Nearpod Integrates with Microsoft’s Immersive Reader to Make Learning More Accessible to K-12 Students

Nearpod, the most comprehensive Student Engagement Platform, has expanded students’ ability to take ownership of learning by integrating with Microsoft’s Immersive Reader. This early integration with Immersive Reader, launching in beta, provides interactive tools to support students’ reading and comprehension skills, such as enhanced dictation and syllabification. These powerful tools make learning more accessible and engaging, particularly for students who have reading disabilities and English language learners (ELL).

The number of ELL students nationally has been steadily rising over the last two decades, and today nearly 10% of all US K-12 students are learning English, while also trying to keep pace with fellow classmates who are native speakers. Meanwhile, the number of K-12 students who received special education services, to address challenges including reading disabilities, increased from 6.4 million to 7 million between 2012 and 2018. 
With the addition of Microsoft’s Immersive Reader, teachers have additional tools and resources to help level the playing field for all of their students, without having to leave their Nearpod lesson. Key features coming to the platform include:

• Text-to-speech capabilities that let students hear text read aloud and check pronunciation
• Ease reading with the ability to adjust text size, font and color
• Language translation of words or blocks of text using Microsoft Translator’s 52 languages
• Line focus helps students concentrate on a single sentence or line they are reading   

“Immersive Reader is perhaps our most exciting integration with Microsoft to date, because it supports our relentless pursuit to engage every student to unlock their full potentials,” shared Jennie Kristoffersen, Chief Academic Officer of Nearpod. “This powerful tool from Microsoft will help teachers transform learning experiences and provide new access points to text.” 

In addition to its integration with Immersive Reader, Nearpod users also get seamless integration with Microsoft’s Office 365 SSO and Microsoft Teams, as well as a dedicated app for Windows 10. What’s more, teachers can add Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft Sway documents to Nearpod lessons. They can also save files easily to Microsoft OneDrive. 

“We’re delighted that what was once just a bold idea emerging from a Microsoft Hackathon has been so enthusiastically embraced by partners like Nearpod, who are firmly focused on helping teachers create engaging learning experiences for all of their students,” said Microsoft’s Executive Vice President of Education, Eran Megiddo. “We’re proud to deepen our partnership in this way and bring greater access to this technology to millions of students using Nearpod every day.”

In addition to this latest integration, Nearpod’s platform also integrates with leading Learning Management Solutions, including Canvas, Blackboard and Schoology. Furthermore, Nearpod’s Lesson Library offers standards-aligned content from leading publishers like Common Sense Education, BBC Worldwide, Pulitzer Center, Newsela and ReadWorks.

To get started, Nearpod users must enable Microsoft Immersive Reader in their advanced settings granting access to every student via web browser. To learn more about Nearpod’s integration with Microsoft Immersive Reader and how it can benefit both students and teachers, visit: nearpod.com/blog/microsoft/

About Nearpod
Nearpod, recently named EdTech Digest’s Company of the Year, is the most comprehensive Student Engagement Platform for K-12 teachers. Nearpod works with any classroom technology from tablets and smartphones to laptops and Chromebooks to help engage students with activities such as Virtual Reality, PhET and Desmos, and with more than 7,000 ready-to-run lessons created in partnership with leading brands like Common Sense Education and the Pulitzer Center. Nearpod recently acquired Flocabulary, a learning platform that helps students thrive by bringing the K-12 curriculum to life through hip-hop. Beyond classroom instruction, the company revitalizes teacher development through Teacher Professional Learning content that cultivates classroom-changing strategies for educators. To learn more, visit: nearpod.com.

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