Illuminate Data & Assessment (DnA) vs. Nearpod

I think it is well suited for K-12 schools, especially for tracking student growth over time. The ability to easily upload state assessment results and produce pre-built reports provides teachers actionable data. The online assessment system is more appropriate for secondary (grades 6-12) students in our district due to the types of assessments our elementary (K-5) students complete. I have some experience with other systems and think that the illuminate software offers more flexibility in the types of data that can be stored.

Incentivized

Nearpod works great in any classroom, but the presentation must be projected or each student must have access to a internet connected device.

Incentivized

• Easy to use
• Item banks
• Outstanding customer service.
• Reasonable pricing models.
• Integrates well with student info systems.

Incentivized

• Provide timely and individualized feedback.
• Allow for the teacher to check for understanding, for the entire class, in one view.
• Present an array of different interactive lesson items, at the fingertips of every student.

Incentivized

• Tech support seemed good but our main issue was never resolved. We received attention and someone was working on our issue, but they could never figure out why our student count was off for 1 grade level even though they said our data looked great.
• The customized reports were powerful, but there was so much to learn for the average administrative user, like a principal, to get the detailed data they need. You would have to have a dedicated person to create customized reports.
• At some point, our representative just stopped calling and there was no further contact. Then our rep left the company and the new rep only sent one email notifying us of the change. That was almost a year ago.

Incentivized

• I would love Nearpod to have more free activities.
• I would love Nearpod to be free for educators.
• I would love if teachers could assign homework on Nearpod.

Incentivized

Goal is to continue our subscription for the 2019-2020 school year

Incentivized

Illuminate DnA is a very usable system. A few items to learn and set up can be a bit time-consuming. However, once set up it is easy to use and powerful for a school that staff can master quickly. It has more features then we actually use but I hope we will over time.

Incentivized

Web-based or using the app, Nearpod is easy to use

Incentivized

Our issue was never resolved so that we could use the software to produce accurate reports. Their tech department looked into the issue several times and could never figure out why our student was off and then they just closed the case. They confirmed we were performing the correct steps to load the data and they confirmed our data looked accurate. Great, but again why was our student count off?

Incentivized

The support staff for Nearpod is top-notch. I have not had technical issues, but I did have a concern about my bill and they reached out to me nearly immediately to address the problem. I was very satisfied with how they handled the interaction from beginning to end. They did a great job.

Incentivized

Illuminate DnA offers more flexibility and additional features that our previous Data Director system offered. We were looking for a system that offered an online assessment portal and the ability to create elementary standard-based report cards when we selected the illuminate DnA software. We were impressed with the ability to easily create custom reports and liked the comprehensive student profile page.

Incentivized

The custom, integrated, online content, along with school libraries, makes this product superior to PearDeck. Nearpod exceeds PowerPoint because of the ease of use, the student paced lessons, and the ability to embed CFUs.

Incentivized

• Better handle on student achievement.
• Clarity around achievements on specific standards.

Incentivized

• The impact is awesome. It gives students a digital option other than PowerPoint for presentations.
• The feedback tool allows you to follow students in realtime.
• The shallow learning curve made it easy encourage other faculty to try it.