility, and instruction. Nearpod heard these calls, and Camp Engage was born.

What is Camp Engage?

At Camp Engage, you can learn how to create Nearpod magic alongside thousands of educators around the world. There is a wide range of topics for teachers and administrators with nearly 30-50 sessions per event. Beginner and advanced users will walk away with a better understanding of the different ways Nearpod can help with differentiation and streamlining instruction in the classroom. Meanwhile, admins can gain useful tips and tricks on how to implement Nearpod in their schools or districts.

Camp Engage helps you expand your Professional Learning Network (PLN) in happy hours, event community resources, and icebreaker activities throughout the entire event. That’s not all! Campers have the opportunity to earn a certificate of attendance with up to 15 PD credits for FREE. Explore more ways to earn PD hours with Nearpod. Don’t take it just from us. Listen to what past campers have said about this Nearpod PD event:

“Finally, a PD you WANT to attend! This week was full of energy, inspiration, and ideas on how to keep our students engaged across the curriculum! With a variety of tools to implement embedded into one program, it’s very user-friendly and our students will love Nearpod!”  

– Angela Rabon, South Carolina

“It was just what the PD doctor ordered, no pain involved”

– Latisha King, Tennessee

“Camp Engage is full of various camp and activities which takes you back to your childhood days – full of fun and excitement” 

– Nidhi Khurana, India

“It was the best week that I spent on learning something new to help my students engage.”

– Katherine Quick, Florida

Here are some things you can look forward to when you attend Camp Engage!

Camp Engage: Virtual Professional Development for Teachers

Live trainings and workshops that will help you hone your Nearpod skills

Camp Engage is a Virtual Professional Development event for teachers and admin to bring their Nearpod use to the next level. Past sessions have covered implementing Nearpod in your school/district to hybrid learning to create fun review games for your students. There is something for everyone!

“If you want Pro-Tips for Nearpod, this is the place to be! “

– Cheryl Hullihen, New Jersey

“You will be amazed at how much is available to teachers and students on Nearpod!”

– Janine Anderson, Illinois

 “It was one of the most inspiring teacher training I have ever had.”

– Jannel Smith, Bahamas

“It is an experience you MUST go through as you will never find it anywhere else. It has covered all the areas you might think of and conducted by real experts in the field of using technology in facilitating the teaching/learning process.”

– Mohamed Al Mo’omen Sadawi

“The sessions are just the right amount of time to learn something that can be implemented easily. The camp is easy to navigate and the presenters are amazing.”

– Kristen Staub, New Jersey

Sneak peaks of Nearpod’s latest product updates

This Virtual Professional Development experience will help you refresh what you already know about Nearpod while showcasing what’s coming in the future. At Nearpod, we’re always launching new features and enhancing the product based on your feedback. By attending  Camp Engage, you have the opportunity to be one of the first teachers to try these new updates during our sessions.

Opportunities to connect and share ideas with educators all over the world 

Are you looking to build your PLN? Camp Engage is the place for you! Camp Engage is not only a Virtual Professional Development opportunity, but it is also a community. There are thousands of campers at every Nearpod PD event, representing 150+ countries. Sessions are specifically targeted so you can learn about the Nearpod magic alongside a group of like-minded educators. 

Camp Engage has something for K-12 teachers, higher ed, and admin no matter where you are in the world. Come connect with educators through session Zoom chats, the campsite, icebreakers, happy hours, and more!

See above the number of countries represented during a live Camp Engage session. We have campers who wake up before the sun rises just so they can connect with other Nearpod teachers!

“An awesome experience, just like being in a real camp!  For an isolated nation, it was great to meet people from around the world.  Definitely Recommend.” 

– Bryanna O’Regan, New Zealand

Happy Hours

If Camp Engage is going to be anything like actual camping, then it surely needs to be fun. Energize your Virtual Professional Development by attending Camp Engage social hours! Join members of the Nearpod community in fun activities and icebreakers that are led by fellow campers, using Nearpod or Flocabulary in creative ways. You might even walk away with new ideas to replicate for other teachers or students! 

“I met several people from other countries in one of my sessions as part of our breakout room activity. It was great to share and connect.”

– Lorena Martinez, Texas

Demo Slam

We believe that the best learning experience for educators is when the learning is facilitated BY educators. Additionally, we see Camp Engage as the perfect opportunity to shine the spotlight on the innovative members of the community. During the Camp Engage Demo Slam, select educators present how they’ve used Nearpod or Flocabulary in creative ways – all under three minutes! Campers are invited to vote for their favorites, and a winner is crowned at the Closing Ceremony!

