What are Nearpod users saying about the software?

Nearpod for Distance Learning

Focused Lessons Providing Immediate Student Data

As a teacher, I loved using Nearpod for engaging student learning experiences. My students enjoyed the variety of activities we could complete together as a class, and no one fell behind during the lesson. As an administrator, I also use Nearpod to keep staff on the same page as I introduce professional development materials.

Pros

I most enjoy Nearpod's customizable lesson platform. A teacher can include assessments, polls, virtual field trips, and even links to outside sources throughout their lesson. Nearpod's ability to keep every student on the same slide at the same time is also powerful for classroom management.

Cons

The only negative aspect of Nearpod is that not all of the features are free. I wish I was able to utilize all the site's function's without having to pay, but I do feel that Nearpod is worth paying for.

Nearpod for Education

I love the "time to climb" aspect when I am teaching a live lesson. Students visually can see their progress and this motivates them to continue.

Pros

I like the funcionality of nearpod in allowing the creation an sharing of a lesson in a fun format. With Nearpod, I can import a lesson that I have already created in Google slides, power point or I can create them through nearpod. I can embed a virtual field trip, musical links and audio files throughout my created lesson. As I am giving a live lesson, each student sees my annotations and discovers for themselves the lesson, as it allows themm to individually work through an assignment.

Cons

Nearpod does not make it easy for me to see what my students are doing all at the same time. It does not let me see the notes that they took.

Not for me

Overall, I found Nearpod very challenging to use. While there are plenty of examples and use cases, this tool simply doesn't have the ROI for me to continue using.

Pros

Nearpod offers a pleathora of features and options to make learning engaging for it's users (students for example).

Cons

Personally, I found it very challenging to use. The amount of time needed to invest in creating and inputing content was not worth the return.

Nearpod

I can execute better my lesson plans and reach the learning goals that I set at the beggining of the term

Pros

In these times when students have too many distractors and consume too many information, I found that Nearpod allows me to center the students attention and participation in an easy and fun way. It also allows me to execute my lesson plan more accurately in terms of the learning process goals and objectives. The platform is easy to use for both, teachers and students.

Cons

I don´t find any cons at this moment. I rather say that it is in constantly development

Bringing Engagement Back to the Classroom and PD

Nearpod is an educational technology company that puts educators and students first. They continually improve their product and understand today's school and classroom.

Pros

Nearpod is a must-have tool for educators. It is engaging and has students interacting with their education. Nearpod has a free version that contains a lot of features but also has a paid version. Nearpod has so many different ways to make lessons interactive. They also have an extensive library of well-developed lessons and they keep up to date with current events. Nearpod is at the top of my ed tech tools list.

Cons

The free version is limiting, but it still offers a lot. Sometimes the new and amazing updates are delayed on the app, but work on the web.

My new favorite distance learning tools!

We had more teachers use this service than any other offered because they said it was very user friendly and it gave them great immediate feedback on student progress.

Pros

I am the director of educational technology at a school that recently shifted to virtual learning. We gave our teachers several lesson delivery/classroom management services to try out and this was their favorite. Nearpod has a great resource library with lots of great videos and lesson content. You also can track everything about how a student engages with the content you post.

Cons

I am curious how expensive it is going to be. The service is free right now because of COVID-19 but we will definitely need to invest in it next year.

A Review about Nearpod as a University Education Student

Nearpod makes every lesson interactive and engaging to students as it has activities that make students give their expressions, opinions, answers, etc. in real-time that gives the opportunity to teachers to assess the students in real-time and at the same time give feedbacks too. On the other hand, I think the limited version makes it hard for us practice teachers for our demonstration teachings but at the same time we are challenged to maximize the limitations on our lesson implementation. But if I have the money to avail the premium version, I will definitely purchase it.

Pros

What I like the most about this software is that it is very helpful for me as a teacher-student in my demonstration teaching in an online setup. Even though that the teaching-learning process is not in face-to-face settings, Nearpod I must say is one of the educational tools that are very useful for making every lesson engaging to the students. Again, it has default features where the students can drag & drop elements in a slide, use an interactive whiteboard, answer open-ended questions, answer quizzes and polls and get a real-time result, interact with one another through collaborate board, and many more.

Cons

I think what I like the least about this software is the limitation in the free version. As a student that usually cannot afford such a subscription, this gives us the challenge to use the limited version and maximize it for the learning of our students. In the free version, the storage that we can use must only be within 100MB and at the same time, only 40 students can join per lesson. But good thing that whenever we have a demo, it's like the maximum number of students that I only handle is 35 students so that I do not have any problem when accommodating them. Also, I heard that in premium versions that Nearpod can be integrated into a lot of other software like specific LMS or google applications like Google Docs that is useful for organizing things. What I suggest is that give also those features to the free version but at the same time have limitations too so that we as practice teachers will be able to practice using this application on some of their premium features so that it will be easy if we are going to avail it in the future if we are already a licensed teacher.

