Teachers love to make every lesson presentation their own, and Google Slides is the perfect way to add some fun fonts and color schemes to your next lesson. Nearpod has a Google Slides Chrome Extension add-on (snag it here), but the actual/complete add-on is only available with a Nearpod Gold, Platinum, School, District license. There’s still a way to use the Google Slides you know and love with Nearpod and I’m going to show you how!
Step 1: Create a lesson in Google Slides like you normally would
My recommendation is to create a Google Folder and organize the way that makes the most sense for you. You can dump them all in a Nearpod single folder, or organize by grade band. Once you’re organized, it’s time to begin creating your lesson like you would any other lesson. YES, it’s that simple to start off!
Step 2: Add placeholders into your Google Slides
Create a lesson in Google Slides like you would any other lesson. Ensure that the Google Slides dimensions are set to 4:3. The caveat here is that you will need to upload the Google Slides into Nearpod and add Nearpod’s interactive elements directly in Nearpod.
For this reason, here is where my key tip comes into play. Add a placeholder slides for Nearpod’s different interactive elements that you want to ensure you add after you upload to Nearpod’s lesson builder. If you need to add more details to the placeholder, you could add to the speaker notes in Google Slides.
By adding a placeholder, you are thinking intentionally about the way you want to structure your Nearpod lesson and thinking about how to break apart the lecture section with interactivity in order to keep your students engaged!
Step 3: Upload Google Slides Lesson into Nearpod’s Lesson builder
Once you have your lesson slides ready to go, it’s time to upload them to Nearpod.
- Log into Nearpod and from your “My Library” page, click “Create”, and then select “Lessons”
- In the center of the screen, click “Upload Files.” You can also drag and drop files directly into Nearpod.
- Upload files from Google Drive by clicking the drive image
- Now you’re ready to add in Nearpod’s formative assessment and media features!
Step 4: Remove the placeholder slides and replace with Nearpod’s interactive elements
Once your Google Slides lessons are uploaded, you should be able to see the all the slides in your lesson. Add Nearpod’s interactive elements where you reminded yourself they should go, then delete the place holder slides since they’re no longer needed.
Now that you’ve uploaded, here is how to add the interactive elements:
- Select “Add Slide.”
- Choose from a variety of content & question options
- Add the interactive element & move to the placeholder
- Delete the placeholder
It’s that simple! Although it would be easier to use the Nearpod Add-On with Google Slides, you can still create lesson in Google Slides and quickly upload to Nearpod and still enjoy engaging your students with Nearpod.