Connect tab

We encourage campers to connect with others via our “Connect” portion of the campsite. We’ve learned of many collaborations that have taken place because of connections made during camp. You can search campers by job title, organization and country.

With dozens of sessions, you won’t want to miss this Virtual Professional Development opportunity. What are you waiting for? Come camping with Nearpod at #CampEngage! 

Keep reading to see our Camp Engage FAQ.

Camp Engage FAQ

What is Camp Engage?

Camp Engage is a free event that meets teachers’ needs for professional development credits. Teachers are looking for new ideas, resources, and content to support their teaching.

Why should I attend Camp Engage? 

When teachers attend Camp Engage, they feel like they’re a part of a community, not being sold a product. The sessions are designed to support their needs, so they walk away not just knowing how to use Nearpod/Flocabulary, but also with creative ideas they can bring back to their classrooms.

When did it start? 

Camp Engage started at the beginning of the pandemic as a PD opportunity for teachers just starting to use Nearpod. With educators all over the world looking for more ways to enhance their instruction and connect with others, Camp Engage has turned into a yearly event. 

When does it happen? 

Camp Engage happens several times a year – around February, July, and November. You can follow Camp related announcements on our social media accounts @Nearpod and through our

newsletters. 

Does Camp Engage cost money? 

Camp Engage is a FREE PD event that we’re providing to you.

How do I register for this Nearpod PD event? 

Camp Engage registration will open a few weeks before each event. Make sure you’re following @Nearpod social channels to learn when registration opens. To see if there’s an upcoming Camp Engage, you can also head here: nearpod.com/camp-engage

How do I earn PD credits? 

Teachers can earn up to 15 hours of PD instructional hours. Certificates will be sent after camp concludes and will take on-demand views into account. Note: we provide certificates with total hours but can’t guarantee that specific districts will accept them officially per varying district requirements.
If you have any other questions, please reach out to campengage@nearpod.com.

Nearpod Team

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

nearpod.com/

The post Camp Engage: Virtual Professional Development for Teachers appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

We’re thankful for the impact each of the ten finalists makes within their schools, among their students, and across their communities. Their dedication is the cornerstone of the Nearpod family.

It is with great excitement that we introduce our five distinguished Educators of the Year to you!

Nearpod’s 2023 Educators of the Year

Breaking Barriers

Creates equitable, inclusive learning environments and tackles obstacles head-on.

Asia Hutchings

Asia Hutchings, a Title I Lead Teacher at AMIkids Gainesville, a program for juveniles involved with the Department of Juvenile Justice, single-handedly plans and delivers a comprehensive curriculum, including math, science, language arts, social studies, vocational education, and physical education.

Beyond her academic contributions, Asia’s ability to build rapport and empathize with students facing drug abuse and traumatic experiences is commendable. Her efforts to introduce innovative learning tools like Flocabulary and hands-on projects like hydroponic and aquaponic systems significantly enhance the learning experience.

Community Connector

Brings people in the educator community together to collaborate and grow.

LeNeshia Markey

LeNeshia Markey, a seventh-grade English language arts teacher and team leader, has made a profound impact at Albert Cammon Middle School by securing vital resources and inspiring events that promote education, health, and personal growth, including:

• Collaborating with Capital One to provide school supplies and financial assistance
• Arranging a visit from the New Orleans Pelicans basketball team to promote education and healthy living
• Partnering with the sheriff’s department to implement a behavioral intervention initiative for young girls

Flocabulary’s Favorite

Deserves the ultimate *mic drop* for using Flocabulary in extraordinary ways!

Caroline Espinet

Caroline Espinet has embraced Flocabulary to create engaging and culturally relevant lessons for her special education students, especially the Week in Rap, to connect their passion for music to current events.

Beyond her classroom, Caroline is committed to spreading the benefits of Flocabulary through professional development sessions for educators in her district and Long Island. She emphasizes the importance of culturally relevant teaching and actively contributes to the school’s inclusive culture by spearheading major events like The Heritage Project and Celebrating Black History Through Music.

Magic Maker

Brings magic to the classroom by going the extra mile to foster a love of learning in students.

Eddy Rey Castellanos

Eddy Rey Castellanos brings excitement to learning with initiatives like “Chemistry Day Celebration,” empowering students to participate in experiments with accomplished chemists, highlighting the practical applications, and discussing topics like the role of women in science and the challenges of pursuing scientific careers.

Her dedication to her students’ academic and personal growth is evident through her active community involvement and innovative teaching methods.

Nearpod’s North Star

Champions Nearpod with other teachers and is the go-to for Nearpod support and innovative ideas.

Scott Nicks

Scott Nicks has exemplified excellence in implementing Nearpod in his science classroom. His daily use of Nearpod has not only made learning more engaging and accessible for his students but has also significantly boosted science testing scores across multiple schools in the district. Scott has proven that successful Nearpod implementation can lead to top results on district and state assessments. 

