What is ChatGPT?

In November 2022, OpenAI developed and made available an advanced chatbot, which is a natural language processing tool that uses artificial intelligence to provide human-like conversations and high-quality content. However, this chatbot was unlike its predecessors. The “GPT” stands for generative pre-trained transformer. ChatGPT uses both supervised learning as well as reinforcement learning.

While generative AI focuses on generating output based on data gathered from a wide array of information available on the internet, it is the RLHF, or Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback, that adds the human-like component since human AI trainers modeled conversations of both the user and the AI assistants. Based on OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 language models, you can question ChatGPT to provide an answer, or complete a task like generating specific content, say an essay or code. ChatGPT is free to the public since OpenAI is still in the phase of collecting research and feedback on this tool, and there is a paid subscription model currently available, ChatGPT Plus.

Why are people worried?

With any new technology, people tend to worry. It’s often a fear of the unknown. In the early 1900s, actress Mary Pickford stated, “Adding sound to movies would be like putting lipstick on the Venus de Milo.” In 1984, Columbia University Teachers College Research questioned the role of computers in education, insinuating that computers were “bad.” Technology is changing at such a rapid pace that it can be hard to know what is the latest and greatest.

Richard Kurzweil’s Law of Accelerating Returns theorizes that the rate of change is exponential—instead of 100 years of progress in the 21st century, we probably will experience 20,000 years of progress. With ChatGPT being able to create content, the old fear of humans being replaced by robots has resurfaced. Some fear that their jobs will be replaced by artificial intelligence education. Others fear human intelligence may suffer since users can “cheat” to have answers provided or essays written for them. Plus, since ChatGPT does not provide sources, there’s the threat of spreading misinformation. ChatGPT does not ask clarifying questions, so the AI can provide content whose words may be in the right order and therefore be “plausible-sounding” but actually lack meaning, resulting in nonsensical or inaccurate text.

“My responses are not intended to be taken as fact, and I always encourage people to verify any information they receive from me or any other source.”

ChatGPT (ZDNET)

Additionally, ChatGPT relies on internet-based information up to 2021, so it’s not the most up-to-date in today’s real-time data world. And since Chat GPT is one of the fastest-growing apps of all time, hitting 100 million in two months (for comparison, TikTik took nine months to accomplish the same feat), many, young and old,  are concerned over the lack of oversight or protocol. As with all technology, will it be used as the creators intended?

What are examples of artificial intelligence in education?

As with tech in general, there is so much potential with new tools. ChatGPT helps generate solutions to problems, answers to questions, and suggestions to inquiries. In our always-on world, there’s instant gratification in having information at your fingertips in real time, which optimizes efficiency, whether professionally or personally. Since Chat GPT culls the vast internet, it provides different perspectives, various points of view, and original ways to digest information, factual or subjective.

What does AI technology, such as ChatGPT, mean for teachers and schools?

Quite simply? It’s to be determined! Many schools and universities have proactively banned ChatGPT, while others cry that it’s too reactive of a move. While cheating is always a concern in education, ChatGPT will continue to force us educators to think about our means of assessment. If AI can answer a question, is that the right question we should ask our students? Think back to the initial concerns over calculators in children’s hands—seems almost laughable now, right?

If you haven’t already, do listen to Sir Ken Robinson’s TED Talk on changing education paradigms.

ChatGPT examples teachers can use in the classroom

1. Combine AI ChatGPT with pedagogy

Similar to when the internet became more widely used in schools, teachers shifted away from students memorizing information—since they could Google to find factual answers—and instead focus more on the application of such learned knowledge. Teachers’ roles shifted from being importers (or, some say, gatekeepers) of information to facilitators or guides. ChatGPT will encourage educators to continue focusing on those higher-order thinking skills of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Instead of the A, B, Cs, and 1, 2, 3s, P21’s Frameworks for 21st Century Learning touts that today’s classrooms must focus on skill sets based on the 4 Cs: creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking.

And although not research-based, the Learning Pyramid illustrates the levels of knowledge retention, with “teaching others” as the most active and most effective method. So instead of having students write a persuasive essay on a topic, how might they use ChatGPT to craft? And then, how might they use their critical-thinking skills to analyze the construct of the AI ChatGPT-generated argument and craft feedback as a teacher would?

 2. Administrative work and instructional planning

ChatGPT has a practicability that’s hard to dispute. For example:

• In terms of efficiency, it aids teachers in many administrative tasks such as writing emails, developing instruction, generating examples of solutions, crafting a poster, or providing word problems. 
• It can streamline instructional planning, whether outlining a unit, crafting formative assessment questions, curating slides on a topic, forming rubrics, or generating discussion questions. Teachers can still put their artist’s mark on these materials and their methodologies, but they won’t have to “recreate the wheel” as often.
• Students can create flashcards with questions and answers, generate practice quizzes, ask for summaries, and even debate with the chatbot to understand various points of view. Companies like Quizlet and Duolingo have already integrated the chatbot into their apps.

3. Ask the right questions

Part and parcel of critical thinking is being able to ask well-formulated and carefully constructed questions. As Albert Einstein said, “It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question.” Such an art goes beyond the 5 Ws (who, what, when, where, and why). Good questioning is a practice for organizing thinking about what one doesn’t know. Questioning speaks to curiosity, a hallmark of a lifelong learner. With technology like ChatGPT, today’s students will learn how to craft the right questions to spark their own quest for exploration and discovery. Questioning also requires empathy, and in asking questions, we improve our emotional intelligence, which then begs more questioning.

Before the assignment, give students an introduction to Chat GPT with these lessons and activities:

• ChatGPT & the Rise of AI-Generated Content (Grades 6-12): In this Current Events lesson, students learn about recently released AI tools such as ChatGPT. They learn about AI and discuss the possible impacts of these tools on schools and society.
• Artificial Intelligence (Grades 6-12): In this 6-12 technology activity, students demonstrate their understanding of artificial intelligence concepts using Nearpod’s interactive game quiz, Time to Climb.

• The Future of Artificial Intelligence (Grades 9 – Higher Ed): In this Interactive Video from Crash Course, students learn about the future of artificial intelligence.
• AI in Schools (Grades 6- 12): In this Current Events lesson, students learn about the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in education. They explain how some schools have embraced generative AI and assess ethical concerns around the use of AI in classrooms.
• How Will AI Change the World? (Grades 6-Higher Ed): In this video, students are introduced to data types and variables in programming.

4. Personalized learning

Probably one of the most intriguing aspects of ChatGPT examples to explore will be how it can help personalize learning for individual students. ChatGPT can create content with constraints or specifics in mind, whether it’s differences in learning styles, abilities, or even language. Imagine asking for a summary of the March on Washington in only images, a breakdown of the laws of gravity for a first grader, varied explanations for the causes of World War I, or the steps to solving an algebra problem in Korean. The ease of differentiation of content comes from asking a question. For both the teacher who needs to personalize lesson plans and the student who needs to personalize studying strategies, ChatGPT could be a game changer.