I love Nearpod

Pros

I love that it’s so interactive and the selection bank of pre made videos and activities

Cons

I really don’t have to many complaints other than having to pay for the subscription

Fun addition to the online learning

Overall it is a great product. There are so many features and ways to present material. There is also a large bank of things to draw from when developing slides.

Pros

This is a great interactive tool for teaching student's when they are remote. I liked that I could insert my own google slides and add quick formative assessments to the presentation.

Cons

I do not like how these presentations time out and have to be reopened after a while.

A must have for the classroom

As described above, I use this every day. It is something the kids love using and gives you immediate results. I use it mostly as a teacher led tool, but use the student led, which is at their own pace occasionally. You can create your own lessons or search the very extensive lessons in the Nearpod library. You can also save searched lessons and modify them to meet the needs of your class.!

Pros

I love almost everything about this. I started using this three years ago and it became a go-to. Since covid, it has been my most used tool. The best thing is the kids LOVE it, especially the "Time to Climb". You can create interactive lessons, as well as quizzes and so much more.

Cons

NOTHING. This program has so many useful things for teaching and learning. I guess the one downfall is in order to save over a certain amount of lessons, you have to have the upgraded membership, which in my opinion, is worth every cent.

Nearpod for the win!

I use Nearpod almost weekly for a variety of needs: remediation, review, enrichment

Pros

Nearpod provides many opportunities for students inside the classroom. The virtual field trips are our favorite. The lessons created by the Nearpod Team are excellent. I like the fact that I can change the ready made lessons to fit my students' needs.

Cons

Nearpod continues to improve and meet my needs.

My 6th Graders Love It

Nearpod has been an incredible time safer. It is easy to use and delivers content in a fun and powerful way. My students are challenged each day through the creative lessons and I live the results I am seeing thus far.

Pros

Nearpod has been a life saver this year. I love the fact my students can each login to Nearpod individually, and yet still work on the content together as a class. I love having the option of assigning tasks that students can work on at their own pace at home or with the pace of the class during a live lesson. I also love the amount of content that is available for me to modify or use outright. It makes planning my lessons quick, and, if their is something I need to review or cover again, I can quickly add it or copy a slide/activity from a prior lesson. My students love the virtual field trips, of which there are many. We have traveled all over the world this year without leaving our homes. They also enjoy the games like matching and "Time to Climb." Finally, I love the fact I can compare student data from the lessons and easily enter it in my grade book.

Cons

There is nothing I dislike about Nearpod. I would only recommend even more lessons and games added in the future. I would like to see an option of split-screen, so the teacher can show the student/lesson slides, while keeping the teacher side/information private. I currently use two screens with two logins to do this, so it works for me. But, on the rare occasions this year when I only had one screen, I had to use my phone to view the teacher side, in order to keep student data private. I teach through Zoom, so I have to be mindful of what I broadcast.

The perfect tool for asynchronous work and differentiation

Nearpod has been an incredible addition to my self-contained English as a Second Language classroom. My new to country students are emergent in their language and literacy skills, but are able to navigate Nearpod easily after only a few tutorial sessions. It has made a huge difference in what work I can provide for them to do during independent work time while I meet with small groups. Seriously, this is an instructional game changer. I was lucky enough to have a small class size that allowed us to be 1:1 for devices, but this would have worked by staggering online and offline activities as well.

Pros

Nearpod is an incredibly easy to navigate platform. The interface with Google Slides is seamless and allows for greater creativity in building slide decks for instruction. It has a variety of student response types (matching, drawing, multiple choice, short answer, etc.) and they are adding features on a regular basis. This program is especially helpful for providing the same instruction at asynchronous times (student-paced option) or for guiding synchronous lessons across devices (live lesson option). Reports let you know who logged in to the lesson as well as what their responses were to various prompts. There are a wealth of lessons in the lesson library that you can launch as is or modify to fit your instructional needs. Because students are able to work through it independently, you can use Nearpod as an independent work station and have students logged into remediation, practice, or enrichment lessons simultaneously. Because you can record audio over slides as well as within question prompts, this is an excellent tool to differentiate for students who need accommodations and who are emergent in their literacy skills. Nearpod also works as an excellent tool for delivering professional development as you can record audio over slides, embed videos, and link to outside sources.

Cons

Audio recording is only available through lessons created within Nearpod (cannot be imported through Google Slides extension), but I'm sure this is something that will be modified in future updates.

Great Software for Interactive Learning

Nearpod takes off the stress that online learning has imposed on our backs. It makes learning fun and engaging and without a doubt, I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone else considering getting any software to make online learning more effective.

