Face-to-face lecture based teaching methods make up the vast majority of courses delivered at most post-secondary institutions and yet much of the focus and technical support systems in place an emphasis on online and distributed learning designed classes. But what about the Sage on the Stage? Are they doomed to be the lecturing luddite year after year?

Nearpod, an iOS app, gives the lecturing professor some tools for a more engaging and participatory face-to-face experience and a way to keep those mobile devices busy with focused content during class time.

How It Works
· Teachers use Nearpod to share content with their students and to manage the flow of the lecture.
· Students use Nearpod on their iOS devices to receive multimedia content and to participate in engaging assessment and collaboration activities.

Nearpod allows teachers to:
1. Create Content: Teachers log in to www.nearpod.com to create multimedia presentations with interactive features such as quizzes, videos, polls, drawing tools, and more.
2. Engage: In the classroom, teachers log into the Nearpod iPad app to share content with their students and manage the flow of the lecture. Students use the Nearpod app on their iOS devices to receive curricular content, participate in activities and submit responses.
3. Assess: Teachers can see students’ answers in real time on the Nearpod app. Additionally, teachers can log in to www.nearpod.com to access post-session data and obtain detailed activity reports.

Kind of a cool way to make your “on stage performance” more of a collaborative learning experience.  Students can follow along the presentation on their devices and then be asked to participate in surveys, web quests, quizzes, or collaborative brainstorming techniques. This sounds like a great tool to me to use in a large classroom where you want to use a flipped model of delivery or just to spice up the old thespian lecture.

Best of all the app comes in at my favorite price point, $0. Go get it and give it a go.