Module 6: Case Study of Digital Platforms

For my post, I decided to evaluate two digital platforms that I use daily in my classroom, Nearpod and Proloquo2Go. 

Nearpod

Nearpod Overview: Nearpod is an interactive, digital classroom tool used across grade levels and subjects in education. It allows teachers to do away with antiquated PowerPoint presentations, which can be dull and lack interactive features in order to create more engaging presentations that incorporate multimedia, virtual reality opportunities, collaborative gamified assessment (as in their Time to Climb feature) and instant formative data on student response (McKnight, 2024). The application became one of the leading digital tools within our special education sector at BOCES particularly since virtual learning during the COVID-19 shutdown. In our classrooms, it continues to be the primary way that we present information to students and has continued to be successful – even more so in-person (Nearpod, 2024). 

Nearpod User Engagement: Nearpod can be used in multifaceted ways within the classroom. Students require a device, such as a computer, laptop, iPad/tablet or can even use a phone to access lessons. Lessons created by the teacher are linked to two types of codes, a student-driven code and a teacher-led code. The student enters the code into their device and if student-driven, can complete and interact with the presentation at their own pace or if teacher-led, can participate collaboratively in real time within a small or whole group lesson. During teacher-led Nearpods, input from students appears in real-time on the front board while students participate from their devices, allowing the teacher to track student engagement and understanding as the lesson is happening (Nearpod, 2024). 

Nearpod and Communication: Nearpod has a direct influence on communication, allowing activities that facilitate peer interaction, which can be particularly beneficial for students with communication deficits. In the context of my population, special education students with moderate to severe disabilities, it allows my students who are at a pre-writing level to use drawing or typing to communicate their answers to myself or their paraprofessional. The integration of multimedia, such as music, sound effects, videos, VR field trips provide a multimodal way for the teacher to communicate information to students with unique and varying learning styles and needs. The ability to integrate parents into viewing Nearpod progress also facilitates communication between school and home. Teachers, as well as parents, can view student responses and data reports which are stored on the teacher’s account – creating a transparent insight for parents into what and how their children are learning, facilitating a collaborative home-school approach (McKnight, 2018).

Nearpod and Information Consumption: Nearpod makes the consumption of information within our curriculum both more accessible and engaging. Multimedia elements that are inserted, such as YouTube songs or videos, included sound effects, memes and GIFs grab and help maintain our students attention better than traditional text slides. Additionally, Nearpod’s lesson creation interface is easily navigable and allows for easy insertion of visual/auditory prompts needed by some special education students to consume academic information. The fact that the teacher has a great deal of control over how, how much and in what format the existing curriculum can be presented in through adapting it through Nearpod allows information to be more digestible, interesting, personalized and relevant to students (McKnight, 2018; Nearpod, 2024). 

Nearpod Privacy and Safety: Nearpod is a secure website and application, offering features that comply with COPPA and FERPA regulations. Teachers can control the content and access, ensuring a safe online environment for students (Nearpod, 2024). However, continuous monitoring is necessary to protect students' privacy and personal information as is with any type of internet or technology based tool.

Required Literacies for Accessing Nearpod: Teachers, students and parents who wish to utilize Nearpod require a layer of digital literacy to do so first. The ability to use and navigate a computer or touch-screen device with connected internet is required. Students must physically be able to interact with a keyboard, mouse and/or touch screen. Users must become familiar with the interface of the app, learning how to design and access lessons as well as view reports and data. Many videos and guided tutorials are available through Nearpod’s website (Nearpod, 2024). 

Implications of Nearpod: Nearpod allows teachers a way to present any and all curriculum in an interactive, digital way that can be differentiated to meet the needs of any student. The ease of use that the design feature of Nearpod presents to educators helps to save time and design, implement and evaluate the results of lessons anywhere (McKnight, 2024).

Proloquo2Go

Proloquo2Go Overview: Proloquo2Go is an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) location that is designed to support students with speech and communication deficits, including those with autism, cerebral palsy, down syndrome and other disabilities or conditions affecting communication. It is widely used in special education to help nonverbal or minimally verbal students express themselves with a heavy focus on functional communication (AssistiveWare, 2024).

Proloquo2Go User Engagement: Proloquo2Go is fully customizable through collaboration between the teacher, parent, speech therapist and student. Certain photo and icon styles can be selected in order to create a more personalized experience. Additionally, the user can select a customized audible voice, perhaps one that matches their age, gender or just their preference in general. The layout of icon pages in Proloquo2Go is made to be naturally intuitive to muscle-memory and can be further customized to certain visual or motor impairments (AssistiveWare, 2024). 

