As learners increasingly demand a shift to hands-on, constructivist presentation methods, educators must explore and utilize techniques and tools that engage learners in active, participatory assessments. This lab will highlight the features within NearPod, an interactive presentation and assessment tool, that converts everyday presentations into powerful tools for student engagement.
As learners increasingly demand a shift from staid and static presentation methods, educators must explore and utilize techniques and tools that engage learners in active, participatory assessments. Moreover, selecting tools that can transcend different operating systems, platforms and modalities can be tricky. NearPod is an interactive presentation and assessment tool all rolled into one - it can be used with any web-enabled device, giving users the power to convert their everyday presentations into tools of student engagement. It supports hybrid delivery modes, and can be implemented as a teacher-paced or student-paced experience. Better still, in this time where analytics must inform our perspectives on student engagement and retention, users can generate reports and formative data that can be used to drive future instruction.
This hands-on, BYOD session is meant to be hands on, fully participatory and interactive. Participants will walk through a process that will leave them with a unique application for how they might use NearPod in their teaching and learning. They will:
- UNDERSTAND Nearpod via a brief sample lesson
- DEFINE a specific challenge that will help their target audience better engage with the learning content
- IDEATE on several approaches to using Nearpod’s diverse tools and capabilities (Collaborate, 3D, VR, Sway, Polls, Quizzes, Open Ended Response, Draw-it, Interactives)
- PROTOTYPE a sample lesson of their own using an existing presentation
- TEST the success of their new lesson by sharing it with their fellow participants and collecting feedback
Participants will leave this session with not only a better understanding of Nearpod, but the applicable deliverable of a solid approach for assessing new technology and its effectiveness in various teaching and learning environments. The session presenters, all technologists at Northern Virginia Community College, will spend time guiding the presenters through practical uses of Nearpod to support active, constructivist learning in various contexts. As such, all are welcome to join on on this hands-on collaboration.