Nearpod. <www.nearpod.com>

Abstract

Nearpod. <www.nearpod.com> Kelly Kidder Nearpod is a presentational tool that provides a high degree of customization for instructors and engaging interaction for students. Creating lessons is simple and intuitive and begins with selecting the type of slide you want to make. Each slide can be a "content" slide or an "activity" slide. Content slides allow for text, text with audio, images, GIFs, web content, videos, slideshows, or pdf files. There is also something uniquely relevant to foreign language, the Virtual Reality Field Trip. Activity slides allow for quiz games (think Kahoot), open-ended questions, matching pairs, quizzes, Flipgrid, Draw It, collaboration boards, polls, fill in the blank activities, and memory cards. The range in choices is amazing and allows for personalized, fun instruction. Nearpod is free at the silver level but additional storage space costs more. At certain subscriber levels, pre-made content is available for French and Spanish. Navigating Nearpod's interface is easy and several of the features are perfect for world language instruction. When making content slides, it is nice to be able to record pronunciations of the words and it is easy to provide comprehensible input. Similarly, the open-ended question slide makes it easy to read a passage or share a video and then pose a question. Students can provide output by looking at and describing images (they can easily record audio) in the target language. Another great feature for language teachers is the interactive video. Teachers can select video content and embed questions (multiple-choice or open-ended) straight into the video (much like Edupuzzle). Finally, if teachers have already created presentations in Google Slides or PowerPoint it is easy to upload these into Nearpod and to add activity slides to make them more interactive. Nearpod can be used LIVE in class (each student receives a code to join the lesson, no download necessary). Students can access the lesson on their individual device or Nearpod can be combined with Zoom when presenting. A third, self-paced option allows students to access lessons on their own time. Lessons can be designed to reinforce what has been taught in class, to provide all the instruction, or to be completed as homework. Speaking of homework or quizzes, Nearpod keeps reports for each class and each student so that teachers can assess participation. Quizzes, matching activities, and fill-in-the-blank are graded automatically. One of the few things less user friendly about Nearpod is that editing the lesson invalidates the lesson's code. It is annoying to create a lesson, send the code to students, and then decide to change or add something. However, the Nearpod team listens and frequently makes improvements, so this could change. In all, Nearpod has been, for me, the most user-friendly platform with the most variety. Accessing all of these features in one place saves time and effort. To see one of my lessons, please visit <share.nearpod.com/vsph/K6OrH65cNu>. [End Page 261] Kelly Kidder Lipscomb University (TN) Copyright © 2021 American Association of Teachers of French