Nearpod is an education-focused learning management software solution offered by Nearpod.
$159
per year
Unique Learning System
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
Unique Learning System (ULS) is a special education solution that supports students with disabilities from Pre-K through transition. It provides differentiated, standards-aligned lessons in ELA, math, science, social studies, and life skills with built-in assessments, progress tracking, and automated differentiation.
N/A
Pricing
Nearpod
Unique Learning System
Editions & Modules
Gold
$159
per year
Platinum
$397
per year
Silver
Free
Premium Plus
Get quote
per year
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Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Nearpod
Unique Learning System
Free Trial
No
Yes
Free/Freemium Version
Yes
Yes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
No
No
Entry-level Setup Fee
No setup fee
No setup fee
Additional Details
Nearpod has a free version for all teachers. There are paid options for individual teachers, as well as schools and districts, for increased features and access.
Nearpod is great for teachers who want data to help gauge how engaged students are during lessons. Additionally, teachers in one-to-one schools can better use these tools with a lesson delivery system like Nearpod. Nearpod is especially effective when a presenter has to deliver information to a large class.
I have actually recommended it to another teacher in a different district for her autism program since she could level and pace it easily and also easily collect IEP data without stressing out her students with extra work. Unique Learning System is also a good program for our autism program because it is consistent with all core subjects, making is very routine based.
Data tracking and progress reports - Unique Learning System's Polaris feature is a user-friendly, simple way to track and monitor progress towards learners IEP goals. When creating a roadmap that follows a learner's IEP, you input data such as learning profiles and benchmark assessments and rubrics that then produce goal suggestions. You can craft your own goal, use a suggested goal, or choose a goal from the goal library. It gives you a great idea of what goals to target based on learner needs and progress. Entering data is super easy, just a date and a data point, and a graph generates for you. From there, it will show the data trend and flag it for you when it's at risk. It is also easy to add an intervention. Quarterly, I use the progress report feature to generate a report that provides me with the graphs that I use to put into IEP writer.
Curriculum pacing - My school utilizes Unique Learning System for our daily instruction. Unique Learning System provides pacing guides with what to teach and when. Everything is standards aligned and all of the lesson plans have ways that you can differentiate already built into the plans as well as an easy to use, structured/routine based set up that makes daily lessons predictable for learners to increase engagement.
N2Y - My learners love News To You! This provides children with access to informational text. We use it as a "fun Friday" read every week. We read the article in class, watch videos, answer questions, and typically do an activity to go along with it. The kids look forward to it every week, and also enjoy the Joey's Locker games that go along with the articles. They have a new feature to be able to assign activities that go along with the article which is really nice because I assign them as supplemental activities to go along with what we are learning about in class!
Unique Learning System's materials in the science and social studies areas aren't "fluffy" as other areas, but they are continuously adding materials
The layout of the website isn't the most user friendly, but most teachers are able to navigate easily after an initial training
The administrator side of things isn't super straightforward, reports can be confusing to find/run, but the one on one meetings always provide clarity.
I appreciate all the various resources that Unique Learning System has to offer. However, due to my limited interaction with other resources similar to Unique Learning System I do not know enough to compare it against other programs. I also am not a person in charge of renewing Unique Learning System for my organization.
While there is some learning curve to fully understand and know how to lead a lesson with Nearpod, once mastered successfully, Nearpod lessons are simple to create and deliver. When leading a lesson, it is relatively simple to see how everyone in the class performs and how well they participate and understand.
There is a lot of content in Unique Learning System. It can sometimes be time consuming to navigate through everything. I appreciate the depth and breadth of the resources, but it can also be tough to use when I need a worksheet or packet for my students. The use of Unique Learning System on the computer is great, but my students seem to learn best when they have a pen and paper in front of them.
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.
I don't know of a product off hand that does what Nearpod can do. Between the library of pre-made lessons, the ability to create your own lesson content, the ability to add interactive content, Nearpod offers a unique engagement platform for instruction
We viewed Encore by TeachTown. The product seemed to be a notch above Unique Learning System and included workbooks and other books but was very expensive. The downfalls of Encore was that it did not include the Profile Assessments like Unique Learning System and also the monthly checkpoints which are very valuable.
Ease of planning is #1. I am able to plan an entire lesson or a week's worth of lessons during my 30-minute planning time.
Data that is collected for IEPs is so valuable and reports are parent-friendly.
Students are able to work on the alternative path toward a diploma because this curriculm is covering all of the standards they need to see in order to earn their diploma.
