Use Google Slide Activities Like Drag and Drop in Nearpod

A drag and drop activity is one of the popular requests for Nearpod. While it would be fantastic for Nearpod to add a drag and drop activity slide teachers do not need to wait to use drag and drop activities in Nearpod. Google Slides can be used in Nearpod for this purpose.

Google Slides is a popular place for creating drag and drop activities. Many teachers who have recently joined Nearpod probably already have drag and drop activities ready to go in their Google Drive. I am going to demonstrate how super easy it is to add them to Nearpod lessons.

First make your drag and drop activity in Google Slides. Duplicate the activity so that it is set up for an activity slide for each student. To do this, right click the slide, then select "duplicate." Repeat until you have the same number of activity slides as you do students. I recommend using the first slide to assign a slide number to students. I add a notes slide as the last slide for students who need to reference the notes. Change the share settings to “anyone with a link may edit”. Copy the link and add it to a “Web Content” slide in Nearpod.

See the video below for a sample set up. All students complete the activity in one Google Slides presentation in Nearpod.

Notes/Tips

• Make a Google Slide drag and drop presentation for each class. Copy the entire presentation and update the student list. Make adjustments to the number of slides if needed.

• Do check ins to make sure students write their name. You can write a note with the text tool to remind students in a private manner directly on their slide.

• Give written feedback on students work as often as you can while they are working.

• Think of a way for students to get help. Make a slide at the end for students to ask for help or direct students to use the zoom chat.

• Have students copy and paste their slide into a learning portfolio or chapter notebook. See the bottom of the post Using Google Slides for Continuous Activities.

Read more: more about Nearpod: Using Google Slides for Continuous Activities, - The Benefits of Nearpod, - Using Nearpod for MathUsing Draw It Slides for Math, - Create a DonorsChoose Project for a Nearpod Subscription