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Abstract

How an Academic Co-ordinator, Laura Hanna, uses Nearpod from Renaissance Australia to tackle the issues of student engagement. This case study outlines the success of using Nearpod as a tool that provides easy transformation of course content into fun and diverse multi-media lessons which engage students in a way that complements their learning style. The case study outlines the ready-made, ‘plug and play’ lessons which could support Australian curriculum standards and outlines how Nearpod improves student engagement whilst providing real-time feedback essential for the busy teacher.

Student Engagement – the challenge.

University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Academic Co-ordinator, Laura Hanna was aware of two things: her own intuition that student engagement was a challenge to be overcome and, the Australian government’s key education outcome of increasing student engagement on a nationwide basis.

Although the issue of how to engage students from Kindergarten to Tertiary education is not new, it is an ever-changing landscape in terms of the tools, tricks and trends that are employed by schools all over Australia to achieve this. In the modern world, the same media that can create distractions for our students, can also be used to hook students into engaging in the classroom, providing that we can find a platform that ‘speaks’ to the way students learn and play these days.

‘Nearpod’, from Renaissance Australia, is such a platform and has been designed to incorporate the wealth of digital resources that already exist into everyday lessons that support Government initiatives, are accessible to support all learning needs and, above all, are engaging.

Making the change

Laura, like many experienced educators, had often relied on tried and true methods of instruction and, by her own admission did not, “… jump on board to use Nearpod straight away”. Her journey with Nearpod began when her college introduced a blended learning strategy, and her initial hesitation toward educational technology quickly disappeared once she experienced the platform’s impact firsthand.

She concluded that, “Once I did start using it, I don’t think I could teach using anything else”

Laura found that Nearpod was able to reach every student irrespective of their willingness or ability to engage in classroom activities owing, perhaps, to a shy or less forthright disposition or even their lack of confidence to speak out if English was not their first language. Renaissance Australia has long advocated for a Whole Student Approach and Laura found that using the various features of Nearpod allowed students to reach out in their own way, facilitating, of course, a ‘safe-space’ for learning.

“The Brain Loves Novelty”

These days especially, the mind can be bombarded by a myriad of influences and distractions but, arguably, some variety is good and can help with engagement at a fundamental level. At UTS, Laura has been able to introduce variation and fun into her classes simply by using the features in-built within Nearpod and, in doing so, ‘break up the class with fun activities’ that keep the students interested and participating.

Gamification of exercises, competition within groups, graphics creation and visual stimuli have all engendered a sense of acknowledgement that people learn in different ways and send a message of ‘We see you!’ to the students.

Nearpod makes it easy for Laura to transform her accounting content into these different approaches, creating fun and diversity for the students and saving her the time and know-how needed to create them. As she says, “Educators are time-poor, so they need something that works” and Nearpod even provides upwards of 7,500 editable, ready-made lessons that can be accessed on any device from anywhere, saving time in the present but also adding to a teacher’s repertoire for every term in the future.

Get down with the data!

Nearpod also aligns with Renaissance Australia’s philosophy of providing data-driven information on a student’s journey, one which provides evidence of actual interaction with the material and can inform decision-making best suited to the student’s needs. “It gives me a really good diagnostic tool to see where the students are at and how I can help support them better,” she explains.

This data-driven approach helps her identify patterns and adjust her instructional strategies based on concrete evidence rather than assumptions.

This extends to conversations with parents and allied staff who would also benefit from Nearpod’s ability to collect and store data about the student’s interaction with material. Renaissance Australia is aware that a tool that offers this depth of enquiry allies well with its own CAT4 learning tool, one that, like Nearpod, recognises that students think in different ways but don’t always think to tell us!

Spreading the word.

Laura has found that she now incorporates the use of Nearpod as a part of her Professional Development sessions within the department. She finds that by encouraging teachers within her discipline to use the activities and data available on Nearpod, she and her colleagues are able to streamline material and methods of instruction creating a ‘shared language’ that benefits both teachers and students. She comments that, “If you have a large team of teachers teaching your subject, that’s really helpful to get that consistency across the classes,”. Rather than relying on informal discussions that might fall flat, structured Nearpod activities guide every instructor through the same engaging process.

Laura’s experience with Nearpod has demonstrated that, despite the dizzying number of ways in which we can interact with students, there is no substitute for well-designed simplicity.

In order to teach each student we also need to be able to connect with them and do so in a way that suits their own learning style, personality and ability. Nearpod opens a pathway between learner and teacher and enables a teacher not only to see a student but to hear them in a way that makes them feel included, important and valued.

Laura’s journey with Nearpod reveals how the right educational technology can fundamentally transform classroom dynamics, activities and learner engagement. What’s best is that it’s easy and the hard work has already been done for you, as she says, “If I can do it, you can do it.”

Try Nearpod free – and see learning as it happens

Nearpod is an all-in-one interactive teaching platform that helps educators engage every student and understand learning in real time.

Unlike presentation or quiz tools, Nearpod shows teachers what every student understands during the lesson – so instruction can be adjusted instantly, not after the bell rings.

With interactive lessons, activities, videos and built-in formative assessment, Nearpod works seamlessly across face-to-face, online and blended classrooms – from primary through to higher education.

Sign up for free to explore ready-made lessons, create your own interactive content, and see how easy it is to keep every student involved.

Sign up for free on Nearpod