The flipped classroom model has emerged as a transformative approach to education, aimed at enhancing student engagement and deepening understanding of subject matter content. Each semester, I grappled with the challenge of preparing my students for meaningful group discussions that would facilitate this understanding. Unfortunately, they often arrived in class underprepared, limiting the potential for rich, interactive learning experiences. Traditional strategies, such as quizzes and required reading notes, proved ineffective, with students viewing these assignments as busy work rather than essential components of their learning.

Recognizing the need for a more effective solution, I turned to the flipped classroom model with Nearpod. This innovative approach has not only redefined how I deliver content but also empowered my students to take greater ownership of their learning, leading to more fruitful discussions and a deeper grasp of the material.

New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for free below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

What is a flipped classroom model?

The flipped classroom model reverses traditional teaching by having students first learn new content at home, reserving class time for applying, analyzing, and creating. Cynthia Brame highlights that the true advantages of flipping the classroom lie in shifting from passive memorization to engaging, higher-order tasks during class. Nearpod enhances this approach by allowing educators to create interactive, Student-Paced lessons with embedded quizzes, discussions, and multimedia content. Teachers can then review student responses before class, identify areas that need reteaching, and use this data to tailor in-class activities for richer discussions and deeper learning.

10 Steps to a Flipped Classroom

Nearpod can be a powerful tool for implementing the flipped classroom model and blended learning, where students first engage with content at home and then apply what they’ve learned through in-class activities. Here’s how to use Nearpod for flipping the classroom into an interactive, student-centered experience.

1. Prepare your lecture content

Begin by enhancing your existing lecture slides by thinking about comprehension questions and prompts for interactive discussions and assessments you can add using Nearpod’s interactive activities. Identify these key slides in addition to where students must prepare for group activities during in-class time, ensuring a seamless transition from online learning to active classroom participation.

2. Upload your slides to Nearpod

Upload your lecture slides into Nearpod to create a new lesson. This allows you to maintain your original content while adding layers of interactivity that will engage students beyond passive learning. If you’re creating slides on Google Slides, you could use Nearpod’s Google Slides Add-On.

3. Incorporate interactive activities

Replace static prompts with interactive Nearpod activities such as Open-Ended Questions, Quizzes, Collaborate Board, Polls, Draw It, and more. These formative assessment tools encourage student engagement and provide insights into their understanding of the material.

4. Add multimedia content

With Nearpod, you can also embed multimedia content. Enrich the lesson by including videos, web links, PDFs, VR experiences, or 3D models to complement the lecture material. This ensures students have access to diverse resources as they complete the online portion of the lesson before class.

5. Record narration

Add narration to the slides using Nearpod’s audio recorder to guide students through the content. This provides context and direction, helping students better understand the material as they progress through the lesson.

6. Review and fine-tune the lesson

Once the lesson is complete, review the presentation for timing and content clarity. It can be helpful to have a colleague or teaching assistant go through it to ensure images are clear, content is accurate, and interactive elements are functioning as intended.

7. Assign the lesson through your LMS

Now, it’s time to implement flipped learning in the classroom by sharing the lesson. Nearpod integrates with learning management systems (LMS) like Google Classroom, Canvas, Schoology, Blackboard, and Microsoft Teams. If you use a different LMS, share out your Nearpod with a direct link to your lesson.

On Canvas, create an assignment and choose Nearpod as the external tool. Select the Student-Paced option so students can complete the online lecture at their own pace before class.

8. Analyze student responses before class

As students work and learn at their own pace, review their responses via Nearpod’s reports or Canvas SpeedGrader before class. Look for patterns in understanding and identify areas that may need reteaching. Adding a question about how students will apply the material can help inform your grouping and role assignments for in-class activities.

9. Engage in rich in-class activities

Use class time for deeper discussions and meaningful application activities. With the flipped classroom model, you can optimize class duration, often meeting for less time than in a traditional setup, while fostering richer discussions and deeper comprehension of the material.

10. Provide follow-up activities to reinforce learning

After the in-class session, assign follow-up activities using Nearpod to extend student learning. These could include additional quizzes, collaborative activities, or reflection prompts related to the day’s content. Encouraging students to revisit the material helps solidify their understanding, address any remaining gaps, and keep them actively engaged in the learning process even outside of class. This continuous cycle of learning ensures that students are consistently interacting with the material in meaningful ways.

Enhancing engagement and understanding with Nearpod’s flipped classroom approach

The advantages of flipped classrooms are significant, especially in promoting activity learning and problem-solving. At the center for teaching students, this model enables teachers and students to engage in more interactive approaches, allowing for deeper exploration of concepts and collaborative discussions. This method not only optimizes classroom time but also leads to a deeper understanding of the content.

Implementing Nearpod’s flipped classroom approach allows for a more interactive, student-centered learning experience that enhances both pre-class preparation and in-class engagement. This tool has helped me meet my goal of creating a flipped classroom where my students are better prepared to engage in group discussions that would lead to a deeper understanding of the content. My students also report more satisfaction with the course and express a sense of autonomy over their learning. Since implementing this system with one course, I have integrated it into all of the courses I teach!

New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for free below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Summer Gunn

Clinical Instructor, Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation, Utah State University