This past weekend, Broward Education Foundation sponsored a series of teacher training sessions - all based on Common Core and Marzano strategies. I was able to present "iPadded my Project" for the second year and co-presented "Padded Frogs" with Ms. Adams. One of the cool apps I demo'd was NearPod. This is an app that allows a presentation to be shared from the teacher's iPad to student mobile devices. The teacher can build in polls, tests, and interactive drawing slides. When students or participants complete those slides, the results are sent to the teacher/presenter presentation and reports can be pulled that show the results or drawings! It is an awesome app that allows students to become part of the presentation. The app creators are based locally in Hallandale Beach, Fl. This app has a free version for both teacher and student and you can upgrade to get some of the cool features for a modest monthly fee. I am trying to write more grants to get more tablets into the classroom so that I can use NearPod regularly.
At the Expo, NSU hosted us and I was able to use their Apple TV network. I was able to wander around the whole auditorium-style classroom using my iPad for the presentation and not having to worry about a 6" dongle! I loved the freedom. So now - I need to find out more about this tool and what it takes to bring it to our school.
