Nearpod: Free interactive classroom

Are you looking for a way to change up your lessons a little?  Do you use PowerPoint and maybe files that relate?  Using a site like Nearpod makes it very easy to upload a presentation and embed files within so students can follow along and complete the tasks at hand.

Nearpod is free, but premium access gives you the capabilities of embedding links and websites.  I was able to get a free month of Gold level so I spent some time building activities I know I would use during that time.

One of the things I like about the site is the capability of adding activities along the way.  It's very cool to have a presentation and then stick a few questions in to check for understanding.  It is easy to use and the adding content part is included with the free version.  This is a fantastic add-in.  I love the ability to do quick checks for understanding along the way.  The outcome is placed into a report so you can review immediately to see what needs retaught or what is understood.   This is a huge bang for the buck!

I think this is a great tool to try for new instruction or if you are doing a flipped class.  (A live code is offered if it is full class, or a student paced option is available if kids are doing a flipped lesson.)  They can do the checks for understanding a long the way.   It's fantastic and definitely worth looking at.

Interactive Lessons with Aurasma

A few years back, I attended a conference where one of the speakers shared a program on her iPad called Aurasma.   It takes a specific trigger image and makes it interactive.  I was intrigued but didn't think much about it again.

Not long ago, my yearbook representative stopped in and showed me something a school district in Indiana is doing with Aurasma and it blew me away!   The kids are shooting photos for the pages, but also short video clips as well.  They used images on the pages to trigger the video clips.  (For example, at the championship Volleyball match, they did a few short video clips of a serve, a spike, etc... and had one of the images tagged to trigger the video clip.) It is AWESOME.

That got me thinking, what can classroom teachers do with this program to make their lessons interactive?   Even teachers of secondary students could use this app to make class different and exciting.

Picture a social studies class.  Place clips of images around the classroom and find a short video clip or audio piece that links to it.  (I have discovered about 30 seconds max for the clips) Have kids download the aurasma app and take a tour of the room.  The same could be done in an Art class, a math class, or even in English.

The whole concept is a great way to incorporate technology but also make class different for the kids.

To use it, one has to have a login and an account create and the app has to be downloaded to the device (tablet, smartphone) so it works.  You can create the actual triggers (or aura) on the computer and merely use the device to make it work.  It really doesn't take that long to make things happen either.

My yearbook staff decided quick to make the book interactive and have video clips of things that happen.  I can't wait to see how it comes out.