Learning Tools

Nearpod Adds 1,200+ New Lessons, Integration with Google Slides

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 08/15/19

Education technology company Nearpod has introduced integration with Google Slides. The new feature allows teachers to add interactivity and collaborate with peers.

The company also said it was updating its content and teaching tools in time for the start of school, to make them more interactive, engaging and culturally relevant.

The Google Slides integration enables teachers to incorporate virtual field trips, polls, drawing and collaboration tools directly into their presentations. The integration also adds single sign-on using a Google account, the ability to embed YouTube videos and images found using Google Safe Search, and integration with Google Classroom.

Between the contents of Nearpod's lesson library and the catalog for Flocabulary (which it acquired in April 2019), users have access to 9,000 lessons, according to the company. In the recent round, the company has added:

• 100 "time to climb" game-based activities to encourage friendly competition while allowing for on-the-fly assessment;
• 500 Nearpod lessons in supplemental curricula, covering college and career exploration, social and emotional learning, historical perspectives and content for English language learners;
• 100 Nearpod lessons using Flocabulary's educational hip hop videos;
• 15 Flocabulary lessons that cover several subject areas, including the work of Marie Curie, Jim Crow laws, tropical rainforests, symbolism and dividing decimals;
• 65 keyboarding lessons in a digital citizenship and literacy program, built in partnership with Typesy; and
• 500 matching pairs practice lessons with feedback in English language arts, math, science and social studies.

Other updates include:

• The ability to add Flocabulary videos into Nearpod lessons, as long as the educator has a license for both programs;
• An "individual assignments" feature in Flocabulary;
• A redesign of program navigation to improve the user experience for content searches and give visibility on filters; and
• An activity timer that allows teachers to specify the timing for lessons in Nearpod's Draw It function.

"Our back-to-school release not only broadens our content library and resources to excite students, but also adds valuable functionality for our teachers with Google Slides, and we're excited to see how it supports teachers in starting the year off on the right foot," said Jennie Kristofferson, chief academic officer of Nearpod, in a statement.