Nearpod, the instructional technology partner helping districts and schools transform teaching through award-winning software and standards-aligned, ready-to-teach lessons, announces a partnership with Cleburne Independent School District to provide teachers throughout the district premium access to the company’s platform preferred by 60 percent of U.S. school districts.
The district’s interest in Nearpod began with positive recommendations from teachers throughout the district who were using the free version that gives individuals access to Nearpod’s teach-to-any-device platform along with hundreds of free, ready-to-run resources. A formal pilot program implemented during the previous school year led to the district signing a contract for the 2018-2019 school year.
Now, pre-K through 12th-grade teachers have full access to Nearpod’s premium content, such as digital citizenship, as well as engagement-boosting tools, like embedded video and virtual reality. The license also provides district-level benefits, like in-person training and support and professional development resources.
So far, 91 teachers in the district have signed up for a district Nearpod account and undergone in-person training to prepare them for the new school year, with an option to roll out to all 471 teachers in the future with features that deliver benefits to elementary and secondary classrooms.
“Elementary teachers are always looking for something to engage students at stations and during different activities,” explains Jane Flynn, the district’s Elementary Instructional Technology and Communications Specialist. “Nearpod lets teachers take a PDF, image or video and put it in a lesson so students can annotate it and it lets teachers showcase exemplary student work to the whole class. Teachers can also take things they’ve already created and turn them into Nearpod lessons, which is a big thing.”
An important benefit that helps ease teacher workloads so they can focus more on students rather than technology is Nearpod’s emphasis on working with tools already in the classroom such as partners like Canvas.
“Cleburne’s secondary teachers (grades six-12) were already using the Canvas Learning Management System in their classrooms,” points out Tracy Shea, Secondary Instructional Technology and District Multi-Media Specialist. “Because Nearpod is integrated with Canvas, teacher’s can create and share lessons, in addition to drawing from any of Nearpod’s library of resources, and deliver them inside Canvas, which they’re already comfortable with.”
Nearpod provides 6,500+ standards-aligned resources for K-12 topics – from digital citizenship to algebra – that feature a variety of interactive, engagement-boosting tools, like virtual reality, 3D models and live quizzes. Now, teachers can also search by standards in the Nearpod Lesson Library, making it easier for teachers to decide whether this lesson fits their needs. The innovative nature of the company’s content along with its ability to deliver content to any web-enabled device in a teacher’s classroom, from tablets and phones to Chromebooks and desktops, teacher’s can deliver high-quality content that meets all their students’ needs.
“Well-crafted educational technology should help teachers increase student engagement and improve classroom outcomes without creating more work or taking teachers’ time away from actual teaching,” says Guido Kovalskys, CEO and co-founder of Nearpod. “Ease of use, in-person training, and support, along with powerful partner integrations that maximize the tools already in classrooms are critical to how we bring value to districts, schools and teachers. Cleburne ISD’s exhaustive evaluation preceding this contract is a clear proof point that we’re delivering that value and helping educators prepare students for the future.”
The partnership with Cleburne ISD underscores the value of Nearpods’ six new partnerships spanning LMS integrations with Canvas and Schoology, as well as the launch of hundreds of new lessons created in partnership with leading authorities like BBC Worldwide. The company also recently announced its latest integrations with Apple Schoolworks, Blackboard Learn, Classlink Roster Management and Microsoft PWA. Nearpod was also recognized as the best Content Provider Solution in the 2018 EdTech Awards in the Cool Tool category and as a finalist for the Best Lesson Planning App or Tool and winner of Best Personalized/Adaptive Learning App or Tool by the Tech Edvocate Awards.
About Cleburne Independent School District:
Cleburne ISD serves the learning community of Cleburne, TX, one of the states fastest-growing job and population centers located 25 miles south of Fort Worth. The district serves 6,749 students across preK – 12th grade through seven elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school. Cleburne ISD is recognized for its innovative programs in engineering, robotics, health science, college preparation and culinary fields of study and features a 1-to-1 technology ratio for every student in grades K-12.
About Nearpod:
Nearpod is an award-winning company creating engaging classroom experiences. The company, recently named EdTech Digest’s Company of the Year, gives K-12 teachers ready to teach lessons created in partnership with leading brands like Common Sense Education, PhET and The Pulitzer Center and is actively used by 60 percent of US school districts. Nearpod works with any classroom technology from tablets and smartphones to laptops and Chromebooks and helps districts understand trends and meet curriculum goals. Beyond classroom instruction, the company revitalizes teacher development through Teacher Professional Learning curriculum that cultivates classroom-changing strategies for educators. To learn more visit: nearpod.com.
