EDT122: Formative Assessment with Dan Niessen: Quizizz, Nearpod, Pear Deck, and Snorkl, plus Google Slides, Canva Visual Suite 2.0, and Canva Sheets

What's your go-to tool for formative assessment? In this episode, Dan Niessen joins me to unpack strategies for gathering real-time insights into student learning. We talk Quizizz, Nearpod, Snorkl, AI chatbot tutors, Pear Deck, ChatGPT, and more. Dan shares how he supports educators in choosing tools that fit their goals—and their students. Plus, I break down updates to Google Slides, Canva Visual Suite 2.0 and Canva Sheets, along with a timely tip on how to cite AI-generated content. Tune in!

#EduDuctTape Episode 122

Today's Sponsor - M2 by Swivl - swivl.com/m2

0:00:00 INTRO

0:03:26 Today's Guest: Dan Niessen - @Dan_EdTech on X/Twitter and @neonetedtech.bsky.social on Bluesky

• Dan is the Senior Technology Integration Specialist at NEOnet, providing all sorts of EdTech PD for K-12 teachers, administrators, and school staff. He started out as a High School Social Studies teacher at a few schools around the Cleveland area, but then moved into his current position in 2018. He's always excited to learn and share about EdTech!
• See webinars and resources from Dan and the NEONet Tech Integration Team - neonet.org/tech-integration

0:10:45 Today's EduDuctTape Question: What tool or strategy would you use to formatively assess students' comprehension?

0:11:27 Formative Assessment during Reading

0:12:34 Chunking Reading with Formative Questions

0:18:39 The Fast and the Curious EduProtocol

• The EduProtocol Field Guides, Books 1 and 2 - https://www.eduprotocols.com/fieldguides
• Eliminate worksheet homework with the Fast and the Curious EduProtocol - Ditch That Textbook - https://ditchthattextbook.com/eliminate-worksheet-homework-with-the-fast-and-the-curious-eduprotocol/

0:21:46 Quizizz - https://quizizz.com/

0:23:29 Jared Cooney Horvath's Insights - https://episodes.fm/1447821443/episode/YmIwMjU4NGMwMDdiNDhkNjhiNjNiNWVhYzhhNzgwYWY

0:25:00 Nearpod and Pear Deck - https://nearpod.com/ and https://www.peardeck.com/

0:27:30 Pear Deck Autograding

0:30:11 Today's Sponsor: M2 from Swivl

0:35:08 AI Tutors

0:40:07 Snorkl - https://snorkl.app/

0:41:16 Flip

0:41:50 What Makes Snorkl Great

0:42:58 Why Using AI for Formative Assessment Is Good

Edu News I've Got My Peepers On:

0:46:00 Google Slides Updates

• Google Slides now uses Imagen 3 and adds other new visual tools - https://blog.google/products/workspace/workspace-slides-visuals-ai-updates/
• New sidebar with design elements in Google Slides makes building presentations easier - https://workspaceupdates.googleblog.com/2025/03/new-sidebar-with-design-elements-in-google-slides.html
• Google Slides introduces proportional scaling for objects to maintain visual clarity - https://workspaceupdates.googleblog.com/2025/03/proportional-scaling-objects-in-google-slides.html

0:47:26 Stock Images in Google Slides

0:48:12 New Templates and Themes in Google Slides

0:48:58 Building Blocks in Google Slides

0:49:46 Proportional Scaling Groups in Google Slides

0:50:10 Speaker Spotlight & Slides Recording in Google Slides

0:51:02 Imagen 3 AI Image Generator in Google Slides

0:52:36 Canva Visual Suite 2.0

• Introducing Visual Suite 2.0: Productivity, meet creativity - https://www.canva.com/newsroom/news/canva-create-2025/

0:54:30 Canva Sheets

• Canva Sheets: Free Visual Spreadsheets - https://www.canva.com/sheets/

0:56:34 Citing AI-Generated Content

• How to Cite AI-Generated Videos - https://www.kapwing.com/resources/how-to-cite-an-ai-video/