Besides OneNote, many
of us use PowerPoint slides as our main tool when it comes to lesson delivery. It
is a very traditional tool that contains most of our lesson content and is handy
when teaching in the classroom. But how is teaching effective without gauging
how students are able to follow the lesson and understand what is being taught?
Therefore the emphasis on formative assessment.
Introducing Nearpod,
an online tool whereby a presentation deck of slides comes with the capability
of embedding activities comprising question types such as multiple choice and open-ended
questions. There are other existing tools whereby Assessment for Learning could
be conducted, for example via Microsoft Forms, Kahoot, Spectrum and Literatu.
However, Nearpod offers the added capability of allowing students to present
their answers in the form of drawings.
Here are some reasons
why you would want to try out Nearpod:
Create easily:
It is easy to put up
your lesson content on Nearpod. The interface is user friendly and creating a
lesson is fast. You can also add a decent range of activities to check on your
students’ understanding.
Teacher’s screen: Lesson content options.
Teacher’s screen: Choices of question types.
Slides can be uploaded onto Nearpod and used just like a normal presentation.
“Draw It” function:
I think the best part of Nearpod is that it
allows students to present their answers in the form of a drawing. A picture is
worth a thousand words. You may either use an empty canvass or even put in an
image for students to add on their answers to it.
Join spontaneously:
Just like the popular Kahoot
tool, students need only to key in a short PIN (called CODE in Nearpod
terminology) to access the quiz via their PLDs or smartphones.
Screenshot of teachers’ screen.
Screenshot of students’ screen on mobile phone/
PLD.
Awaiting students’ responses.
Teacher’s view of students’ responses.
Individual students’ response being shown on the teacher’s computer.
Instant feedback:
Teachers can give immediate
feedback after the students have submitted their answers to address any areas
for improvement. Peer critique can also be carried out, whereby students
question their peers’ answers and suggest alternative answers. This allows the
students to learn as a community, build on one another’s answers and learn from
common misconceptions surfaced during the quiz.
Analysis of results:
Nearpod generates
reports showing the performance of the students. Teachers can use the data to
assess how well or badly the students did for the formative assessment and
adjust their pedagogy and pace of lesson.
Hope you find this
tool useful in carrying out formative assessment for your classes. If you have
any questions or feedback please let us know!
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