A strong advocate for using Nearpod to empower ALL learners to reach their full potential, Scott also focuses on specialized settings such as self-contained ASD (autism spectrum disorder) classrooms, as well as spaces to support ELL students.

His leadership in professional development has made him an invaluable resource to his peers by leading professional development sessions for both Nearpod beginners just getting started and advanced Nearpod users.

And a big shout out to our five runner-up finalists!

We’d like to spotlight our five additional finalists who have made significant contributions to their communities. 

Breaking Barriers Finalist

• Amara Pascuito, 1st-grade Teacher, New York – Celebrated for her foundational work in early childhood education

Community Connector Finalist

• Joseph Camputaro, 5th-grade Teacher, Florida – Recognized for his exceptional community-building efforts within the educational landscape

Flocabulary’s Favorite Finalist

• Micah Wolfe, Language Arts Teacher, Oklahoma – Acknowledged for his engaging and innovative use of Flocabulary to enhance language arts education

Magic Maker Finalist

• Amanda Cornet, Orchestra Teacher, Indiana – Delivered musical instruction that’s become a cornerstone of her students’ artistic development

Nearpod’s North Star Finalist

• Ashley Yergin, Instructional Tech Coach, Georgia -Seamlessly woven technology into the fabric of learning

Congratulations, educators!

A round of applause to all our winners for their passion, commitment, and inspiring efforts in education! Each recipient is awarded $300, an upgraded Nearpod and Flocabulary subscription, and a personalized shirt to celebrate their achievements.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all educators who devote themselves to making a positive, lasting impact. We see and appreciate everything you do.

Lindsay Rothfeld

Lindsay Rothfeld is the Sr. Manager, Community at Nearpod. Lindsay began her career in ed tech as Flocabulary’s community manager back in 2018 and has loved every minute of it. If you’ve seen posts on social media that mention PioNears, Nearpod/Flocabulary Certified Educators, or Camp Engage, then you’ve seen the result of Lindsay’s work. She is grateful for the incredible relationships she’s built with educators across the globe and would love to connect with anyone interested in getting more involved with Nearpod’s community!

The post Meet your 2023 Educators of the Year! appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

Nearpod, la plataforma de formación que transforma las clases cotidianas en experiencias de aprendizaje interactivas, organizó su tercer evento anual Camp Engage en español. Durante el evento, más que 9,500 educadores de América Latina, Europa y los Estados Unidos –el segundo país en el mundo con más hablantes de español– pudieron conectar, para fomentar la colaboración, el aprendizaje y el compromiso mientras en el inicio del próximo año escolar.

Aquí tienes acceso a todas las grabaciones de las sesiones del Camp Engage. Si quieres registrarte para los siguientes eventos, por favor, vuelve a este blog para más información.

Camp Engage en Español conectó a más de 9.500 educadores

El evento de este año fue especial ya que puso de relieve a diversos ponentes destacados de la comunidad de Nearpod, como Antonio González Grez, Melissa Muir, Pam Alba, Perla Lujón y Regina Freyman, así como los profesionales de Nearpod, Fanny Giuliani y Marianne Dolce, quienes abordaron temas como la integración de la tecnología educativa en el aprendizaje a lo largo de toda la vida, la creación de salas de escape virtuales y el papel de la inteligencia artificial en el aula, entre otros.

Camp Engage en Español 2023 Grabaciones

Esta fue la agenda completa del evento y la lista de reproducción de grabaciones para que puedas disfrutar de la experiencia de Camp Engage a demanda.

Enseñar con Nearpod

Enseñar con Nearpod es una sesion para los que son nuevos a en Nearpod. En esta sesión informativa, podrás aprender las nociones básicas para motivar e involucrar más a tus estudiantes a través de Nearpod.

Crear y editar con Nearpod

En Crear y editar con Nearpod aprenderemos cómo personalizar cualquier lección para que sea dinámica e interactiva. Utiliza la evaluación formativa para adaptar la instrucción a las necesidades de tus estudiantes. Trae los recursos didácticos que ya tienes y prepárate para hacerlos interactivos, potenciando así la participación, el compromiso y la implicación de los estudiantes en el aula.

Fusionando con Nearpod

Fusionando con Nearpod nos lleva a explorar la creación avanzada de contenido en Nearpod integrando Google Add On y compartiendo valiosos trucos y consejos. Aprende a transformar tus lecciones estáticas en experiencias dinámicas y cautivadoras, elevando así tu enfoque educativo al siguiente nivel.

