Nearpod Reviews

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.

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.

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.

Pros

It makes boring powerpoints more interactive. You can engage students by asking questions throughout the lesson and see their responses on your screen. There is also a library of pre-existing lessons ready to use.

Cons

The pre-made lessons didn't really fit my needs and creating your own Nearpod presentation from scratch is extremely time consuming. During the lesson it is difficult to go back and forth between the presentation and checking student responses.

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.

Pros

It's so easy to include a wide variety of media into a Nearpod presentation. It's aimed primarily at classroom learning, in-person or virtual, but I've found it can enhance a standard business presentation to increase engagement.

Cons

Actually, there wasn't anything significant that I didn't like about Nearpod. If we ran into problems, it generally was generally due to users not the software.

Pros

The open ended questions engage students in virtual learning. This helps teachers check for understanding in a scholars work. This also allows teachers to look for any misconceptions scholars may have.
Another feature I like is the collaboration and virtual field trips.
The collaboration option lets students post their thoughts on a specific topic. This shows scholars thoughts, ideas, predications, etc.

Cons

You need to take time to learn this app. There are many useful features; but you need to set aside time to learn it.

Pros

There are so many features I love about Nearpod: 1. It’s easy for students to access and use, 2. I can create in Nearpod or import from google drive, my computer, etc... 3. I can add audio recordings on the slides, and my OVERALL favorite is 4. IT HAS ITS IWN INTERACTIVE FEATURES FOR STUDENT ENGAGEMENT. You can easily create games, collaborative boards, quizzes, etc...

Cons

What I like least about Nearpod includes: 1. I cannot change the font style, 2. The file upload size is a bit small, 3. I would like to be able to save a game to put in multiple presentations without recreating them each time.

Pros

What I like most about Nearpod is it allows me to control the pace of the lesson, whether the students are physically in front of me, or they are at home

Cons

The only thing I did not like about Nearpod is that it is somewhat tedious to add in all of the activities and added features

Pros

Nearpod improves on presentations by allowing you to integrate question types and project to the other users screens.

Cons

Nearpod could use some upgrades with their annotation tools in real time to allow a more effective live teaching tool.

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.

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.

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.

Pros

Nearpod has a library of pre-made lessons that teachers may use. Some are free, but others have a minimal cost. Nearpod is free to use, but the free version does have limited capabilities. The great thing about Nearpod is they offer you a 6 month trial if you complete a few steps and become a Nearpod Certified Educator. This process is extremely easy and it helps you to get to know the product. One of the best features is that you can use PowerPoints that you already have. You simply upload them, and then insert your activities. It is very intuitive and easy to use.
Another great feature is that they are constantly adding features. This company listens to it's customers and they are always making their product better.

Cons

The only complaint is that it is hard to find what you are looking for in their store. Sometime you have to try multiple searches to get a "hit".

Pros

Nearpod helps teachers (and others) create powerpoint-like lessons for students to go through either in whole group settings or student-paced. The slides can range from interactive ones like student drawing or typing responses or can be static slides, linking students to other resources. Students can join on a variety of device types with a lesson code, or by linking the lesson directly to your Google Classroom.

Cons

While the tool can help students go through a lesson, I wish it implemented itself with other tools a little better. The fact that I can link this straight to my Google Classroom is great, but it won't allow me to keep or save any individual grades from the Nearpod easily. This means if I want this to be an independent lesson for students with a formative assessment at the end, I have to make the Nearpod, and then create a graded opportunity separately. I've been told this update will come to the program, but until then, that can be frustrating.

Pros

Nearpod is a must-have - especially during this period of remote learning. Nearpod is an amazing tool that promotes student engagement and collaboration. Its like PowerPoint/Google Slides on steroids. Teachers can easily create engaging activities, complete formative assessment checks, and connect students remotely through self-paced or teacher-led lessons. The Nearpod Extensions for Google Slides also makes it even easier to transform your static presentations into engaging learning experiences.

Cons

When students join a session, Nearpod simply asks them to type their name. It would be great if they implemented some type of SSO option so it automatically logs students' names. This would significantly cut down on the number of inappropriate things students may type in as names.

Pros

I love how you can use just about any type of media with a Nearpod presentation. You are able to design directly in Nearpod with the slides or you can upload presentations from Microsoft or Google files.

