A Critical Evaluation of Nearpod’s Usefulness in Teaching K-12 Biology Science Online Classroom

Abstract

The outbreak of Covid-19 has shifted the locus of teaching activity from the traditional teacher to the Internet. We strive for better educational aid for in-service teachers everywhere globally to help students have a better teaching and learning experience. Nearpod is a great platform to bring content and assessment into the K-12 biology and science classroom. In this article, TPACK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge) is used as the theoretical basis for analysis and discussion to explore the potential benefits of Nearpod in the K-12 bioscience classroom. After using Nearpod for online instruction, I interviewed the students who participated in the relevant courses and compiled and analyzed their responses to draw supporting conclusions. Synchronous engagement in secondary biology classrooms brings a better classroom experience for teachers and students. It gives us a more authentic classroom experience, especially during the special times when teaching has to be done online. And the synchronous form of online learning and assessment can help teachers track student learning, and the Online Simultaneous Learning and Assessment Model (OLASF) impacts student performance. Moreover, the Nearpod platform motivates students to become more active in classroom activities. The real-time interactive classroom design ensures class participation and prevents students from using other programs in class to disrupt the class and the learning process to a certain extent. Student responses confirmed the relevance and value of Nearpod in the online classroom.