Nearpod y el aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida

Nearpod y el aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida explica los beneficios de Nearpod como integrar Nearpod en el aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida, tipos de aprendizaje y las reflexiones de Antonio Gonzalez Grez. Todos los temas llevarán propuestas interactivas para hacer participar y reflexionar a la audiencia sobre el potencial de Nearpod en el contexto del aprendizaje a lo largo de toda la vida.

Escape Rooms con Nearpod

Escape Rooms con Nearpod: Si te gustan los escape rooms o todavía no sabes qué son y quieres que tu audiencia se mantenga al tanto, se motive, conozca del tema y haya un ambiente de competencia sana, esta sesión te ayudara con las bases para lograr crear un escape room en Nearpod. Trabajemos juntos para descubrir esta herramienta y algunos trucos de la mano de Nearpod y combinarlo con tu práctica diaria.

Choice and voice con Nearpod

Choice and voice con Nearpod: Si crees que tus estudiantes deben ser autónomos o quieres conocer una forma de fomentar la autonomía (tomar decisiones, crear su propio camino de aprendizaje) en ellos, úntene a esta sesión en donde revisaremos algunas formas de darle voz a los estudiantes. A través de las herramientas propuestas por Nearpod podemos empoderar a nuestros estudiantes para que sean capaces de tomar decisiones sobre su aprendizaje y cómo lograr los objetivos propuestos.

Un lugar para AI en la tecnología educativa

Un lugar para AI en la tecnología educativa: ¿Te gustaría aprender cómo convertirte en un artista de la educación? ¿Cómo usar la tecnología y la inteligencia artificial generativa para crear sesiones y materiales educativos que dejen una huella humana en tus alumnos? ¿Cómo ser un mentor que los acompañe en su proceso de aprendizaje, donde lo importante es ser autoconscientes, generar autocrítica y divertirse? Si tu respuesta es sí, no te pierdas la conferencia que impartiré en el Bothcamp de Nearpod.escubre cómo la inteligencia artificial generativa puede ayudarte a generar contenidos originales y personalizados. No te pierdas esta oportunidad de aprender, crear y divertirte con el arte de enseñar.

¿Qué hay de nuevo en Nearpod?

¿Qué hay de nuevo en Nearpod? En esta sesión, aprenderás todas las novedades que Nearpod trae este año con Fanny Giuliani del equipo de Nearpod.

Mesa redonda: voces locales

Mesa redonda: voces locales: Melissa Muir, Pam Alba y Perla Lujón comparten una mesa redonda dónde comparten sus soluciones creativas a las demandas de la educación de hoy.

Nearpod anima a todos los educadores y líderes en educación a registrarse en futuros eventos Camp Engage para obtener las últimas ideas y activar el compromiso de los estudiantes.

Para ver el listado completo de grabaciones, haz clic aquí.

Camp Engage en Español 2023 Presentadores

• Presentadora Marianne Dolce: Tiene más de dos décadas de experiencia trabajando en bibliotecas públicas, así como en escuelas públicas y privadas. Una bibliotecaria dedicada y ahora maestra, su trabajo ha obtenido numerosas subvenciones y premios de organismos nacionales y locales, incluida una beca de la ALA y un Premio a la Maestra del Año por el Principio de Orientación del Sistema Escolar del Condado de Volusia, en el Centro de Florida, por el Respeto Mutuo y las Relaciones Positivas con todas las Partes Interesadas. Marianne es originaria de Cidra, Puerto Rico, la misma ciudad de la famosa bibliotecaria Pura Belpré. Nearpod ha sido una parte indispensable de su trabajo diario con niños en edad escolar durante muchos años.

• Presentadora Pam Alba: Con un Máster en Tecnología Educativa de la Universidad UDIMA en España y una certificación en STEM por stem.org en Estados Unidos, cuento con una sólida formación académica en el ámbito educativo y tecnológico. Además, respaldando mi experiencia teórica, he acumulado siete años de experiencia práctica en el aula, desempeñando roles tanto administrativos como pedagógicos.

• Presentador Antonio González Grez: Doctorando en tecnología educativa, posee un título de magíster en Educación Basada en Competencias y desempeña el rol de investigador alterno en el Grupo de Investigación Didáctica de la Universidad de Sevilla. Además, ha brindado asesoramiento en políticas de tecnología educativa para UNESCO, forma parte de la RedCad Chile y de la Mesa TIC en FID. También tiene vínculos con el Centro de Innovación Mineduc ENLACES del Ministerio de Educación, Gobierno de Chile, y ostenta el título de miembro Fellow de la Cátedra UNESCO – ICDE en UNESCO. Es asesor en tecnología educativa del Tecnológico Valparaíso Chile y co-fundador de Competencia Digital Cero, una iniciativa que busca reducir la brecha digital en los espacios educativos de Iberoamérica.

