SFUSD and Nearpod Team Up to Bring Interactive Digital Instruction to 54,000 Students

San Francisco (October 9, 2020) - Nearpod, the interactive, instructional platform that merges formative assessment and dynamic media to create engaging learning experiences, today announced its partnership with the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD). This partnership offers SFUSD teachers an additional instructional platform that promotes student interaction and engagement. In addition, SFUSD will gain access to Nearpod's English Learner content, to bring greater support for the 23% of multilingual students learning English in the district. 

Nearpod provides access to over 8,500 standards-aligned lessons, including new interactive video content. SFUSD educators can also create and upload their own lessons from Google Slides, PowerPoint, YouTube or their own videos. Once uploaded, teachers can transform existing lessons with Nearpod’s engaging features and formative assessments, such as Quizzes, Polls and VR Field Trips. Teachers also have access to Nearpod’s premium content to support English language learners and social emotional learning.

“After hearing success stories from teachers who used the platform in the Spring, we decided to roll the platform out broadly,” shared Dr. Nicole Priestly, Chief Academic Officer of SFUSD. “Nearpod stood out for its ability to bolster teaching not only through distance learning, but also when we return to the physical classroom. We’re excited to expand this offering districtwide and bring even more engaging digital instruction to our students.”

“When teaching English language learners in a remote context, teachers need multiple ways to check for understanding and to promote interaction and participation. Nearpod provides an interactive platform that supports both formative assessment and student engagement. Teachers and students alike find the interactive components fun and meaningful,” shared Amy Gottesfeld, Supervisor of SFUSD’s Secondary Multilingual Programs.

Unique to Nearpod is a single-click lesson deployment that works on any type of device. This makes it simpler for students and guardians to join lessons from home. The platform also features both live and student-paced lesson modes. This gives educators the flexibility to deliver live or student-paced instruction in a way that engages students and allows for active participation. Nearpod’s platform also offers teachers real-time insights into student understanding to drive instruction.

Michelle Cody, an experienced math teacher at Willie Brown Middle School had this to share:  “Calling distance learning hard is a gross understatement. As educators, we rely on reading our students to gauge their understanding. We want to see and feel what the students are experiencing on the other side of the screen. Nearpod helps me and my students to get closer to the classroom experience. I am able to see their work in real time, extrapolate and highlight student work and decide what next steps are needed. In a world where we are so far apart, anything that brings us together is a step in the right direction.”

“Nearpod has been a powerful educational tool because it allows me to create scaffolded, engaging lessons for my 6th grade English language arts students. The variety of activities - including Matching Pairs, Fill In The Blank, Quizzes and Open-Ended Questions, to name just a few - allow me to support student vocabulary and comprehension of concepts and texts as they go,” shared Francisco Middle School teacher, Aeron Noe. “The report function acts as a quick and easy formative assessment that tells me whether I need to slow down and reteach, or if I can move forward. Best of all, the kids enjoy it, and students who struggle with specific concepts can go back and try it again, providing differentiation via iteration and repetition.” 

When hybrid and in-person learning resumes, teachers will be able to easily transition Nearpod to the physical classroom, even if students don’t have devices, with Nearpod’s Front-of-Class mode. 

“San Francisco Unified School District has kept student engagement and participation at the center of their approach even as students are learning remotely,” stated Jennie Kristofferson, Chief Strategy Officer of Nearpod. “Now, their educators will be able to expand those key pillars of education with our intuitive platform to create an even more interactive and equitable learning experience.”

To learn more about Nearpod, visit: nearpod.com.