Start exploring artificial intelligence in education

Change is hard. There will be bumps in the road, as with any learning process. While in its infancy (and ergo nascent on accuracy), OpenAI and others have already released text detectors to identify what content was written by a human versus an AI-written source. Such transparency will be helpful in understanding potential risks and pitfalls in using said content. With such advancements, we must keep ethics, integrity, access, and equity top of mind. As educators, consider how you may need to rethink the learning goals for your students and redesign your instructional strategies. Consider how to make your students co-pilots in learning about this new technology to advance learning and be clear on your expectations with them. And keep asking questions!

If you’re interested in exploring an edtech tool that can support you in creating interactive lessons, keeping students engaged, and tracking real-time insights into student learning, sign up for Nearpod below for free.

Darri Stephens

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

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Embed assessments into lectures with Nearpod

In this pursuit, technology offers us a valuable ally, and Nearpod is a prime example. With Nearpod’s interactive features, you can transform your traditional PowerPoint presentations into engaging, participatory learning experiences. Through its interactive activities and slides, you can seamlessly integrate open-ended questions, polls, quizzes, and collaborative activities, enabling students to actively engage with the content and with each other. This enables students to actively participate in the content and with peers while providing instructors with immediate, real-time insights into student comprehension. Collecting students’ performance data through these tools will support educators in their data driven approaches by making adjustments in the moment and using those insights to guide future instruction.

New to Nearpod? Book a demo with one of our experts and learn how you can empower educators with unlimited access to everything they need to engage learners.

A better way to gather data insights in higher education

Throughout the history of higher education, evaluating our teaching methods has often been an exercise in trial and error. Whether the instructional method we choose is self-created or derived from a research-based best practice, we tend to use qualitative observational data to assess the success of each lesson. Unfortunately, this self-assessment doesn’t typically properly provide feedback on whether or not we’ve achieved our ultimate goal as instructors – positively influencing improved student performance outcomes. Feeling that students were engaged or liked a lesson doesn’t necessarily indicate that they learned and retained the information presented, just as students complaining about a learning activity doesn’t mean that they did not learn the material.

Only by evaluating student performance through exam data, normally toward the end of the term or semester when it may be too late to course correct, can we identify which teaching methods best influence improved student performance through data driven instruction. Additionally, data driven decision making in higher education has become increasingly important as institutions leverage data to enhance instruction and improve student outcomes.

Collect student performance data through active lectures

Let’s quickly address a couple of elephants in the room. First, if you have teaching experience, you likely have PowerPoint experience. It’s how many of us were taught and how many of us learned how to teach – no shame in that. Secondly, the easiest and most time-efficient way to get a lot of information to a large group of people in a live setting is a good old-fashioned lecture. As someone who promotes and teaches active learning instructional methods, that last one was pretty tough for me to admit publicly.

It’s okay to lecture (it really is!) but let’s follow the student performance data and engage our learners with course content by turning these typically passive learning sessions into active lectures. Active lectures are teaching sessions that still allow faculty and students to operate in their most familiar classroom setting, while also requiring students to think critically about course content, receive feedback on their performance, and provide students the opportunity to self-assess their performance in comparison with their peers. How have faculty in our program accomplished this, you ask? Here are three data driven approaches (that are easy to implement) that will help you achieve that ultimate teaching goal – influencing improved student outcomes.

3 Data driven approaches to improve student performance

1. Engage all students with interactive questions for improved learning and participation

Pausing and asking students questions while lecturing is fairly common, but what information do we really gather as faculty using this technique? And how do we ensure that we are hearing from every student, and not just the few brave souls that raise their hands to speak?  Let me elaborate with a personal example. When I was a student teacher, I was fortunate enough to have a GREAT cooperating teacher – Chuck Harlow, at Northmont High School. During some of my teaching sessions, Chuck would sit in the back of the room and make tallies on the seating chart each time I called on a student. I’ll never forget the first time Chuck asked me how I thought I did after a long day of teaching. I very proudly thought I did well and that the students learned what I was teaching. When asked to share how I knew the students learned, I said that students were following along, nodding, and answering the questions I asked during class. And that’s when Chuck hit me with a lesson that has clearly stuck with me for the last 15+ years. He showed me the tallies. For each class of 30ish students, I had called on maybe 5-6 per period. So, I knew what about 20% (at best) of my students knew about the content I was teaching that day. When pressed about what the other 80% of students learned that day, I had nothing. Extrapolating those numbers to large lecture classrooms we’re typically hearing from an incredibly small percentage of our students. So, it’s time to fix that.

Asking written open-ended questions engages all students with course content while holding them accountable for providing an answer. So, while you may only be able to call on a select number of students during class, all students can now engage with the course content and provide their thoughts. Professors can always see each students’ performance data on their screen. However, if you’d like to share responses with the class for peer collaboration, you can make students’ responses anonymous during these interactive slides to encourage even the most tentative students to submit answers.

The more reps students get critically applying content learned will encourage more long-term retention of course content while also providing opportunities for students to self-assess their knowledge of course content. If an open-ended question doesn’t make sense for your lesson, you also have other similar options in Nearpod to support this data driven approach, such as Polls, Quizzes, or Draw It’s that may serve the same purpose.

2. Gain insights through student collaboration and peer communication

Engagement is more than just students engaging with the content, they should also engage with their instructors and peers. Why? Well, first and foremost, formative assessments serve as a two-way communication tool. This is your opportunity as the teacher to create assessments that emphasize the key terms and concepts while students are communicating back to you their level of mastery of the course content. They learn from you which is the most important information to study/practice, while you can use their performance data to focus remediation efforts and upcoming lessons on where students are struggling the most.

When students exchange ideas with their peers, it broadens and deepens the class discussions. Students have the opportunity to play the role of instructor by offering new concepts or explanations to their classmates – and we all know that we learn best by teaching. Not to mention, peer collaboration allows students to self-assess their personal progress against their classmates. If they can’t contribute to or keep up with the conversation, they know they need to improve in that area. Students don’t always innately self-assess, so don’t forget to remind students that they should be self-assessing their progress! Reflection will help them better focus their study time outside of class.

Educators can accomplish this through Nearpod’s Collaborate Board! Collaborate Board is a virtual board of “post-it notes” that allows students to quickly share ideas and comments through text and multimedia with their classmates. All responses are visible to the class, and students can interact with each other’s responses by “hearting” or adding comments to them. For faculty, this engagement tool couldn’t be easier to create – add the board to your presentation, pose a question or thinking prompt, add a reference image if you like, and share the lesson with students to have them post their answers. These answers will quickly and organically drive your lesson forward through the student answers provided while also giving you the opportunity to reinforce positive performance and correct any learning concerns right there in the moment.

