CONTENT FOR TABLETS: Here's an interesting deal: LearnZillion, which offers free video lesson plans for K-12 schools, has teamed up with NearPod, which offers free software for managing tablets in a school to jointly offer a combo package of at least 50 free math and ELA Common Core-aligned lessons, tailored for the NearPod tablet environment. Does free-plus-free make something more valuable than free? Sure, say the companies.
By converting LearnZillion lesson plans into the NearPod format and adding a dash of interactive assessment features, the companies hope to make the content far more powerful than conventional video lessons. And yep, eventually there could be a data component, too: since assessment features will be consistent across any number of teachers, the entrepreneurs hope that they might be able to spot some interesting trends in the aggregrated data.
It's all a pilot for now but it's interesting to see how kindred spirits collaborate. The companies have both received funding from NewSchools Venture Fund. (Editor's note: And, in the interest of full disclosure, so has EdSurge.)
How to get started: If your school has a 1:1 environment, you can download the free NearPod app here and it will point to the LearnZillion lessons. More details in this press release.