Pros

This software is one of my favorites to use in the classroom, especially during these times of online learning. Often, students have their videos turned off during online classes. So, there is no way for teachers to tell if they are engaged in the lesson or off doing something else. Online classes don't allow student-teacher relationships to be as intimate if they were before. Teachers cannot get to know their students through their responses and tailor their way of teaching to fit the needs of the students. With Nearpod, this is made possible. Using Nearpod benefits both students and teachers. It allows teachers to ensure students are paying attention to the lesson and students to make sure they are retaining something from it. Overall it is a very easy-to-use software and the free version has a lot of great features.

Cons

There are very few things to dislike about this software. I do hope that in the future, Nearpod allows those who do not have access to wifi be able to use the software without as many disruptions, such as the lagging.

Middle school science teacher for 5 years; Instructional Technology Facilitator for 2 hears

Pros

Nearpod is a high-quality, user-friendly, reliable presentation program that could be a valuable asset in every teachers classroom. There is a fee, but it's definitely worth the investment individually or at the school-wide level. For starters, it's easy to create slide decks, but what's amazing is that these presentations can be pushed to student devices or phones instantly and with ease. Students can then follow along and interact with the instructor. Other types of presentations can easily be converted and used within NearPod, too, so you don't have to reinvent good material. Just upload and begin pushing to students with ease. Next, audio and video files can be dropped in to decks which enables students to interact with the multimedia individually or in groups. Beyond that, and perhaps my favorite feature is the ability to collect real-time feedback from students through a wide variety of question types/formats. This enables the presenter to pace the lesson appropriately, follow-up with anyone who may be struggling, or engage students in conversation or clarifications based on the feedback. Next, NearPod has a database of phenomenal content available to educators. Large amounts are free. Some of the content even offers VR360 opportunities for students who are using capable devices. Last, I just appreciate that they are committed to improving their product - always taking steps forward, listening to user concerns, offering loudly support, and advancing.

Cons

It would be great if they could add on some sort of homework feature for students who may not have access to WiFi. I know they are exploring several potentials here, and I think they'll figure out a solution, but this would be helpful for flipping the classroom in Title One environments.

Big fan of Nearpod for Education

All in all, I'm a big fan. I recommend it in the classroom and strongly suggest teachers explore using it. You must be in one-to-one setting.

Pros

I'm a big fan of Nearpod when giving presentations. Here are the pros I see: - Allows students to become active participants in their education. Presenting instructional content is engaging with Nearpod, not just a one-way conversation. - You have the ability to check for understanding with built-in questions. - They have a ton of free resources that are great. - Real-time assessment/feedback. - They've even offered VR field trips that you can take your students on. - It's easy to learn how to use it, navigate, and build presentations. - You can also easily upload presentations from other platforms.

Cons

While I feel that the pros outweigh the cons, here are some problems I see: - It is completely based on your wifi. If you have a weak internet, then Nearpod will be slow and lagging. If you add a lot of students to a presentation, it can also significantly slow down. (Although I realize that this is not necessarily Nearpod's fault - it is worth noting.) - Even though you can check for understanding in real-time, you cannot do so anonymously. It would be nice if you can anonymously assess students from time-to-time. - The subscription is steep - some may think it's worth it and the features are great, but it comes with a price that is a bit much. - The coolness factor will eventually wear off with students.

Interacting Platform for Online Learning

Nearpod has made my life a lot easier. It is simple to use and offers stuff in a fun and effective manner. Nearpod eases the pressure that online learning has placed on our shoulders. Without a doubt, it makes learning enjoyable and interesting. My pupils are challenged every day by the innovative lessons I teach, and I am pleased with the outcomes I have seen thus far. I would not hesitate to suggest it to anyone else contemplating purchasing software to improve the effectiveness of online learning.

Pros

On the Nearpod Platform, teachers may design a complete class. On the presenter screen, the code is ready. When students input the code, they are sent to the first slide, which contains their tasks. All of my instructions, collaboration structures, and supports are easily posted on the slides. This allows me to concentrate on the needs of the students while still completing the tasks I set out to do. Nearpod provides a few teacher features that bring accountability to every session by allowing teachers to see in time who has and has not submitted work. They can then approach to kids who may want support or motivation.

Cons

Nearpod has various drawbacks. The free version has limited capacity, the gold version is absolutely essential. Students can interact with a website when it is displayed, but as you move to the next slide the link disappears. If they need to glance back to perform the task on the next slide, that site is no longer available.

Catholic emelentary use of nearpod

The product is so unique and fun that the students enjoy learning. There are so many academic benefits that I don't think I have enough room to list them all. It can be used in every classroom for all ages and subjects. I even got the school counselors using it with the middle school kids. Like any product, it takes time to make it your own, but it is time well spent.