If you’re really looking to gain insights into your students’ ability to think critically about and apply concepts learned through a data driven approach, use Collaborate Board to ask students to provide what they would need to learn next to further their knowledge on the topic. Having students provide their personal learning objectives provides a unique window into how students are thinking about course content, giving you the information needed to either continue with your current unit plan or readjust to help students get back on track. These engagements are a BIG part of the year-over-year improved student performance we’ve seen in our program!

3. Provide targeted self-paced practice opportunities

After assessing students’ knowledge in class, providing them feedback, and encouraging them to self-assess their performance, it’s time to create self-paced practice materials that help them target where they need to improve. The best way to quantifiably identify where students are struggling the most is to use Quiz questions in your Nearpod presentations. The percent correct is provided for each question, so the information is easy to access and digest.

Pro-tip: Make a note of the general content area each Quiz or individual Quiz question addresses. After your presentation, review the student performance on these content areas as a whole. This will allow you to target the areas of greatest concern with self-paced modules.

These real-time remediation modules can help students focus their study time where they need it the most instead of spending their time practicing on areas of your course where they’re already proficient. The more opportunities students have to practice applying concepts, the more likely they are to turn these lessons learned into long-term retention of course content.

Self-paced practice isn’t just for struggling students! These modules are also great in helping students apply content in more practical scenarios. Throughout higher education, one of the more common concerns faculty voice is that students struggle with critical thinking and applying concepts to problem solve. These self-paced practice modules can be created with a focus on giving students more repetitions sharpening these skills. The more reps, the more likely students are to develop these critical thinking skills.

Previously, creating these types of targeted materials wasn’t possible because it took too much time, but with the advent of artificial intelligence, we can have these materials created for us. If you’d like to learn more about that, check out this webinar: Work Smarter, Not Harder: Streamlining and Enhancing Educational Content Creation with AI & Nearpod!

Following students’ completion of the modules, educators should bridge the gap between this stage and the receipt of exam results. During this critical timeframe, professors can conduct additional class assessments, specifically tailored to address the areas of concern identified through data analysis. By conducting targeted assessments and making data-driven decisions, instructors can create self-paced remediation modules, if needed, that help students pinpoint their weaknesses, thus optimizing their study time and overall learning experience.

The impactful results of active lectures through data driven approaches

Using Nearpod’s engaging formative assessment features, we’ve witnessed meaningful improvement in student performance on our summative exams (and we have the data to prove it!). By implementing these easy-to-create and powerful methods, you can see the same improvement with your students! And at the end of the day, that’s the most impactful thing we can do as teachers – positive influence improved student outcomes.

This table illustrates the year-over-year change in student exam performance after one faculty member switch from teaching solely with PowerPoint to using Nearpod for all of their lessons.

Bring Nearpod to your department or institution to implement these approaches

If you are still using PowerPoint and traditional lectures in your higher education courses, that’s okay. However, I challenge you to break the status quo and open up to data driven instruction, to take the leap and transform passive lectures into active ones. With these 3 data driven approaches using Open Ended Questions to hear every student’s voice, sparking inclusive discussion in Collaborate Board, and encouraging critical thinking and real-world application through self-paced practice, you will have a great starting point to improving overall student performance like the students from my institution. 

Join hundreds of faculty and institutions elevating instruction worldwide. Engage 100% of your students with interactive activities delivered live or asynchronously on any device with Nearpod.

New to Nearpod? Book a demo with one of our experts and learn how you can empower educators with unlimited access to everything they need to engage learners.

Dan Thompson

Currently the Assistant Director of Faculty Development and Instructional Design at Oklahoma State University (OSU) College of Veterinary Medicine, Dan transitioned from teaching high school to focusing on curriculum and educational technology in higher education. Throughout his career he has assisted faculty in course design and development, while also introducing new methods of utilizing educational technology in the curriculum to create a learner-centered environment. His background includes leading faculty development efforts at OSU Center for Health Sciences and Kent State University College of Podiatric Medicine. He holds a Master of Science in Technology Enhanced Learning and a Bachelor of Science in Adolescent/Young Adult Education from the University of Dayton.

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About the study

Filipino students from Our Lady of Fatima University (OLFU) in Valenzuela City participated in a study highlighting Nearpod’s effectiveness. The study interviewed 224 students who had used Nearpod consistently for over four months. Their positive feedback emphasized how Nearpod significantly improved their learning journey across social motivation, creative expression, and personalization. This research aligns with David Havens’ framework, advocating for technology tools that encompass these crucial aspects in the classroom.

Empowering Filipino higher ed students: Nearpod’s role in transformative learning, motivation, and creativity

Several factors contribute to the effectiveness of a technological tool in education. First, it should facilitate a shift from traditional teaching methods to more progressive ones, fostering innovation and engagement in the learning process. Second, it should sustain student motivation, whether in the context of distance learning or face-to-face instruction, ensuring that learners remain eager and committed to their studies. Additionally, it should influence the development of 21st-century skills in students, preparing them for the demands of the modern world. Last, the use of technological tools, such as Nearpod, often reveals unforeseen benefits that enhance the overall educational experience, making it a valuable asset in contemporary classrooms.

New to Nearpod? Book a demo with one of our experts and learn how you can empower educators with unlimited access to everything they need to engage learners.

Key research questions

This research study aimed to explore the perspectives and experiences of college students who have incorporated Nearpod into their classroom activities. The exploration is guided by three key research questions:

• How do college students who used Nearpod in their classes feel about Nearpod in terms of social motivation, creativity, and personalization? This question aimed to uncover the students’ perceptions regarding Nearpod’s impact on aspects such as social interaction, creative engagement, and personalized learning experiences.
• How do students describe their experience with Nearpod? Here, the focus is on gathering in-depth descriptions of students’ personal encounters with Nearpod, providing valuable insights into their overall experiences and interactions with the platform.
• What are the students’ favorite things about working with Nearpod? This question aimed to pinpoint specific aspects or features of Nearpod that resonate most with students, shedding light on the elements that contribute to their positive perceptions and preferences within the platform.

Key findings

Boosted students’ social motivation

Social motivation is basically any motive that is acquired by interaction with others. Peer interaction is a big part of the learning journey, which is why most traditional and non-traditional learning cultures emphasize the importance of teamwork and group activity.

The study asked students if, during Nearpod activities like Collaborate Board, Quizzes, and responses shared on Time of Climb, students interacted with their peers in a way that helped them learn. An impressive 96% said that they often or sometimes did. When asked about their preferred aspect of using Nearpod, the three leading responses comprised engaging activities, chances for creativity and self-expression, and the user-friendly interface it offers.

When asked about their preferred aspect of using Nearpod, the three leading responses comprised engaging activities, chances for creativity and self-expression, and the user-friendly interface it offers.

• 99.5% of the students felt that their teacher knew how they were doing with the material or lesson some or most of the time while using Nearpod.
• 95% of the students said that someone (teacher/peers) would see the work they did during Nearpod activities.

Nearpod enables proactive tracking of teacher-student interaction, while also fostering social motivation through peer engagement. This social motivation, arising from interactions with others, is substantially important to the learning process, as evidenced by both traditional and non-traditional educational approaches that prioritize teamwork and group activities as integral components of the learning journey.