• Presentadora Perla Luján: Profesora de idiomas en México desde 2015 a todos los niveles educativos y del idioma. Psicóloga, amante de los idiomas, certificada en ISTE y Nearod Pionear. Maestra en enseñanza del inglés y actualmente estudiante de la maestria en neuropsicología educativa.

• Presentadora Regina Freyman: Soy Regina Freyman, una amante de las historias que lee, escribe, cuenta y vive. Estudié letras en la UNAM y me especialicé en cuento en la IBERO. Llevo 19 años en el TEC, donde comparto mi pasión por la literatura con mis alumnos. Creo que el arte es una herramienta para sanar, expresar y transformar. Me considero Arte educadora porque creo que la vida vale en la medida en que hacemos de ella una obra ética, expresiva y compasiva. Soy una apasionada de la inteligencia artificial generativa, convencida de que es un asistente y un reto para el talento artístico humano. Uso Nearpod desde hace 8 años y  es una plataforma que me permite diseñar lecciones apasionantes, mi recurso favorito para acompañar a mis alumnos en la aventura del conocimiento.

Manténgase informado sobre el próximo Camp Engage

Camp Engage representa un encuentro excepcional y singular dirigido a educadores de todo el mundo. Se trata de un evento de desarrollo profesional educativo gratuito que reúne a miles de maestros y administradores a través de talleres de crecimiento personal. Durante el evento, los educadores que participan adquieren conocimientos sobre la incorporación de Nearpod en sus aulas y se integran en una comunidad que cuenta con más de un millón de educadores de Nearpod de diversas partes del mundo. Si quieres obtener más información o registrarte en los siguientes eventos del Camp Engage, asegúrate de suscribirte al boletín de Nearpod aquí.

Nearpod Team

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

nearpod.com/

The post Camp Engage en Español conectó +9.500 educadores: ver las grabaciónes appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

Our latest product updates for the upcoming back to school season meet the needs of educators and equip them with the necessary tools to deliver effective instruction and facilitate engaging learning experiences!

Teachers and administrators can log in below to start using these updates. If you’re new to Nearpod, sign up for free or schedule a call with an expert.

What’s new with Nearpod: Back to School 2023

Discover Nearpod’s latest product updates for Back to School 2023! This PDF highlights the introduction of live teacher-to-student feedback, a simplified Lesson Builder, Search Enhancements for easier lesson planning, and more. With over 22,000 high-quality lessons, videos, and activities in the extensive standards-aligned library, Nearpod equips educators with the tools to support every student’s unique needs and foster a love for learning. Teachers and administrators can log in or sign up to access these new features. Don’t miss out on these exciting updates—download the PDF now and get ready for a successful back to school season!

Visualize and support student understanding with real-time feedback and insights

We are so excited to introduce Nearpod’s live teacher-to-student feedback feature, just in time for back to school (a TOP requested feature—we mean it when we say your feedback matters and we listen)! With this new feature, teachers can provide LIVE feedback on students’ work, allowing them to intervene in the moment. Teachers can quickly identify common misconceptions or provide additional help when students need it the most, ultimately boosting student engagement and achievement.

What can you expect with live teacher-to-student feedback?

• Direct feedback on individual students’ work in drawable activities, such as Draw It, Drag & Drop, and Math Manipulatives* (math manipulatives are exclusive to the Nearpod Math Program)
• Access to a wealth of real-time insights and adjust your instruction on the spot to better support each student’s unique needs

Create engaging lessons right in Nearpod with a new, simplified Lesson Builder

In addition to live feedback, we’re debuting our NEW Lesson Builder experience. We believe teachers are the architects behind creating engaging and interactive lessons that support student learning; to better support this, we’ve completely overhauled our Lesson Builder, making it easier for teachers to create captivating and personalized lessons. With our intuitive interface, teachers can craft dynamic lessons catering to their students’ needs and learning styles.

Additionally, our extensive standards-aligned content library offers a plethora of easy-to-customize, pre-existing materials. Whether teachers prefer to start from scratch or modify existing content, Nearpod’s Lesson Builder provides the tools to create captivating lessons that captivate and inspire students.

What can you expect with the new Lesson Builder? 

• Create and build lessons with a streamlined, familiar experience 
• Quicker and easier lesson creation functionality—build, edit, and reorder slides and activities

More exciting updates!

Focus on teaching, not just searching for supplemental resources in the Nearpod library with Global Search Enhancements: 

• New search filter to easily find lessons created by specific publishers 
• New lesson counters 
• Related search term suggestions to better refine search results

The beginning of the school year is the perfect time to dive into Nearpod’s extensive standards-aligned library. Our goal is to minimize your planning time so that you can focus on teaching and engaging with your students. With over 22,000 high-quality lessons, videos, and activities, the Nearpod library is packed with ready-to-use resources.

