Unless, you’ve been living under a rock for quite some time, you already know that Nearpod is one of THE BEST lesson delivery, assessment, and overall engagement tools out. But did you know that on iOS devices, you can turn it up a notch? Peep this!
While working with some math teachers a while back, I showed them all that Nearpod can do for them and how it can change the way the teacher and students engage with a lesson especially since our district has a BYOD infrastructure. In doing so, we had a mixed bag of devices we were using and noticed that when a student gets to a Draw It slide on an iOS device while using the Nearpod app, they have a nifty feature that is not available on any other device, the ability to use the camera! See the camera icon below?
Is that hamster in your head beginning to turn the wheel? Good! Here’s what you can do with this tool:
- Have students take pictures of items that begin with a certain letter and have them draw the letter with a highlighter after (Pre-K, Kinder, ELL)
- Bellwork/Warmups: have students take a picture of a sentence and make the corrections/edits on the fly with the drawing tools.
- Have students take a picture of a math equation/problem and have them work it out using the drawing tools
- Have students answer more complex math problems on a sheet of paper and have them take a picture of their work (see my work below)
The possibilities are endless and so much can be done with this tool. If your schools have BYOD, iPhone/iPad users can easily use this on their own iOS devices (Nearpod, please make this available for Android and Chromebook users). There it is folks, another way to get the best use out of Nearpod and iOS in your classes. What will you do now that you know this information? Remember, it’s not about the tools… it’s how you use it!
I have been trying to use this with my first graders (learning from home). Several of them have a BLACK SCREEN when they try to use the camera. (I already figured out that the camera option is not available on my MacBook Air). Can someone find a fix for these kids, please?