The teacher remains an integral part of the student journey, easing the fear that education technology could make teachers redundant. Most of the time, or sometimes, the teacher knew how the students were doing with their lesson.

Ignited student creativity

Creative forms of learning enable the lessons to stick far longer. Nearpod offers students various avenues to stretch their creative muscles and learn while at it. By incorporating interactive activities, multimedia presentations, and collaborative projects, Nearpod empowers students to engage with educational content in innovative ways, enhancing their retention and comprehension. This approach not only makes learning enjoyable but also cultivates a deeper understanding of the subject matter.

• 97% of the students said they can express themselves creatively using Nearpod. 
• 67% of the students claimed that Nearpod provided them avenues to express themselves creatively more than other classroom activities.

Supported personalization and embracing student individuality

Recognizing the individuality of each student and acknowledging the diversity in learning speeds and abilities, Nearpod’s educational tools stand out in their commitment to personalized learning. While tailoring lessons to cater to every inquisitive mind might present challenges within a traditional classroom setup, Nearpod’s tools have demonstrated remarkable success in this endeavor. In fact, a significant 88% of surveyed students attested that the difficulty level of Nearpod’s activities was perfectly suited to their learning needs.

More than 60% of students experienced a sense of connection with the content and a personal interest in the topics they were learning through the use of Nearpod.

Key results

Faculty members of Our Lady of Fatima University reinforce that Nearpod not only enriches the learning experience but also empowers both students and teachers. It has helped foster a sense of community and collaboration while embracing the unique strengths and needs of each learner. These findings affirm the value of Nearpod in modern education and its potential to shape a more engaging, creative, and personalized learning landscape.

Ready to bring Nearpod to your department or institution?

Join hundreds of faculty and institutions elevating instruction worldwide. Engage 100% of your students with interactive activities delivered live or asynchronously on any device.

New to Nearpod? Book a demo with one of our experts and learn how you can empower educators with unlimited access to everything they need to engage learners.

Nearpod Team

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

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The post How Nearpod empowers Filipino HigherEd students: OLFU Research Study appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

Although the models of hybrid and HyFlex learning are gaining popularity, they evolved and had been implemented and researched long before the COVID-19 pandemic and physical distancing requirements shut down our classrooms and schools.

HyFlex Learning

The HyFlex learning approach is credited as originating at San Francisco State University approximately ten years ago by Dr. Brian Beatty, professor of Instructional Technologies. “HyFlex” represents Hybrid-Flexible and “consists of hybrid classes–blending online and on-site participation modes–that provide a more flexible learning experience to students” (Ferrero, 2020). 

With HyFlex learning, educators create extremely versatile course content that allows students to access the material in-person or online, during or after scheduled class sessions. Unlike traditional lecture-style teaching which is educator-focused, HyFlex learning is designed to be student-focused.

Students decide on the best pathway for their education and can adjust as the course progresses. Students are active in their learning process and education experience through learner choice and “a student-directed, multimodal learning experience” (Beatty, 2019).


A HyFlex learning experience includes all the aspects of hybrid learning; however, the student decides which modality they would like to participate in. Educators create engaging materials that the student may participate in face-to-face synchronous with in-person (classroom), face-face synchronous through video conference (e.g. Zoom), or asynchronously through the institution’s Learning Management System (LMS).  

A HyFlex learning model differs from hybrid learning as the students are provided multiple forms of content delivery, learning environments, and knowledge assessment resources. It should be noted that some schools, although promoting course offerings as HyFlex, do not include fully asynchronous options within their course delivery (Schulich, 2021).

Why Offer Hybrid or HyFlex Learning

Anecdotally, schools have always struggled with space issues. From our days in elementary school and portable classrooms, through high school staggered starts, to evening and weekend classes at college and university, administrators struggle with creative ways to allow more students to attend courses and institutions. Hybrid and HyFlex learning allow for schedulers to expand class sizes or offer more courses in the same number of classrooms.  

Additionally, attending college or university is an overwhelming and expensive opportunity for many students. Looking around our classrooms, the diversity of our students has changed over time. The percent of adult learners enrolling in undergraduate programs continues to rise (NCES, 2021). Some students have to take time off from work and family to attend class. Not all students can afford to relocate to attend the program and school of their choice. How many individuals who want to attend are not able to, due to distance and time? We may never know; however, we do know that by offering a variety of options we can narrow this education divide. Through the implementation of hybrid or HyFlex learning, we can allow equal access to higher education regardless of location. Working full-time, with a family, I would not have been able to complete a Masters degree if my university did not offer a HyFlex delivery model. 

Pros and Cons of Hybrid or HyFlex Learning Environments

As mentioned earlier, hybrid and HyFlex learning environments give students more choice in how and where they attend their courses. To ensure this flexibility, educators must build multi-modal content. Instructors need to rethink their content delivery strategies and how engagement with educators, content, and peers will occur within the hybrid or HyFlex learning environments. With HyFlex learning, rather than creating separate face-to-face content and online content, all content must be built to be delivered and acquired in any environment.

Particular focus must be given to principles of accessibility to ensure equal access for students, regardless of their participation modes. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles must be considered and utilized in course material design.

The largest disadvantage to hybrid and HyFlex learning is associated with adopting without readiness. If a school or educator moves too quickly to integrate these methodologies, then some students may not be given equal opportunity to interact with content and to learn. As an educator, I have seen the consequences of hastened early adoption of HyFlex learning. These consequences include students online unable to hear what is being discussed in-person, frozen video feeds, educators not adapting content but merely posting lecture slides online as asynchronous content, and more.


Institutions need to invest in resources to ensure each student has an equal opportunity to learn, regardless of how they join the class. HyFlex classrooms should be purpose-built or renovated as HyFlex spaces rather than expecting educators to adapt and make a traditional classroom work for HyFlex delivery.


The components of a HyFlex learning environment are explored in other blog posts and tech guides, and include elements to ensure the educator, in-person students, and online students can all see, hear, and interact together. Recommended components include a lavalier microphone, ceiling microphones, multiple video cameras, large monitors, and a demonstration/document camera.

Additionally, although this style of learning is convenient for students, it does require support and guidance to ensure student success. Educator support is crucial to adjust teaching habits for competency with all aspects, especially asynchronous engagement and synchronous with multiple modules eg. simultaneous chat.

How Nearpod Improves Hybrid or HyFlex Learning Environments

Nearpod is a solution for educators seeking a tool that enhances or serves as the foundation for a hybrid or HyFlex learning experience. I have had great experiences in my HyFlex courses when I build all lessons with Nearpod. A Nearpod lesson can be facilitated inside a classroom, online synchronously, or online asynchronously, which makes it the ideal platform for flexible delivery. 

Matching learning objectives to the lesson, I can easily ensure engagement and interactivity by including Nearpod native content and activity tools in my lessons.