Curious to learn more about our exceptional content and trusted partners? Discover how to find free quality lessons and teaching resources.

Seamless and secure integration with the new implementation of LTI 1.3.

• LTI 1.3 provides an optimized learning journey that combines streamlined processes, advanced security features, and enhanced user authentication

Start using these Nearpod updates now!

We hope you are as excited about these new product updates as we are. After all – your feedback fueled them! Teachers are at the center of everything we do, we’re determined to provide you the tools and resources you need so you can focus on doing more of what you love – delivering impactful instruction and positive student outcomes.

Here’s to a great back to school season — you’ve got this, and we’ve got you!

Teachers and administrators can log in below to start using these updates. If you’re new to Nearpod, sign up for free or schedule a call with an expert.

Nearpod Team

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

nearpod.com/

The post What’s new with Nearpod: Back to school 2023 appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

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ISTE 2023 recap from the Nearpod booth

Nearpod sessions

At the Nearpod booth, educators and attendees alike were immersed in an atmosphere of collaboration and creativity. Over a dozen PioNears led great demonstrations showcasing how they use Nearpod to engage, differentiate, and get real-time insights from students. Each demo concluded with a Nearpod fan-favorite, Time to Climb, and each winner left with a smile, some swag, and skills to bring back to the classroom.

Nearpod wasn’t just prevalent at the booth and in the conference agenda. Two sessions stood out to us:

• Janet Corder’s “Going Beyond the Basics of Nearpod” drew over 130 attendees, eager to take their Nearpod use to the next level
• Students from Andes International School in Puebla, Mexico, showcased how they use Nearpod to travel around the world right in their classroom
• Jason Clark was a hit in the Google Theater with his “Creating and Delivering Active Learning Experiences with Nearpod and Google” session. Attendees learned how to harness the power of Nearpod and Google to deliver transformative instruction that engages, challenges, and motivates students!

Nearpod won Best of Show!

Nearpod’s draw was palpable, so much so that we were recognized as Tech & Learning’s Best of Show awards at ISTELive 23. Judged by some of the most knowledgeable and tech-savvy educators, Tech & Learning showcases those products and businesses that demonstrate the most potential for transforming education. These professional users, editors, and judges evaluate products according to three criteria:

• ease of use, value
• uniqueness in the market
• proof that the product helped make teachers’ lives easier and supported student achievement

Nearpod, Flocabulary, and Nearpod Math Program all received “Best in Show” accolades for ISTE 2023.

Nearpod won the Common Sense Award!

For several years now, Common Sense has badged booths at ISTE 2023 as a Common Sense Selection for Learning if identified as a best-in-class resource and tool. These hand-picked selections are evaluated through their independent rating criteria and pedagogical rubric.

We believe properly resourced, well-prepared, passionate, and creative teachers make learning happen—not tech, tools, or resources.

Common Sense

For over 10 years, the seasoned Common Sense editorial learning team has reviewed new and existing products throughout the year by highlighting a Learning Rating, a Community Rating, and a Privacy Rating, plus teacher tricks and tips for each resource. Nearpod earned recognition as a Common Sense Selection for Learning again for 2023.

Poetry Slam

We brought the house down at the annual ISTE EdTech Poetry Slam, in collaboration with K-12 Learning, where 12 exceptional educators shared their original poetry with the community. Live beats provided by Flocabulary artists Mike Judd and Dizzy SenZe added an unforgettable musical dimension to the event. And it’s not a Flocabulary-sponsored event without some collaborative rhyme-writing via Lyric Lab, led by Ike Ramos and Merv Jenkins. Educators are masters at modeling how best to engage in learning, and seeing the community come together to support fellow educators and celebrate creativity was a real treat.

Join us for Camp Engage Back to School 2023

The learning doesn’t have to stop at ISTE 2023! Join us for Camp Engage, a FREE virtual professional development opportunity for all educators, on July 26-28! Get access to more than 30 interactive and informative sessions—you’ll come away supercharged for the school year ahead!

Nearpod Team

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

nearpod.com/

The post ISTE 2023 Recap appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

Research shows students who are given a choice in their instruction are more motivated, self-confident, high achieving, and find the learning process to be more meaningful and engaging. Creating the space for students to learn and elevate AAPI voices and stories is important in the fight for racial justice.

Nearpod received hundreds of well-researched submissions from students in grades K-12, and we’re excited to announce that this year’s contest winner is…

Sadie, 11th grade, from Livingston, New Jersey!