Proloquo2Go and Communication: Proloquo2Go was created in order to open up the world of communication for people with disabilities and conditions affecting speech to communicate. It can be life changing for many nonverbal or partially verbal people who go through a world of frustration not being able to effectively communicate their needs or wants, comment in conversation or advocate for themselves. Utilizing the app provides students a practical way to produce a version of verbal speech that allows the rest of the world to understand them (AssistiveWare, 2024). 

Proloquo2Go and Information Consumption:  Proloquo2Go allows users to access and share information by allowing them to communicate more effectively. Students can use it to participate in class discussions, answer questions and express their ideas. It also allows for personalized vocabulary and settings, ensuring that the information included in communication is relevant and meaningful to the user.

Proloquo2Go’s Impact on Learning: Proloquo2Go can have a profound positive impact on learning by enabling students to participate more fully in educational activities through methods other than non-verbal communication. It supports language development and cognitive skills by allowing students to practice and use language in various contexts and across settings, whether it be during an academic lesson or when working on life-skills, social-emotional learning and more. The auditory response from the application when information is entered by a student actually can encourage verbal communication as well, serving as a form of auditory modeling. However, reliance on the app strictly without additional support may limit the development of verbal communication skills in some cases. Most importantly, it allows the student to express themselves more functionally throughout the educational process (Collette et. al, 2018). 

Proloquo2Go’s Privacy and Safety: Proloquo2Go complies with privacy regulations and its use can be closely monitored by both educators and parents. The input history can be reviewed, helping parents ensure the program is being used with fidelity. In most cases, the app features real-life photos taken with the device the app is programmed on, like an iPad or tablet. These personal photos can be password protected so that only those relevant to the students’ lives are viewing them. Most devices that Proloquo2Go is programmed on have their own layer of privacy and safety settings that can be easily applied to the app itself. Training on how to utilize these settings can be accessed through their websites as well as through collaboration with speech-language pathologists, who are responsible for the application’s upkeep and initial setup within my program (AssistiveWare, 2024). 

Required Literacies for Accessing Proloquo2Go: Competency on using devices such as iPads and tablets are critical for use for the student utilizing it as well as the educational team involved. Speech-pathologists and teachers receive training provided by the company through PD opportunities to learn how to use the application’s interface, customize layout and vocabulary and apply aspects of research-based AAC strategies that tailor to each students’ specific communication needs and strengths. Students need to have a good understanding of things like using a touch-screen device, recognizing when the battery is low, charging their AAC devices, typing (at times) and visual-motor planning to navigate with fluidity. Parents and other members of the educational team also receive on-going consultations from speech teachers within most special education settings to help them develop the literacies needed to understand the app and AAC process (AssistiveWare, 2024). 

Implications of Proloquo2Go:  Proloquo2Go supports inclusivity in education by literally providing a voice to students with communication needs and disorders. Educators can use it to create a classroom environment where all students can participate and express themselves to their level. Students once experiencing frustration over not being able to communicate functionally have a sense of relief that results in decrease in behavioral concerns, boosted confidence and emotional well-being and academic growth. Parents play a vital role in reinforcing the use of the app at home, leading to higher rates of communication, independence and socialization at home as well (Collette et. al, 2018). 

Conclusion

Both Nearpod and Proloquo2Go offer significant benefits education, especially within special education contexts. Nearpod enhances engagement and learning through interactive content, while Proloquo2Go empowers students with communication impairments to express themselves and participate more fully in educational activities. Each platform requires specific literacies for effective use and has implications for how education is delivered and experienced. Previous and introductions to the platforms can be seen in the video examples above. By integrating these tools, educators and parents can create more inclusive and supportive learning environments.

References: 

AssistiveWare. (2024). Proloquo2Go: The world’s most popular AAC app for iPad and iPhone. https://www.assistiveware.com/products/proloquo2go 

AssistiveWare. (2024). Proloquo2Go: Privacy Statement. https://assistiveware.com/proloquo2go-privacy 

Buttrey, K. (2021). Inclusion, Engagement, and Nearpod: Providing a Digital Alternative to Traditional Instruction. Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children, 8(1). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.61611/2995-5904.1031 

Collette, D., Brix, A., Brennan, P., DeRoma, N., & Muir, B. C. (2018). Proloquo2Go enhances classroom performance in children with autism spectrum disorder. OTJR: Occupation, Participation and Health, 39(3), 143–150. https://doi.org/10.1177/1539449218799451 

McKnight, B. (2024, June 13). Best practices to support MTSS instruction in education. Nearpod Blog. https://nearpod.com/blog/mtss-multi-tiered-systems-of-support/

Nearpod. (2024). Nearpod Website Privacy Notice. Nearpod. https://nearpod.com/privacy-notice 

Nearpod Team. (2023). Using Nearpod to support students with autism. Nearpod Blog. https://nearpod.com/blog/using-nearpod-to-support-students-with-autism/