Some of my favorite content pieces are the Interactive Videos, Slides, Web Content, and Microsoft Sway integration. For activities, which make Nearpod unique in higher learning environments, I often utilize the Quiz, Draw It, Collaborate Board, and Flipgrid integration. Low stakes, high frequency assessments through the Quiz tool give the students and educator several touchpoints to ensure learners are progressing with the material as expected.

The Collaborate Board remains a favorite, and helps ensure the course material is a living and active document.

To ensure simple navigation pathways for students, Nearpod can be integrated with your institution’s LMS. The reports feature of Nearpod is impressively robust, and allows me to track student participation with engagement details, assisting with attendance and progression monitoring. Quiz results, Poll results, and Open-Ended Question results are added into the student grade book and I routinely post a PDF of the completed Collaborate Boards for students to review.

As a Nearpod PioNear I may appear biased; however, there is a good reason that I integrated this tool into my classroom in 2014, continue to use it, and have facilitated hundreds of lessons with the app—it works! I encourage you to start small and convert one of your hybrid or HyFlex lessons into Nearpod. Transfer your wonderful classroom energy into one or two interactive elements within the lesson. Once you see the success you achieve, add more elements, then move on to additional Nearpod-based lessons. You can also reach out to Nearpod—the team is wonderful and is there to help you succeed.

Interested in getting started with Nearpod?

References and Resources

Abdelmalak, M., & Parra, J. L. (2016). Expanding learning opportunities for graduate students with HyFlex course design. International Journal of Online Pedagogy and Course Design, 6(4), 19–37. https://doi.org/10.4018/ijopcd.2016100102

Beatty, B. (2020, May 26). Can HyFlex Options Support Students in the Midst of Uncertainty? Educause Review. https://er.educause.edu/blogs/2020/5/can-hyflex-options-support-students-in-the-midst-of-uncertainty

Beatty, B. J. (2019). Hybrid-flexible course design: Implementing student-directed hybrid classes (1st ed.). EdTech Books. https://edtechbooks.org/hyflex

Bower, M., Dalgarno, B., Kennedy, G., Lee, M. J. W., & Kenney, J. (2014). Blended synchronous learning – A handbook for educators. http://blendsync.org/

Bower, M., Kenney, J., Dalgarno, B., Lee, M. J. W., & Kennedy, G. E. (2014). Patterns and principles for blended synchronous learning: Engaging remote and face-to-face learners in rich-media real-time collaborative activities. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 30(3), 261–272. https://doi.org/10.14742/AJET.1697

Bruff, D. (2020, June 11). Active learning in hybrid and physically distanced classrooms. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/2020/06/active-learning-in-hybrid-and-socially-distanced-classrooms/

Cambrian College Teaching & Learning Innovation Hub. (2018). HyFlex course development guide.

Columbia University. (n.d.). Hybrid/HyFlex teaching & learning. Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning. Retrieved October 1, 2021, from https://ctl.columbia.edu/resources-and-technology/teaching-with-technology/teaching-online/hyflex/

Educause. (2020). The HyFlex course model. Educause Learning Initiative.

Ferrero, M. A. (2020). Hybrid and flexible: A professor’s guide to hyflex teaching. Active Education. https://mariangelf.com/tag/online-courses/

HyFlex course design model with Brian Beatty. (n.d.). Think UDL. Retrieved October 1, 2021, from https://thinkudl.org/episodes/hyflex-course-design-model-with-brian-beatty

HyFlex learning community bibliography. (2021). https://www.hyflexlearning.org/bibliography/

Hyflex learning, with David Rhoads. (2020, May 12). Teaching in Higher Ed. https://teachinginhighered.com/podcast/hyflex-learning/

HELIX classroom. (n.d.). Teaching & Learning Harvard Division of Continuing Education. Retrieved October 10, 2021, from https://teach.extension.harvard.edu/helix-classroom

Leijon, M., & Lundgren, B. (2019). Connecting physical and virtual spaces in a HyFlex pedagogic model with a focus on teacher interaction. Journal of Learning Spaces, 8(1), 1–9.

Miller, J. B., Risser, M. D., & Griffiths, R. P. (2013). Student choice, instructor flexibility: Moving beyond the blended instructional model. Issues and Trends in Learning Technologies. https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/itet/article/view/16464/16485

Paul, J., & Jefferson, F. (2019). A comparative analysis of student performance in an online vs. face-to-face environmental science course from 2009 to 2016. Frontiers in Computer Science, 1. 

Fast Facts: Enrollment (98). (2021). National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98 

Raes, A., Detienne, L., Windey, I., & Depaepe, F. (2020). A systematic literature review on synchronous hybrid learning: Gaps identified. Learning Environments Research, 23(3), 269–290. https://doi.org/10.1007/S10984-019-09303-Z

Schulich Teaching & Learning. (2021). Teaching and learning in the HyFlex environment. https://teachingandlearning.schulich.yorku.ca/teaching-and-learning-in-the-hyflex-environment/

Sowell, K., Saichaie, K., Bergman, J., & Applegate, E. (2019). High enrollment and HyFlex: The case for an alternative course model. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 30(2), 5–28.

Talbert, R. (2020, May 8). Research report: Experiencing the hyflex model. Robert Talbert, Ph.D. https://rtalbert.org/research-report-experiencing-the-hyflex-model/

Texas A&M University. (2017). What to expect in a HyFlex course: Faculty Handbook.

Dugg Steary

Dugg Steary, MA is a Nearpod PioNear, independent EdTech Consultant, Instructional Materials Designer at Langara College, and Lead Educator at Columbia Paramedic Academy in beautiful Vancouver, Canada.  Find out more about Dugg at https://linktr.ee/DuggSteary

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It is no surprise that technology has evolved tremendously over the last few decades. Each year, higher education instructors are met with new ways to enhance their classroom experience with technology. Dr. James Gentry, a professor and director of instructional development and course design at Tarleton State University (TSU), remembers when he was excited for his classroom chalkboard to be upgraded to a dry-erase board. In the 1990’s, it was a big deal for a school to have its own computer lab or for a classroom to have its own dedicated computer. 

Another major advancement in educational technology was the introduction of student response systems, such as clickers. Clickers are also an additional cost that most college students are expected to foot the bill for. In the early 2000’s, clickers started to gain popularity across the United States. Clickers were introduced to the higher education classroom as a way to track student attendance, increase engagement, and assess students’ knowledge of the content they are studying. This was especially appealing to instructors who were lecturing to large groups of students. Clickers made it easy for these instructors to track who was showing up for class and gauge student understanding. 

“Now that students have their own devices, your classroom is the new computer lab.”