AAPI historical figure: Anna May Wong

As our contest winner, Sadie will work with Nearpod’s Content team to transform her script into a “Just A Minute” Nearpod Original video.

Sadie’s winning script about Anna May Wong

“Born Wong Liu Tsong in Los Angeles in 1905, Anna May Wong is considered the first Chinese American film star in Hollywood. She acted in over 60 films in her career but is most known for her role in 1932’s Shanghai Express opposite Marlene Dietrich. In 1951, Wong became the first Asian American to star in a US television show, The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong. And in 1960, she was the first Asian American woman to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Wong was also a fashion and style icon known for her flapper style that incorporated traditional Chinese designs.

Though Wong gained significant popularity in the US and internationally, she still faced discrimination and xenophobia in Hollywood. Throughout her career, she was mostly cast only in supporting roles, many of which played on Asian stereotypes. She had trouble getting lead roles due to anti-miscegenation laws, which prohibited interracial couples from appearing on screen. Despite the racism and discrimination she faced, Anna May Wong carved out a long and successful career and remains a role model for many Asian American actors.

Where do you see the legacy of Anna May Wong today?”

See Sadie’s script come to life in the final product! In this Interactive Video, students learn about Anna May Wong, the first Chinese American film star. A host discusses Wong’s career highlights and struggle to overcome discrimination in Hollywood, and students consider where they see her legacy today.

Explore past winning entries

If you’re looking for more ways to celebrate Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, here are a few places to look:

• Learn about Nearpod’s 2022 student winner: Savannah!
• Teach the Just a Minute video from 2022’s winning script on Kalpana Chawla
• View the script-writing lesson video and AAPI Nearpod lessons linked on the contest page

Thank you to everyone that submitted an entry. The learning should not stop when Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month ends. These themes and topics can enrich cross-curricular learning all year round. That’s why we’ve updated the contest page so you can access the script-writing lesson at any time.

To stay involved in the Nearpod community, please join our Educator Facebook Group and our certification program.

Nearpod Team

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

nearpod.com/

The post Student contest winner: Asian Pacific American Heritage Month 2023 appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

What is a digital escape room?

Physical escape rooms gained popularity in the mid-2010s as a group activity that challenged people to escape a locked room based on a set of themed clues. Shortly afterward, virtual escape rooms were developed to offer the same problem-solving and team-building opportunities to larger groups simultaneously without having to be physically locked in a room and invest in duplicates of all the locks. Teachers realized they could harness the engagement. They also figured out how to make a digital escape room with content-specific clues for a classroom. A virtual escape room, for fun or in a classroom, provides a challenging, immersive adventure that promotes problem-solving and collaboration.

What are the benefits of using digital escape rooms in the classroom?

Virtual escape rooms challenge students as they practice the real-world skills of critical thinking, teamwork, communication, and perseverance. Teachers who create a digital escape room can customize it for any content area and control the experience with age-appropriate visuals and clues. Digital escape rooms require reading to navigate, so they might not be accessible to young learners. The escape room can function as an introduction to a topic, an application of a unit, or a stand-alone team-building lesson. For easy access, incorporate tools familiar to students, for example, Google Forms for the digital “locks” or Nearpod activities for clues. Learning the basics to design your own will give you a supply of free digital escape rooms for the classroom.

A teacher knows their own students and curriculum; they can balance predictable clues with more difficult ones. Video game designers combine difficulty levels so the players continue playing; even when they get stuck on a hard level, they find a motivational boost in the easier sections.

The same concept applies to an educational digital escape room. For me, each chapter has a list of key vocabulary words—some of the lock combinations come directly from that list. Students learn to look for predictable vocabulary words, so I mix in terms of people we discussed that aren’t on my key term list for more complexity.

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

How to make a digital escape room for the classroom

1. Use backward design to plan the escape room

Backward design is paramount. The process begins with setting the end goals. Teachers identify the content they want to target, which includes curriculum topics or skills for students to practice. After establishing the end goals, there are four additional parts:

• Determining logistics 
• Creating clues and hints
• Visual design
• Writing the backstory

2. Choose the right tech tools for the logistics

Logistics for the virtual escape room include the following:

• A platform to host the clues
• The set up of digital locks
• The order in which students navigate through the virtual escape room

There are advantages to hosting the game on various platforms. Google Sites can contain hidden pages with random URLs. Google Drawings or a Google Slides presentation allows hotspots that link to other websites.