Cons

I do experiencing some issues with saving from time to time. Nearpod does not seem to function well if you have more than 1 presentation in edit mode. Sometimes I like to work side by side to double check both presentations follow the same format. Unfortunately this means that Nearpod does not always save my work.

Pros

Nearpod is a very useful alternative to PowerPoint presentations that keep your students active in the lesson. Nearpod uses a basic PowerPoint presentation which is displayed on the pupils devices but gives you the option to add questions or make students draw on a diagram making it interactive. The teacher has a dashboard whereby you can view all your pupils responses and then single out responses to display for further discussion.

Cons

Making a presentation from scratch on the Nearpod site can be time consuming but if you already have a PowerPoint presentation that you can upload and then add to it, it is much better. Unfortunately, any animations in your original PowerPoint will be lost.

Pros

Love the ability to create presentations or upload presentations I have previously created into NearPod and insert more interactive elements within them. There is a variety of question types and features. One really useful note is that you can control the presentation on your end, but have students or those attending your session view a different screen. This feature is great when designing virtual guided tours. I also appreciate that NearPod has integrated itself with Schoology LMS. Big bonus.

Cons

Honestly I don't have too much. The one gripe I have is that this is a great tool to enhance interaction and engagement, but relies on teacher-led instruction at the forefront. With a push toward self-directed/personalized learning, this may be a drawback. But this is a good tool to get you started with tech integration, or move toward VR as an element to your classroom.

Pros

I have been a Nearpod user since 2012 (almost the beginning). I have seen the program evolve over time into a more and more dynamic platform for teachers to update their presentations and add interactive elements like polls, quizzes, virtual 360 tours, videos, audio, and worksheets. The pre-made presentations that come with a site license can be a huge time saver.

Cons

With time, Nearpod has become more expensive. As a small school, we have had to make sacrifices to afford the site license. It can be hard getting faculty to feel comfortable using it because it is a new way of approaching presentations, but those who adopt them enjoy using it. It does require a time investment to build a lesson in Nearpod, but they are sharable and reusable.

Pros

Nearpod provides a seamless means of both presenting content and embedding interactions for learners to engage with on their own mobile devices. The variety of interactions is wide, allowing for all kinds of ways for students to engage. The set is growing all the time, e.g. the new 3D graphics function is very welcome! The ability to embed PowerPoint slides is very helpful (paid-for plans only) and the in-built slide content design toolset has really grown over the years to become much more viable. The paid-for plans also provide access to many other libraries of existing content.

Cons

The lover level paid-for plans are quite limited in the number of active users and the fact that >200 concurrent users requires a custom enterprise plan may put off smaller, not-for-profit organisations. It would be good to have larger audience users available in the lower tier plans.

Pros

Nearpod has a fun drawing feature that allows students to be creative while answering questions. Nearpod is an interactive studying experience that allows teachers to view the knowledge of the students while allowing fun studying games. Some features are similar to Quizlet such as matching and the quiz feature. It is used in my child's Spanish class to help the students comprehend new vocabulary words.

Cons

I overall like this software, but sometimes it lags a little when people are submitting assignments. I wish there was a fullscreen feature on computers so that people are able to see it better. I feel like Quizlet is more helpful for studying, but Nearpod is very efficient on introducing new material.

Pros

Nearpod has made my job (I'm a teacher) so much easier!! I love how Nearpod offers student paced lessons or teacher led lessons. This is a great way to differentiate instruction and allow students to work at their own pace. I have used Nearpod in my classroom and during staff meetings. It's very easy to use and there are several lessons you can use if you don't want to make your own. Students can also use this as a presentation tool!

Cons

I do wish there was a way that I could switch from teacher led to student paced throughout my presentation.

Pros

Our district has been piloting Nearpod premium. I am a middle school STEM teacher. I have used Nearpod before but never in my STEM classroom. I was impressed by the number of already created STEM lessons. I have used several of the career Nearpods with my students while we have been doing eLearning.

Cons

I really do not have any complaints. I love the new interactive features like Climb the Wall. We played that at a PD session and it was a lot of fun.

Pros

What a great product! I love Nearpod because the students can see, up close my notes and videos, on their own screen! And I can control the slides!

Cons

I would like Nearpod to be more user-friendly for my students to do a group project or even an individual project.