Nowadays, students enter classrooms with their own technological devices ranging from cell phones to tablets to laptops. Today, it is estimated that over five billion people own a mobile device compared to the 97 million people who owned one in 2000. By selecting products that work with the devices students already own, both schools and students are able to save money. Dr. Gentry helps reduce students’ cost of course materials by using Nearpod because it is free for students to use. While there are many benefits to using the Nearpod platform in the higher education classroom, one of the Nearpod features he and his colleagues at TSU first found to be appealing was Nearpod’s ability to replace the traditional classroom response systems, such as clickers. Just like clickers, Nearpod can instantly capture student responses in real-time. Nearpod also allows instructors to pose questions in a variety of formats, from multiple choice to polls to open-ended responses.

Dr. Gentry noted that Nearpod does everything a clicker does and so much more. As many colleges and universities adopt new approaches to instruction, such as HyFlex learning, where students have the option of attending classes in-person or online, Nearpod makes it easy to take attendance, track student engagement, and assess student understanding no matter where learning takes place. In addition to using Nearpod for formative assessment and to increase classroom engagement, Dr. Gentry is able to create his own content relevant to the course curriculum. Being able to get real-time feedback from students also helps him quickly identify how well students are grasping the concepts they discuss during lectures. In addition to these features, Nearpod is different than the typical student response system because it features:

• Unlimited storage to create, download, and customize lessons and activities with 20+ formative assessments, interactive video, gamification, and rich media features
• Unlimited access to premade interactive lessons, videos, and activities, plus built-in video and activity banks for faster creation
• Editing and Immersive Reader power with the Google Slides Add-On
• Integration with the Learning Management Systems and other platforms you’re already using to assign and manage lessons

Dr. Gentry feels that Nearpod is much more cost-effective and has better features than similar products on the market. Nearpod’s partnerships with companies such as Google Slides and Nearpod’s ability to integrate with Learning Management Systems and other platforms were huge selling points for him. 
And the best part for Dr. Gentry’s students? They don’t have to purchase anything in order to use Nearpod since it is compatible with the devices they already own!

Nearpod Team

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

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We know that there are many benefits to integrating educational technology into curriculum and that these benefits extend to both teacher and student. One of the most well-known benefits of educational technology is that it helps instructors to differentiate instruction to multiple types of learning styles while also offering the ability to quickly assess student understanding. However, another major benefit of educational technology is that it also allows the classroom to be anywhere. Having the flexibility to learn when and where it is convenient is something that is becoming increasingly important for adult learners.

Integrating educational technology into curricula helps institutions adapt to the needs of their students while benefiting both the teacher and student. Educational technology, like Nearpod, allows the classroom to exist anywhere and on any schedule. The flexibility of learning when and where convenient allows students to better manage their schedules and opens the door to those who cannot commit to a regularly scheduled in-person class. Additionally, educational technology makes it easier to tailor a course to multiple types of learning styles. Instructors receive real-time insights into student understanding for the entire class, not just the ones willing to speak in front of the class. 

“We were able to decrease face to face time but increase the intensity of learning without being in the physical classroom.”

Dr. Adam Duggan, Dean of Adult Education and Training Services at Mount Wachusett Community College, recognizes the challenges that adult learners at his college face. His commitment to making education accessible to all types of learners is one of the reasons Nearpod appealed to him. After learning about Nearpod, he realized the benefits that adult learners would have by giving them the opportunity to learn from anywhere—not just in the physical classroom. Nicholas Colello, Associate Director of Adult Education and Training Services, also saw the advantages to integrating the Nearpod platform into their courses. Many of their students work part- or full-time jobs and find it challenging to attend class on a consistent basis. 

“Nearpod has allowed us to take a much more creative approach to all of our classes.”

Mount Wachusetts Community College’s diverse group of students have many different needs, ranging from learning to speak English to earning a certification or degree for a career. Dr. Duggan noted that Nearpod has simplified their ability to adapt curriculum to meet the needs of their students. When the college started to look for technological options in 2016, they were introduced to Nearpod by instructors who also taught in K-12 classrooms. The ability to customize lessons to best fit the needs of their students was extremely appealing. Since many of their students are on time constraints, being able to combine lessons and content allows them to maximize learning in a shorter period of time. One of the ways they do this is by combining courses required for a career with English language development content. Nearpod’s integration with Google Slides makes lesson customization easy. By combining content, students are able to study the skills they need for their future job while also working on their reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills at the same time. Nearpod’s partnerships with publishers such as Quill, have also helped to strengthen their students’ English development. 

Dr. Duggan and Mr. Colello both believe that Nearpod has allowed them to meet the many different learning needs of their students. The Nearpod platform allows them to capture student understanding for both formal and informal assessment. The Collaborate Board feature has been an extremely useful tool in engaging classroom discussion. Students who generally shied away from speaking during class were more likely to participate in discussion because they could respond anonymously. This was especially true with their English as a second language students. 

Dr. Duggan attributes Nearpod as one of the reasons their students were still able to achieve success in their areas of study when COVID-19 shut down their classrooms. Having instructors and students who were already comfortable using Nearpod made the transition to remote learning easier. The shift to remote learning was so successful that instructors are planning to offer remote learning through Nearpod indefinitely. While some Mount Wachusetts Community College students may still want to attend class in person, instructors recognize that the majority of their students will benefit from being offered a HyFlex learning environment.  

“Nearpod is just as effective outside the classroom as it is inside the classroom.”

Mount Wachusetts Community College also uses Nearpod to gain funding for their programs. In order to receive funding, the college must show that students regularly attend class and track their seat time. Nearpod’s reporting features allow instructors to easily track student usage and attendance. 

Nearpod allows adult learners to further their career goals while getting the flexibility they need to balance both their professional and personal lives.

Nearpod Team

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

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Dr. James Gentry, a professor and director of instructional development and course design at TSU, has invested years researching the different types of technology that can be used to enhance classroom instruction. Since arriving at TSU in 2005, he has placed a focus on how technology can be used in the higher education classroom. He feels strongly that it is important to not only use technology to enhance his instruction, but to prepare future K-12 educators to teach in technology-enhanced classrooms. As a member of Texas A&M’s Council on Academic Technology and Innovative Education (CATIE), he collaborates with his peers across the university system to learn how different forms of technology can be used in both classroom instruction and assessment. He also educates his colleagues at TSU on the best practices for integrating technology into their curriculum and instruction.

As a former K-12 educator, Dr. Gentry has seen how the thoughtful use of technology in the classroom has impacted student comprehension and engagement.  He has also observed how technology has changed over the decades. He noted that when he first entered the classroom, his classroom’s technology consisted of a chalkboard and one computer for the entire class to share. He also remembers that if technology needed to be incorporated into a lesson for the entire class, they would utilize the school’s shared computer lab. 

Nowadays, Dr. Gentry has students coming to his classroom with multiple forms of technology—cell phones, laptops, and tablets. He believes that all of these devices have the potential to engage his students in deeper, more meaningful ways. One way he adapted his instruction to accommodate such devices was by weaving Nearpod into his curriculum. He started using Nearpod in this classroom as a way to formally and informally assess students’ understanding of the content he was teaching.  