Nearpod activities function as clues, and you can embed outside resources. For digital locks, I use Google Forms because it allows response validation, custom error messages, and form break to force certain puzzles to be solved before moving on. If you use Google Forms, learn from my first failure and include a custom error message. Unfortunately, if you do not, it will ruin the mystery and display the answer. If another resource offers response validation, that also works, especially if your students are already familiar with it. The error messages on the digital locks guide the learning process. It provides immediate feedback to the students, either letting them know they were correct, or offering a hint to adjust their thinking and fix mistakes. Have a general idea about the clues when setting up the logistics; the next step is actually creating them.

3. Create engaging clues, locks, and hints

Now for the fun part! A virtual escape room requires clues, locks, and hints. This part felt overwhelming when I began creating games, so it’s beneficial to have a digital escape room template.

The lock and clue possibilities are endless. Connect the locks to the content and skills you identified first. Here are some types of clues that easily adapt to any content escape room:

• Ciphers can include letters, numbers, emojis, or a more complex digital cipher
• Misspelled lists require students to fix intentional mistakes to find the hidden word within  
• Photoshopped images with numbers or words camouflaged 
• Math word problems can be customized to align with the skills students are learning in their math class
• Puzzles could be created digitally, or try cutting a QR code into pieces 
• Fonts might be Redacted, DaFont Themes, Libre Barcode Font
• Create a story using Nearpod’s Fill-in-the-Blanks
• Make a coordinate grid or a crossword to solve using Nearpod’s Draw It
• Nearpod’s Matching Pair with ordinal numbers
• Nearpod’s Virtual Reality (VR) Field Trip

The digital escape room template also includes a resource list with additional inspiration for locks and clues. The locks provide a chance to differentiate learning for different strengths: observation, logic, language, math, and humor.

4. Work on the visual design

Once you establish the lock combinations and the clues, it leads to the next step: visual design. This is crucial for a virtual escape room because it impacts the player’s experience and engagement.

You want multifaceted images to draw the players into the game and to provide clues for the locks; any image editing resource will work. I use Canva Education because I can create a set of images for each escape room, which I easily modify each year if necessary. Canva removes the background from images; transparent backgrounds work well for hot spot clues. All of these features are useful for designing graphics and clues. You can also utilize image design on each slide of either Google Slides or Nearpod. Consider how images tell the story.

5. Develop the backstory

Online generators exist for fake text messages or fake newspapers, which work great for building a backstory. The backstory provides students with context and a framework for the escape room. Just like any story, you want to establish the setting, the characters, the goals, the potential obstacles the players will face, and the consequence of failure.

The backstory should motivate students and provide guidance on what to look for. I’ve used creative characters in a historical setting or realistic-fictional news story to weave the backstory. The first time I used an escape room I designed, I caught a team of students Googling if someone really did steal the Liberty Bell and abscond to Canada; that backstory had them hooked.

For my most recent escape rooms, I have utilized ChatGPT for the draft of the backstory. I ask ChatGPT to generate a backstory that includes certain people, places, and any key vocabulary I want to include. You can also specify the audience and the desired length. The bot produces a solid start for an engaging story. I edit it slightly to align with the end goals of the escape room and provide a hint on where students should start looking for clues.

6. Combine all of these elements into the escape room

Backward design also involves going back to the beginning to combine the elements together. Think about the logistics you worked on earlier in the process.

Follow these steps to host an escape room on Nearpod:

• On a Nearpod slide, provide directions and the backstory for reference so student groups can go back and re-read if needed
• Embed the Google Form as Web Content to use for the locks—you can’t have an escape room without locks! 
• Upload images on a slide to provide clues and hints
• Add interactive activities, like Fill in the Blank, VR Field Trip, and Draw It, as clues in the Nearpod presentation—you can even challenge students by requiring a cipher to unlock the Nearpod join code

Often I combine multiple resources together for the most challenging experience. My favorite combination includes Google Forms, Nearpod, Google Sites, and Google Drawings. Explore a sample lesson here.

Start designing your own virtual escape room for your students

Designing a virtual escape room takes time, but when I see how excited students are to participate in those lessons, it makes it worthwhile. The planning and design are foremost to the success of the escape room. There have been some mistakes and design struggles along the way, but I’ve preserved just like I expect students to do during an escape room lesson.

The design process has become easier with practice, and I find inspiration in everyday things I read or see. Sometimes a single image can spark an entire escape room, like a historical map or a unique font. I love witnessing the discussions and collaborations that occur, even if it looks like organized chaos in the classroom. Almost every time I start a new topic, my students will ask if there is an escape room at the end. The student enthusiasm and energy are my motivation to continue creating new virtual escape rooms.

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

Lisa Whiston

Lisa is a middle school social studies teacher in Hershey, Pennsylvania. She’s passionate about experimenting with technology to enhance and excite students about learning. She also shares her joy with other educators through PD training.

about.me/lisa.whiston

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