Pros

I am able to take control of the student's computer screen so they are unable to move ahead or fall behind. I am able to see each student's answer as they submit it. If I want to I can share all responses or select the responses that work for the lesson. I see what each person is doing on their desktop or laptop computer. It saves the data and I can use it to triangulate future data. The students LOVE it and always ask if we can "do a nearpod" today.

Cons

It took me days to purchase a subscription and they tried to "upsell" me and I hate that. I just want to be able to order a subscription online. Instead, I had to call and get transferred, then their system was down and they could not process my credit card. They asked me to call back so I did and it still did not work. I only had the school credit card for a few hours and I was trying to teach. It should not have been so difficult. I almost quit trying but I really really wanted to use the product because it is amazing.

Interactive and Effective Learning with Nearpod

I find Nearpod very fun and effective. My students love it so, learning has been quite fun during this pandemic.

Pros

Nearpod is like the next generation of PowerPoint. It a very effective and interactive way of learning. You can reach all of your students together with Nearpod. It proves very effective in the current scenario. With Nearpod teachers are able to present lessons to students in a whole new way. It combines of audio, video, presentations,quizzes and very beautiful designs which helps the students to remain active and focused during class.

Cons

It's quite expensive which make it not accessible to many organizations. Sometimes students report of facing lags while using the app.

Nearpod for online educators

Overall I am very glad that I came across Nearpod and integrated it into use for live online teaching. It has been particularly useful for quieter students who may not volunteer to speak or give answers verbally as they are prompted to complete tasks on their own which I can then view discreetly as the teacher.

Pros

Nearpod has been fantastic to help make existing class materials more interactive for online lessons. It offers the ability to upload and enhance existing materials, as well as searching from a range of provided templates and lessons that can be edited. Nearpod absolutely offers the ability for online lessons to be interactive for students as it has, for example, surveys and individual tasks that students are prompted to complete on their own as certain times of a presented lesson. The platform allows for lessons to be tailored for a range of age groups and skill levels. It is visually engaging for students and encourages participation.

Cons

I was able to teach myself how to use Nearpod with a concentrated effort but teachers who have not used online platforms for teaching may need some support. The features I could access with a free account were more than enough for my needs, but do note that some things that cannot be used (including some aspects of pre-made/ provided lessons) without a paid subscription.

Great Engagement and Success Tracking

Nearpod is my presentation go-to that helps me deliver information or learning in a fun and efficient way. It allows me to assess my students with reports in real time. I can even share a code with adults then I can track who has accessed it. I often turn to the Nearpod library when I need a last minute lesson-- it gives me content to start with so I don't have to build a lesson from scratch.

Pros

I use Nearpod for training teachers as well as creating and delivering lessons to students. The interactive features such as quizzes, a Time To Climb game, and Draw It keep grownups and kid engaged in the material. The VR "field trips" are amazing also, even if you don't have VR goggles. Nearpod support is great, there is a very active community of users to learn from, and the company is very responsive to feedback.

Cons

There is a learning curve before a person can use Nearpod to its full advantage. There are many premade lessons, but they often need to be customized for specific audiences such as grade level (I have found some of the Kindergarten lessons, for example, are too advanced for most little ones).The file structure and management is also a little awkward.

Nearpod: A game-changing interactive teaching tool

Nearpod has been a game-changer in my teaching - synchronous, asynchronous and hybrid.

Pros

Nearpod is a teacher-friendly digital platform used in face-to-face, remote and hybrid learning contexts. Lessons offering interactive slides, games and collaborative activities encourage active learning and engagement for all students. Educators benefit from a variety of tools for alternative assessment.

Cons

There are still some glitches with the reports produced for the teacher. Products from some activities (e.g 'draw it' activities) are not easy enough to access.

The #1 Student Engagement Tool

I love how there is a product that can bring student learning to life in an easy to facilitate way.

Pros

I love how Nearpod allows you to use Google Slides to upload pre-made lessons into engaging virtual lessons to involve students and check understanding in the virtual world.

Cons

This does not happen often, but sometimes the slides will not save and you literally cannot teach. If the Nearpod is created fully in Nearpod, you do not have slides to fall back on for teaching or providing professional development.

Nearpod for Education

I have recommended Nearpod to whoever is looking for a great tool to use in a classroom. The basic account has limited storage, but the upgraded account will let me make plans for the entire school year. I use this daily to create lessons for all my students and couldn't ask for a better tool.

Pros

I love the functionality of Nearpod. I am able to upload lessons from other programs to create interactive lessons for my students. Nearpod has a lot of features that can be imbedded from other technology reasources, too. In a virtual/hybrid learning situation, Nearpod is a great resource to reach students with and without solid internet access.

Cons

The one feature that has been troublesome is the amount of video data that can be uploaded. I was able to work around this issue by creating my videos as YouTube videos and uploading the links.