The summary of ‘Pear Deck VS Nearpod: Which One's Better?’

00:00:00

In this part of the video, Sam Kerry and Jake Miller tackle the common question of which program is better for classroom use: Pear Deck or Nearpod. They each represent and argue for the strengths of these educational tools. Jake, advocating for Pear Deck, highlights its versatility in integrating direct instruction with multimedia elements and interactive features, which can be utilized synchronously or asynchronously. Sam, supporting Nearpod, emphasizes its capability to make lessons interactive, enabling formative assessments through consistent student engagement and interactive video content. Both tools allow for live and self-paced lessons, and Sam points out Nearpod’s detailed reporting features to track student understanding. They decide to delve deeper into how students can respond within each platform, starting with Pear Deck’s multiple-choice questions.

00:03:00

In this segment, the speakers compare the features of Pear Deck and Nearpod, two educational tools. They highlight that both platforms allow integration of text, images, videos, and audio in lessons. Pear Deck’s premium version offers a teacher dashboard showing individual student responses, while Nearpod’s free version already includes this feature. Nearpod also auto-grades responses and supports polling questions, giving it an edge. Pear Deck allows immediate feedback on student text responses during live lessons, a feature Nearpod lacks. Nearpod, however, allows students to respond via audio, supporting UDL principles, and offers versatile drawing tools for formative assessments, including templates and customizable backgrounds. Both tools have unique strengths, making them valuable in different aspects of teaching.

00:06:00

In this part of the video, the focus is on comparing features between Pear Deck and Nearpod. The speaker highlights the ability in Pear Deck to see and overlay students’ drawing responses, which is particularly beneficial in math for verifying correct points or graphs. Pear Deck also features draggable slides with up to six different icons for students to manipulate, which can be reviewed individually or overlaid. In contrast, Nearpod does not support draggable slides but offers alternatives like drawing and circling elements. A point of debate arises over the use of jargon and pedagogical outcomes, and it’s mentioned that Pear Deck’s drawing and draggable slides require a premium version, though there is a hack to access them for free. The segment also touches upon other question types available in Pear Deck, like the number response question, which can create a box and whisker plot for comparing student answers. The video then prompts viewers to share their preferences between Pear Deck and Nearpod, before moving on to discuss features that Nearpod offers, such as drag-and-drop and fill-in-the-blank activities, as well as matching activities for vocabulary practice.

00:09:00

In this part of the video, the discussion focuses on the educational tools Nearpod and Pear Deck, highlighting their features and comparing their functionalities. Nearpod offers pre-created templates for various activities, a collaborative bulletin board, an extensive archive of interactive videos, game-based learning, and special integrations with other tools like Phet simulations, Microsoft Sway, and Flipgrid. On the other hand, Pear Deck can embed web content, including Edpuzzle, Padlet, and Flippity, providing flexibility in using various educational resources. Pear Deck’s standout feature is the ability to switch seamlessly between synchronous and asynchronous teaching modes during a lesson, something Nearpod cannot do. Additionally, Pear Deck allows adding questions on the fly, which supports unplanned formative assessment moments, enhancing real-time student engagement and understanding.

00:12:00

In this part of the video, the speaker compares Pear Deck and Nearpod, focusing on their functionalities during lessons. Pear Deck allows for the addition of multiple types of questions on the fly, while Nearpod only allows for true/false, draw, or open-ended questions mid-lesson. However, Nearpod has a feature for quickly pulling up a digital whiteboard and adding website slides spontaneously. The speaker mentions that Pear Deck’s premium plan includes ‘Student Takeaways,’ which automatically generate review documents for students, and ‘Reflect and Review,’ offering feedback on student responses after lessons. Nearpod’s reports are more teacher-focused and not ideal for student reviews. The segment concludes with a comparison of how both platforms integrate with Google Slides, pointing out that Pear Deck offers a more fluid user experience by embedding questions directly into existing slides, unlike Nearpod, which adds new slides for questions.

00:15:00

In this segment, the speakers compare the Pear Deck and Nearpod add-ons for creating interactive lesson slides. They highlight that Pear Deck allows unlimited lessons with an unlimited number of students and simultaneous sessions in its free version, whereas Nearpod limits free users to 100 megabytes of lesson space, 40 megabytes of content per lesson, and 40 students per lesson with only one active session at a time. Despite these limitations, Nearpod allows viewing student names on responses and has a dedicated app. They conclude that both tools enhance lesson interactivity and effectiveness, thus benefiting teachers and students. They also encourage viewers to check out additional educational technology comparisons in their resources and to comment on their preferred tool.