Nearpod

With the increasing tech savvy population and evolution of smart devices, the education sector is undergoing a significant transformation in terms of culture by shifting to a more digital-driven learning model. Powered by the adoption of tablets and smartphones, mobile technology has taken the idea of interactive teaching and learning to a whole new level. Integrating the idea of education with mobile apps, Guido Kovalskys, a serial entrepreneur, co-founded Nearpod—a unique mobile learning platform designed for the synchronized use of mobile devices in education. “At Nearpod, we strive to empower educators to create learning experiences that engage and inspire millions of students around the world,” states Kovalskys, Co-Founder and CEO, Nearpod.

Nearpod helps teachers engage students with fun and interactive content, collect and share student response instantly, and assists teachers track a student’s comprehension in real time. The app brings classrooms to life with interactive mobile presentations that teachers can create and customize themselves. The proprietary app assists teachers to easily share synchronized lessons with diverse types of content and interactive activities. Available on iOS, Android, and Windows Phone, Nearpod provides real-time feedback and comprehensive post-session reports that help the teaching staff to download report data and integrate it with their Learning Management System (LMS). The app is available in two different editions—school edition and district edition. While the school edition offers the full Nearpod experience with enhanced benefits and new features, the district edition centrally manages all schools with exclusive features.

Nearpod recently released its Learning Tool Interoperability (LTI) for Canvas, a rapidly growing Learning Management Software (LMS) company with that assists students to view course content, complete coursework, collaborate with peers, and receive feedback from their instructors. This integration will help Nearpod’s Gold, School, or District License users have the ability to launch asynchronous presentations for students to move at their own pace.

We strive to empower educators to create learning experiences that engage and inspire millions of students around the world

With the Nearpod Canvas LTI tool, teachers can embed Nearpod Homework presentations right in a Canvas module, enabling students to be automatically directed to the Nearpod Homework presentation that is assigned to their section. Moreover, students never have to use a PIN to log in to the Nearpod presentation—they can simply click the page within the module and will be directed to the Nearpod Homework session that was added through the LTI.

Teachers have access to their entire Nearpod Library and can easily add any presentation that has been published with one click. With the integration of Nearpod in Canvas, not only can it be used as an assignment, but also be a valuable review and give students a perfect place to view all the content delivered in class. The fully embedded presentation can be easily found in the Canvas module along with all related content ultimately helping organize the reports. Nearpod LTI provides educators the ability to have engaging content in an incredibly efficient way. Canvas helps deliver course content at any time of the day or night. Having the ability to use Nearpod and Canvas enhances the effectiveness of both tools for reaching the needs of the students who use them.

Recently, Nearpod teamed up with SpaceIL, an Israeli space exploration non-profit, to promote STEM education. The company has also added new features like Google Classroom integration, interactive preview of lessons and virtual field trips in Nearpod for an enhanced and interactive learning session. Forging ahead, Nearpod aims to continue providing best-in-class solutions to the education sector.