Dr. Gentry’s background in education means that he understands that students learn in a variety of ways. With class sizes averaging around 30 students, he feels that Nearpod helps him to address all of the different learning styles in this classroom. He also finds the versatility of Nearpod’s features allows him to adapt his curriculum so that it is relevant for his undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students.

“I wanted something easier.” 

Dr. Gentry was impressed by how easy it was to add content and create new activities within Nearpod’s platform. Nearpod’s ability to integrate with Google Slides and the Canvas learning platform was also extremely appealing to him. He appreciates how easy it is to add videos and visuals such as charts or photographs that students encounter during their assigned readings into a lesson on Nearpod. By adding the visuals from their reading into a lesson in Nearpod, he is able to incorporate activities to assess students’ comprehension from the reading. Nearpod formative assessment tools such as polls, open-ended questions, and multiple choice questions allowed him to see student responses in real-time. His students that were less vocal during classroom discussions were more engaged and seemed to feel more comfortable sharing their opinions and ideas on Nearpod’s platform. 

“Nearpod saved me during the pandemic.”

In the Spring of 2020, Dr. Gentry found himself in the same position that the majority of professors and instructors across the country were in. He was thankful that both he and his students were already comfortable using Nearpod before the pandemic started. However, he knew that the way he instructed his students remotely would look a little different. He also knew how important his role was in preparing future educators to enter into classrooms of their own, potentially spending their first year of teaching to students amidst a pandemic. He knew that in addition to building their confidence in curriculum and design, it was now also crucial to teach them how to instruct their future classrooms in hyflex or remote learning situations. He has made it a point to introduce his students to digital technology that they may encounter once they enter their own classrooms and are responsible for educating their own group of students.

When Dr. Gentry’s students transitioned to remote learning, he wanted to ensure that his students were still receiving the same level of instruction as they would have been getting when they were physically in the classroom. He relied on an old instructional method to engage students, which encouraged classroom discussion before, during, and after learning a new concept. This also allowed him to have a better understanding of what students understood before and after learning a new topic. He facilitated these types of discussions where students could share their ideas and opinions through Nearpod’s Collaborate Board feature. 

Dr. Gentry believes that Nearpod is a much more affordable option compared to other digital learning platforms on the market. He also believes that Nearpod has much more to offer thanks to its integration with other tools such as Google Slides. Another benefit for him is that he and his students only need to manage one login to gain access to a multitude of resources. 

With Nearpod, professors save time by streamlining their workflow to create and deliver interactive lessons with one singular platform. They can use this singular platform, instead of many, to find everything they need. It’s in Nearpod.

Nearpod Team

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

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HyFlex instruction is a combination of in person instruction and online learning. Students learning online may participate live through video conferencing or watching a recorded video of the instruction. This method of instruction recently became popular among schools across the country due to the pandemic. Universities, which typically have larger class sizes, looked to this method of instruction as a way to continue to safely educate their students. One benefit to HyFlex learning during the pandemic was that it reduced class sizes. HyFlex classrooms allow for part of the class to be physically distanced from one another in the classroom while another group of students learns remotely. 

Dr. Mallinson began implementing Nearpod in the Fall of 2019. He was both curious and hopeful that the platform would increase student engagement in his classroom. With class sizes averaging around 50 students, he believed the platform would allow him to customize content to meet the different needs of his classes and students. He found that the tools and features in Nearpod allowed students to freely share and communicate their ideas. He also noticed that Nearpod made it easier for students to collaborate with one another. Real-time insights delivered in the platform allowed him to assess how well his students were comprehending the information he was teaching based on their responses and engagement through Nearpod activities. 

Nearpod’s platform makes it easy for him to streamline all types of content into one place. Dr. Mallinson uses Nearpod to design his own lessons and embed important videos and links to enhance his curriculum and keep his students up to date on current events. He uses videos from social media platforms such as YouTube and Nearpod’s weblink feature to integrate URLs from various websites.

In addition to using video and website integration, Dr. Mallinson discovered that the collaborative tools that promoted discussion and sharing of ideas within the platform were beneficial to his students. Like most classrooms, Dr. Mallinson has a combination of students who are very vocal and some who are less talkative during discussions. By allowing students to communicate their opinions and thinking through Nearpod, he found that even his most quiet students were given the opportunity to have a voice in his classroom.

“Nearpod allows all of my students to have a voice in the classroom.”

Flash forward to the Spring of 2020. Dr. Mallinson found himself looking for ways to adapt his classroom for remote learning. Nearpod has become an integral tool for that. He already knew that utilizing Nearpod allowed him to quickly assess student understanding through the interactive lessons, interactive videos, gamification, and activities. One of the most beneficial aspects of Nearpod was that it allowed him to continue to hold meaningful discussions with his students, even while they were not physically in the classroom.  

Eventually, Dr. Mallinson had to adapt his instructional model again. During the 2020-2021 school year, Dr. Mallinson continued to use Nearpod as his classroom instruction changed to a HyFlex classroom. This meant that only half of his class was physically present in the classroom at one time. The other half of his students would work remotely from their homes. He found that Nearpod allowed him to continue to have students collaborate together whether they were physically in class or on Zoom. His students were able to continue to share their ideas and respond to questions by using Nearpod’s lesson activity features. Nearpod activity features such as polls, open-ended questions, and Collaborate Boards help him continue to engage with his students no matter where they were located.

“Using Nearpod in a HyFlex classroom made it easier to  engage students both in the classroom and on Zoom.”

Dr. Mallinson describes himself as someone who is passionate about correctly implementing technology in the classroom. Recently, he wanted to investigate how the use of technology in the classroom affected student engagement. He discovered that students were more likely to share ideas, ask questions, and interact with their peers when Nearpod was incorporated into their curriculum. He observed that the classroom discussions that took place within Nearpod gave his students a space to share ideas on how to create change in the world and problem solve. 

Through discussions his students had within Nearpod, he noticed that his students felt more inspired to take more active roles in their communities at the local, state, and national levels.

About Daniel Mallinson:

Daniel Mallinson received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the Pennsylvania State University. His expertise lies in state and local politics and policy, with his main research focus examining the mechanics of policy diffusion among the U.S. states. Additional interests include public administration and public policy as well as statistical methodology.

He is particularly interested in Pennsylvania State politics and has experience as an Information Specialist for the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission and a Program Analyst for the Office of Inspector General in Philadelphia (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). He has published in a variety of journals, including Policy Studies Journal, State Politics & Policy Quarterly, State & Local Government Review, and Statistics, Policy, & Politics. He received the Robert S. Friedman Award for Excellence in Teaching from Penn State University and has published about pedagogy in political science in PS: Political Science & Politics.

Nearpod Team

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

nearpod.com/

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Financial Time Review stressed that Australian schools are tech-ready, not teachers. Local educational solutions are insufficient to support teachers in designing self-paced and interactive learning experiences. “I have always found it really frustrating to be switching between different platforms to deliver my lessons,” says Tara McDonald, teacher at Durack State School. To solve this problem, many Australian teachers have reached out to international educational technology providers like Nearpod. “Nearpod has alleviated this issue as I am able to embed all features of my lessons within the one platform,” McDonald shares, “my lessons are far more engaging for students and [Nearpod] provides me with high quality data based on student responses immediately.”

