Beyond K-12: Nearpod succeeds in higher education
The University of Brighton recently conducted and shared results of a pilot project using Nearpod in a variety of subjects and settings. Instructors and students rated Nearpod highly on effectiveness and engagement.
Nearpod was created out of a need for a mobile technology that engages students synchronously and collaboratively. While it was originally designed with elementary and secondary educators in mind, students beyond K-12 share the need for interactions and feedback while learning. Increasingly we are seeing Nearpod used in higher education to foster collaboration and student-centered learning.
Though institutions of higher education were ready for Nearpod, we needed to do some work to run smoothly in these new spaces–particularly around BYOD support (for any and all types and combinations of operating systems, browsers, and devices) and supporting hundreds (instead of dozens) of students and connections within a lesson.
Making Nearpod work for higher education has been a tough nut to crack, but we did it. That’s why were so proud when this report on a semester-long Nearpod pilot project at University of Brighton came out last week. The project, involving 9 instructors and more than 300 students, found that Nearpod supports and aligns with the University’s efforts towards more innovative and effective use of technology for teaching, learning, and assessment.
During the pilot, Nearpod was implemented in a variety of teaching and learning situations, including seminars, large lectures, face-to-face tutorial sessions, and flipped classroom scenarios. Students and instructors provided feedback about their experiences with Nearpod in terms of functionality, accessibility, educational impact, and engagement.
Some of their findings and feedback include:
- 100% of instructors found Nearpod a suitable tool for their instructional purposes.
- 85.7% of instructors thought that incorporating Nearpod had a positive impact on their teaching.
- 100% of instructors said they would recommend Nearpod to their colleagues.
- 73.3% of students felt that using Nearpod had a positive impact on their learning.
- “Brilliant, easy to use and allows me to walk around the lecture theatre.” -Instructor
- “I have been impressed with how stable it is in a variety of different teaching situations.” -Instructor
- “I liked the interactivity it created in the lectures.” -Student
- “If someone was quieter than others, they can still answer rather than saying it out loud within the lecture.” -Student
- “The application is extremely easy to use and is a very effective communicational tool between the lecturer and students.” -Student
For more information, check out the University of Brighton eLearning Blog and find University of Brighton Learning Technologist, Marion Curdy @mecurdy on Twitter.
