Pear Deck Explanation and Functionality, With Latest Updates
Pear Deck, the Google Slides add-on that transforms presentations into engaging student conversations, remains a prominent tool in the educational technology landscape for the upcoming 2024-2025 academic year.
The anonymity of each student's responses allows for live class monitoring without singling out individuals, making it ideal for both in-class and remote learning. This feature enables teachers to see student responses in real time, even if students are working remotely.
Pear Deck's focus on interactive learning and student engagement is evident in its suite of features. Teachers can record their voice directly onto slides for a more personal feel, ideal for remote learning. Blank slides are also available for students to creatively express their understanding during the presentation.
Moreover, the system offers a feature for live presentations, combining teacher control with student device interactivity. This integration allows students to answer questions, participate in polls, and interact with presentations using their personal devices. The system works with both traditional projectors and interactive whiteboards.
Pear Deck's content orchard has expanded to include new ELA and math lessons, as well as templates that can be edited by teachers. The teacher dashboard allows teachers to see how everyone is progressing and adapt the presentation accordingly.
For back to school 2024, Pear Deck has introduced Instant Pear Decks, which allows teachers to create standards-aligned classroom content in under 30 seconds using generative AI technology. The system also allows for pacing the presentation using multiple choice questions, only moving on once everyone in the class has answered.
Pear Deck's offerings include a free package, an Individual Premium package at $149.99 per year, and custom pricing for schools and districts. The Individual Premium package includes additional features like viewing and highlighting responses by name, Student Paced mode, draggable and drawable responses, on-the-fly questions and activities, Immersive Reader, and the ability to add audio to slides.
As we approach August 2025, educators can look forward to the latest official features and product updates on Pear Deck's official website, blog, or release notes. These updates are expected to further enhance the tool's capabilities, ensuring it remains a key educational technology resource for the 2024-2025 academic year and beyond.
In conclusion, Pear Deck continues to be a valuable tool for teachers seeking to create interactive, engaging, and personalised learning experiences for their students. Its focus on student engagement, integration with digital classrooms systems, and ongoing updates make it a reliable choice for schools, particularly those already invested in the Google ecosystem.
