Getting Started with Nearpod

Lesson Brainstorm

During this course, you will be creating a Nearpod lesson to use with students. Take some time to plan: 

• What current lesson do you present to students with PPT, Slides, or a PDF that could be enhanced with Nearpod media and made more engaging with Nearpod activities? 

• What is the main learning objective of the lesson?

• Would this be a lesson you teach to students directly in class or would you want to use it as an independent activity (i.e. assignment, station rotation, remediation, enrichment, unit review, etc.)

At the end of this task you will get started creating this lesson. Working on this lesson will be the sole focus of the tasks in the remaining modules as you will continue to build upon what you started this module . Therefore, it is important that you identify an existing lesson you would like to transform from now.  At the end of this course, you will be providing the link to this lesson as evidence of your learning. So not only will this lesson be what earns you credit for this course, but you will come away with something you can use with students! 

Set Lesson Settings and Notifications

• • Once signed in, click the account icon in the top right corner.

  • Click on Lesson Settings 

  • Scroll through this page and toggle settings as specified below. While your account settings are entirely up to you, these are the setting that should be in place for this course (they can be changed after your lesson is reviewed):

    • Autofill student names OFF - When on, students are required to login using their Google or Office credentials in order to join a lesson. When off, students can type in their name or initials and it gives you a way to alleviate EdLaw2d concerns if Nearpod is not approved in your district.

    • Enable Immersive Reader ON - Allow students to access support for text accommodations including text-to-speech, audio, language translation, and more within Nearpod (works for content created in Nearpod).

    • Default to Student View OFF - Turning this off sets Teacher View as default so you can see results of the selected activity in Live Particpation mode. You will still be able to switch back and forth during a lesson regardless of how you set this.

    • Require student responses and prevent skipping OFF - In Student Paced mode, turning this on will require students to respond to activities in a Nearpod and prevent skipping during a video. For this course, since both yourself and I will be reviewing the lesson, turning this OFF temporarily will allow both of us to move through the lesson freely. 

    • Enable Collaborate Board ON  - Allow students to post on a Collaborate Board during a student-paced lesson and see all visible posts from other students with access.

  • Click Notifications (on the left), then click the Manage Notifications button. Check or uncheck which emails you would like to receive, then click the Update Email Preferences button. Close the tab. Then click the Nearpod icon the top left to return to your lesson library. 

Organize you lesson library 

• Click the Folder icon

• Add the folder name (up to you, could be a course name, unit name, etc.

• OPTIONAL: Use the folder's menu of options if you would like to change the color or create unit subfolders.

Create a Lesson

You will now start creating a lesson for your students. You will continue to work with and build this lesson during the remaining modules. This will be lesson you submit at the end of the course. If you did not complete the first components of this Module's task, please revisit this now (see  Lesson Brainstorm above).

• From your lesson libary, click the Createa Lesson button, then Upload a lesson

• Upload an existing PowerPoint or Google Slide you already use to present this topic. You can upload from your device, Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive by selecting the corresponding icon.  If prompted, select the option to upload these as Individual Slides.

• Click Untitled Lesson. Add a lesson title relevant to your lesson and click Enter. Adjusting Lesson Details is optional. 

• Depending on the size of the file, this may take a bit to process. You can click Save & Exit while processing is underway. 

• You will be returned to your Lesson Library. Confirm that you see a tile for the lesson you just created. You may logout or close the tab. You will return to this lesson during the next module's task. 

OPTIONAL: Browse the Nearpod Library

For this course, the focus is learning how to build Nearpod lessons from scratch or your existing content. However, the Nearpod Library is a valuable resource. I encourage you to take a little time to explore and see what is there. These lessons can be used as is or customized. It provides a low prep way to provide enrichment and remediation lessons to students and could be an option in a pinch when you need to have a sub. To get started:

• Once logged in to Nearpod, click Nearpod Library on the left

• Browse the Featured content for topics of interest

• Use the Subjects tab or Filter by Standards button to find lessons pertinent to what you teach, or just use the Seach box at the top of the page to search by topic or standard

  • Once you do a search, along the top you can filter by type (Lesson, Activity, Video)

  • If something looks interesting, click on its tile to preview it

  • If you find something useful, use the the Add to My Lessons button to add it to your lesson library. From there you can launch it as is or make edits. Note: The lesson you turn in from this course will not be eligible for credit if it is from the Nearpod Library.

Here are some additional resources for you to reference now or at a later time. 

• Manage Your Lesson Settings - Please note that some of these settings require a paid account to be enabled such as Student Notes. 

• Share an Editable Copy of your Lesson with a Coworker - To share an editable version of your lesson so it can be used by a colleague, select “Share an editable copy”. Your colleague will receive an email with a link to accept the lesson and add it to their Library. Keep in mind that this creates a duplicate version. No changes made by your colleague to their version of the lesson will have an impact on your version of the lesson.

• How to create a Nearpod lesson in Google Slides (the free version does not allow for the use of the Nearpod Google Slides add-on)