In the wake of Covid-19, Australian education has been forced to adapt. Public schools suspended all first-term classes, and millions of students of all levels have taken their studies online. PwC reported that in Australia, the pandemic required teachers to rapidly adjust to new learning modes and adopt collaborative technologies to increase student engagement.  

Now, let’s look deeper into the future of Australia’s edtech sector and how collaborative technology will soon become dominant in teaching and learning across the country.

How will collaborative technology shape the future of Australian education?

More than half of Australian students bring their own computers or laptops to class. More than 75% of Australian teachers often let students use digital devices for projects such as classwork. As Australian teachers and students are more familiar with technology, they’ve started to try collaborative technology to improve teaching and learning engagement.  

Sheridan Smith, teacher at Bangor Public School, has been using Nearpod to teach students with severe vision impairment. The platform allows her students to access the curriculum and complete assignments right from their iPads. “I use Nearpod across many key learning areas and the benefits for differentiation are endless,” she confirms. Tran Minh Hien shares the same experience when she teaches research skills at Monash Malaysia. Even though the training room is small, she says, students sitting far from the project screen can still follow the lessons by accessing Nearpod on their devices.  

Collaborative technology also allows teachers to run small self-space groups and ask questions based on each group’s learning level. Students will get appropriate activities, making them feel confident to share their ideas in the classroom by writing text, drawing, or recording. “Like most classes, my class had a wide range of ability levels, so the ‘draw-it’ tool means that in every [Nearpod] lesson I create, everyone is going to be able to share their ideas with the class, regardless of ability level,” says Sam Korsch, kindergarten teacher. 

Not only K-12 students are beneficial from collaborative technology, so are higher education students. According to Andrew Trosic, lecturer at Curtin University, even though adult students may be hesitant to engage sometimes, he can “respectfully and safely engage students” by using open-ended questions and quizzes in online student engagement platforms.

Nearpod even offers a popular virtual reality feature. Teachers can create lessons that allow students to fully experience a site or an event as if they were actually there. “With Nearpod VR, I have taken my students to visit the Pyramids in Egypt, Machu Picchu, the Terracotta Warriors, Angkor Wat and so many other places, without even having to leave our Sydney classroom,” says Karina Parker, teacher at Wahroonga Adventist School. This level of technology integration can change how distance and in-person students learn and reinforce a sense of connection to their studies. 

Wrapping up

Technology has made great inroads in Australia’s education system over the years. More innovative startups join the edtech sector; hardware ranging from smart whiteboards to tablets is common in schools, and educational apps continue to be widely used every day. With the rise of BYOD in schools and increased demand for engagement in classrooms, the application of collaborative technology to teaching and learning will become dominant in the years ahead. 

Are you an Australian educator looking for a flexible educational platform to improve students’ engagement? Give Nearpod a try. Nearpod provides engaging lessons and formative, real-time assessments to make every lesson interactive and collaborative.

Lavender Nguyen

Lavender is a full-time freelance writer for SaaS and e-commerce. She’s obsessed with research, writing, and reading. Learn more about her at lavenderwrites.com.

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The Higher Colleges is renowned as an applied higher education institution, which continuously leverages cutting edge innovation and technology in its teaching and learning operations, including the large-scale adoption of iPads in 2012 for use in its Foundations program. As a result, over 5,000 iPads were distributed to students across the UAE, as part of HCT’s digital learning strategy and in order to support a paperless environment. To complement this ground-breaking approach, HCT faculty engaged various educational technology tools, such as Nearpod’s interactive presentation tool. As the use of iPads expanded to include a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) system, Nearpod continued to be a mainstay of the HCT’s technology-focused instruction, with its gold-level licenses gaining widespread application.

The Teaching with Technology (TWT) team, managed by Sarah Whittaker, surveyed the faculty on the preferred tools being implemented in the class, with Nearpod being the primary choice. As a result, in the fall of 2017 HCT opted to purchase a district license for all faculty to access. 

In order to enable the large-scale implementation of Nearpod by faculty in their classes, the TWT team provided support and several professional development opportunities, which incorporated both technical and pedagogical considerations. Since the acquisition and implementation of the Nearpod district license at HCT, over 2500 hours in Nearpod training have been delivered, with over 50 faculty members becoming Nearpod Certified Educators.

Nearpod has proved to be an invaluable tool since HCT’s  transition to fully online classes in March 2020. In September 2019, approximately 1000 Nearpod lessons were launched with over 19,000 students joining. Those numbers rose dramatically to over 3,000 lessons launched to just over 61,500 students in September 2020. Since March 2020, approximately 14,600 lessons have been launched by HCT instructors, providing engaging, online learning experiences to over 270,000 students. Even with the partial return to face-to-face classes at HCT, Nearpod continues to be a popular tool with both faculty and students. 

Nearpod has long been utilized by HCT instructors who seek to create and deliver engaging lessons for students, in both face-to-face learning and, increasingly, online environments. Being able to create interactive presentations that guide learners through an entire lesson ensures that active learning is happening in the class. 

Challenges:

• Transitioning from a traditional lecture-based teaching environment to a more interactive teaching strategy
• Addressing the educational technology needs of 16 campuses and multiple divisions
• Ensuring student attention and comprehension of course content, particularly in an online learning environment
• Assessing student learning needs on a regular basis

Solutions:

• Nearpod provided a tool that eased the transition for faculty who had been used to delivering lectures by way of PowerPoint, affording them the opportunity to provide interactive and engaging lessons for students while retaining the core of their content.
• Nearpod school libraries are useful for the HCT Faculties, bringing together faculty members from different campuses to share lessons that cover subjects.
• Nearpod provides ways for instructors to see which students are participating and whether or not they comprehend the delivered content.
• Instructors are able to see what students are doing within the platform, in real time, and provide immediate feedback. 
• Nearpod reports provide insight for teachers regarding student progress and open the door for contingency lesson planning. 

Keys to success:

• Providing relevant and timely professional development
• Allowing ease of access to the license and their Faculty’s (school) library
• Supporting instructors’ Nearpod Certified Educator applications 
• Offering technical support as required by instructors 
• Disseminating Nearpod updates in our monthly TWT newsletter
• Using and demonstrating Nearpod while providing other professional development training to faculty

Popular Nearpod features: 

• The Notes feature helps students stay on track and study after class without the instructor needing to re-share slides/activities.
• The student-paced mode allows instructors to track flipped classroom content. It also allows students who were absent to review the lesson and provides interactive revision of the lesson content.  
• Being able to add direct links in their Learning Management System, Blackboard, allows students to easily access the lesson and keeps the students’ names consistent in the reports.

Nearpod Team

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

nearpod.com/

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