Thessaloniki August 2023
This week I will be presenting at the 20th Biennial EARLI Conference, hosted by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the University of Macedonia, Greece. The conference theme is “Education as a Hope in Uncertain Times”. I will be presenting a 90-minute ICT demonstration and sharing my work with Nearpod interactive presentations.
I will share all of the materials relevant to the presentation here and will share this post with the audience at the conference. My session is on Friday, August 25th, from 8:00 – 9:30.
ICT DEMONSTRATION
Meet Nearpod: A game-changing tool for student engagement
Abstract
In this hands-on, interactive techno-pedagogical demonstration, we will explore Nearpod, a teacher-friendly digital platform used in schools and higher education in face-to-face, remote and hybrid learning contexts. I will show how educators at all levels can benefit from a variety of tools for alternative assessment in synchronous and asynchronous lessons. Participants will experience the use of interactive slides, games and collaborative activities, which encourage active learning and engagement for all students.
In addition to presenting the tool and its pedagogical possibilities, I will present data from a recent study on pedagogy of care in online settings. Students describe the ways in which Nearpod enhanced their engagement and learning during COVID-19 and discuss how the tool motivated them and connected them to the lecturer and course content.
Summary
Emerging from the traumatic COVID-19 period, many educators are searching for ways to pursue further professional learning in techno-pedagogy. After experiencing teaching with digital tools during the pandemic, they are eager to learn about and adopt digital tools which suit their educational aims and their students’ unique needs. Many continue to grapple with questions about the role of ICT technologies in the classroom.
This hands-on workshop will introduce participants to Nearpod, an interactive tool used in 150 countries for teaching, learning, and assessment in schools and institutions of higher education. Nearpod can be activated on computers, tablets and mobile phones. The tool collects student responses in synchronous and asynchronous contexts, providing immediate feedback for the educator and allowing an opportunity to adjust instruction to cater for unfolding student needs. Educators receive detailed reports of individual and class achievement levels, which can become integral to ongoing formative and summative assessments. Preparing lessons and educational activities using Nearpod is efficient and straightforward to learn. Educators can upload their own presentations and slides and turn them quickly into interactive Nearpod learning experiences.
In this demonstration, participants will experience Nearpod as students and instructors, actively engaging in each of the activities offered by the digital platform. Participants will learn about the tool by using it. The pedagogical benefits of the activities in face-to-face, remote and hybrid contexts will be explored. Activities will include collaborative boards, competitive games, quizzes, text annotation, drawing boards, polls, and questions embedded into videos. Examples will be drawn from elementary classes and courses for pre-service teachers, illustrating the wide range of contexts in which Nearpod is effective. After each activity, participants will be invited to reflect on the experience, ask questions, and discuss how Nearpod can be incorporated into classroom practice and suited to different age levels and content areas. Participants will generate a list of ways to incorporate the tools in their unique teaching contexts.
This ninety-minute workshop will not be a technical tutorial; we will concentrate on techno-pedagogy, incorporating the tool in courses of instruction in ways that enrich the learning experience for all learners. We will explore the tool’s potential in face-to-face and distance learning settings. Following the presentation, participants aspiring to use Nearpod in their teaching will receive links to teacher-friendly technical tutorials and appropriate instructional materials.
Increasingly, studies are identifying the connection between digital tools and increased engagement (Mallinson, 2022). Researchers in a broad range of fields working with a variety of age groups have recommended Nearpod for generating active and engaging learning experiences, motivating students, and facilitating timely assessment (e.g. Burton, 2019; Buttrey, 2021; Mallinson, 2022; Mattei & Ennis, 2014; Messina et al., 2022).
In addition to presenting the tool and its pedagogical possibilities, data from a recent study on a pedagogy of care in an online flipped classroom course for pre-service teachers will be shared. In interviews, participants expressed their enthusiasm for Nearpod and described how the tool enhanced their engagement and learning during the pandemic. They discussed how the digital platform motivated them, supported them in their studies, and connected them to the lecturer and course content.
The presenter of the workshop is an experienced classroom teacher and teacher-educator in higher education. She has been inspired by Nearpod and designs creative learning experiences for her students in online and face-to-face settings. Recently she has completed practitioner research into her online teaching online during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants in this presentation will be able to critically evaluate the functions of Nearpod and assess its suitability for their own educational needs.
Note: The presenter is not connected in any way to the company or marketing of Nearpod.
Website: https://nearpod.com
Burton, R. (2019). A review of Nearpod – an interactive tool for student engagement. Journal of Applied Learning & Teaching, 2(2), 95–97.
Buttrey, K. (2021). Inclusion, engagement, and Nearpod: Providing a digital alternative to traditional instruction. Kentucky Teacher Education Journal, 8(1), 1–12.
Jing, T. W., & Yue, W. S. (2016). Real-time assessment with Nearpod in the BYOD classroom. In S. F. Tang & L. Logonnathan (Eds.), Assessment for learning within and beyond the classroom (pp. 103–107). Springer.
Mallinson, D. J. (2022). Nearpod: Classroom learning platform. Journal of Political Science Education, 18(3), 411–416.
Mattei, M. D., & Ennis, E. (2014). Continuous, real-time assessment of every student’s progress in the flipped higher education classroom using Nearpod. Journal of Learning in Higher Education, 10(1), 1–7.
Messina, D. M., Mikhail, S. S., Messina, M. J., & Novopoltseva, I. A. (2022). Assessment of learning outcomes of first year dental students using an interactive Nearpod educational platform. Journal of Dental Education, 86(7), 893–899.
Additional articles about Nearpod
Caroy, A. A. (2023). A Technology Report on Nearpod. RELC Journal, 0(0).
Maria Jesus Vinolo-Gil, García-Campanario, I., Lagares-Franco, C., Gonzalez-Medina, G., Rodríguez-Huguet, M., & Martín-Vega, F. J. (2023). Satisfaction level and performance of physiotherapy students in the knowledge of musculoskeletal disorders through Nearpod: Preliminary reports. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(1), 99.
McClean, S., & Crowe, W. (2017). Making room for interactivity: using the cloud-based audience response system Nearpod to enhance engagement in lectures. FEMS Microbiology Letters, 364(6), fnx052. https://doi.org/10.1093/femsle/fnx052
Wang, J., & Chia, I. (2022). Engaging students via nearpod® in synchronous online teaching. Management Teaching Review, 7(3), 245-253.
