Language Software Review: Harnessing the Power of NearPod

Abstract

Nearpod is an all-encompassing Edtech tool that can be used for language teaching and learning in multiple modalities. The comprehensive and interactive online platform allows instructors to carry out lesson plans for a variety of subject areas. It is a web-based and synchronous platform (and a Mobile App) that allows for the immediate sharing of lessons by pushing out content to the learners via their devices. It also allows for the collection of feedback from the students’ answers and engages students in activities by allowing them to scroll through and interact with the different types of content. The instructor can create and use live lessons on the device to instantly share media with the student or choose a saved lesson to present. Nearpod is easy to use for collaboration, assessment, and virtual reality and live streaming activities and tasks. Nearpod is a real-time assessment tool that facilitates interaction with the students and forges meaningful content collaboration amongst all the students. It encourages content integration for language instructors for classroom success since it easily integrates with other content delivery applications and systems (i.e., Google Drive, Dropbox, YouTube, LMSs like Blackboard, Canvass, etc.). This review will evaluate and review the Nearpod tool and describe how its design and use is connected to second language acquisition theory for foreign language pedagogy.