Nearpod is an online platform that changes your PowerPoint/Google Slide into an interactive lesson. Making a Nearpod presentation from an existing slideshow is quick and easy. You will have an interactive lesson ready to use in no time.
Step 1 Find the Lesson You Want to Use
Find the slideshow(PowerPoint or Google Slide) you want to use for your lesson. Some of the slides will be informational and some will have questions. You can create more slides with questions if you need to. Students answer questions on the Nearpod presentation to make the slideshow interactive. If any slides have answers, make sure you delete them. Save the slideshow under a different name. You can also save the slideshow as PNGs, so you have the option to use them on backgrounds in the Nearpod.
Step 2 Upload the Lesson in Nearpod
Go to nearpod.com. Create an account if you have not already. Sign in to the account. Click Create and then Lesson. In the middle of the page, you see a place to upload files. Choose where you want to upload your files from. The files will start uploading. It may take a few minutes.
Next, look through the slides and see which slides you want to keep as informational slides, and which slides you want to make interactive. If the slides are not in the order you want them, you can move them around into the order you want. You can delete any slides you do not want in the Nearpod presentation.
Check out our units with PowerPoint lessons and activities by clicking the picture above.
Step 3 Make the Nearpod Presentation Interactive
Now it is time to make the Nearpod presentation interactive. Any slides that have questions can easily be changed to Draw It slides by clicking Convert to Draw It at the top of the page. This changes the slide to a slide that students can write the answer on. You can look at individual answers and share answers with the class from the teacher’s view.
You can add different activities by clicking the Add Content & Activities square. Click on content to add more information. Click activities to make it interactive. Use open-ended questions. Give students a topic and let them collaborate on it by using the collaborate activity. Ask questions and have students send in the answer as a poll. These activities are activities that do not require much extra work. There are other activities you can add to the Nearpod that will take a little more time. Try them out after you have made a few Nearpods. Check out the blog on Nearpod activities by clicking the picture below.
Step 4 Save, Preview and Assign
Make sure you save and exit. If you forget to save the Nearpod presentation it saves it for you as a draft. It must be saved before you can get a code for the class. Click Preview to see the final presentation. You can practice using the Nearpod by signing in as a student using your phone or another device. This will help you understand the student’s view and the teacher’s view. When you are ready to use the Nearpod, go to your library and click on the Nearpod you want to use. Click on Live Participation and you will be given a class code. Give students the code and they will join the Nearpod. Make sure students use their name. You can look at student responses for the Nearpod under reports.
Nearpod is a great tool to use during the school year. It helps you as a teacher by giving you immediate feedback and it keeps the students involved in the lesson. The free version offers many activity options. Try making a Nearpod to use this week. If you need a PowerPoint lesson to practice with, check out our free lesson on Writing Expressions and Equations by clicking below.
