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What is Pear Deck and How Does It Work? Tips and Tricks

Are you tired of boring, one-dimensional presentations? Look no further than Pear Deck! This innovative tool allows you to create interactive and engaging presentations that keep your audience involved and interested. Whether you’re a teacher or a business professional, Pear Deck can take your presentations to the next level. Read on to learn more about what Pear Deck is and how it can benefit you.

Pear Deck is an interactive presentation tool designed to engage students and audience members in real-time. It allows educators to create interactive presentations and enables students to respond to prompts, questions, and activities on their own devices, such as laptops, tablets, or smartphones. This results in increased engagement, participation, and retention of information.

In this blog post, we will explore the features of Pear Deck, how it works, some tips and tricks to make the most of this tool, and how to join and get started with it.

What is Pear Deck and how does it work?

Pear Deck is an interactive presentation tool that allows you to create engaging and interactive presentations. With Pear Deck, you can add interactive questions, polls, and quizzes to your slides, allowing your audience to participate and engage with your content. Pear Deck works by integrating with Google Slides, allowing you to create your presentation in Google Slides and then add interactive elements using the Pear Deck add-on. When you present your slides, your audience can participate using their own devices, such as smartphones or laptops, making it easy to engage with your content.

The idea is to offer a digital tool that teachers can use to create and present material to the class on the big screen. But students can follow along on their personal devices, and interact when invited to, all helping to make the presentation far more immersive for the class.

This tool also works for formative assessments throughout the class, allowing students to show how they’re understanding the material and teachers to better pace the lesson to include all levels of ability at the right speed.

Pear Deck Best Features

Pear Deck has a range of features that make it an effective tool for interactive presentations. Here are some of the key features:

• Interactive Slides – Pear Deck allows educators to create interactive slides that can include several types of questions, prompts, and activities. These include multiple-choice questions, short answer questions, drawing activities, and more. Students can respond to these prompts in real-time on their own devices, which allows for more engagement and participation.
• Engagement Dashboard – Pear Deck provides an engagement dashboard that allows educators to see in real-time how many students are participating and how they are responding to prompts. This dashboard provides valuable insights into how engaged students are during the presentation.
• Teacher-Paced or Student-Paced Mode – Pear Deck allows for both teacher-paced and student-paced modes. In teacher-paced mode, educators control the pace of the presentation, and all students see the same slide at the same time. In student-paced mode, students can work through the presentation at their own pace, which allows for more flexibility and individualization.
• Google Integration – Pear Deck is integrated with Google Slides, which makes it easy to create and share presentations with others. Educators can create presentations in Google Slides and then import them into Pear Deck. Additionally, Pear Deck integrates with Google Classroom, which makes it easy to share presentations with students.

Tips for using Pear Deck in the classroom

Whether you’re a teacher looking to enhance your classroom presentations or a business professional looking to engage your audience during a presentation, Pear Deck can help. Here are some tips for using Pear Deck in the classroom:

• Start with a clear objective for your presentation.
• Use interactive questions and polls to keep your audience engaged.
• Customize the design and layout of your presentation to match your branding or personal style.
• Use Pear Deck’s analytics to track audience participation and adjust your presentation accordingly.
• Encourage audience participation and feedback throughout your presentation.
• Use Pear Deck’s integration with Google Classroom or other learning management systems to easily share your presentation with students or colleagues.
• Practice your presentation beforehand to ensure a smooth and engaging delivery.

How Pear Deck Works

Pear Deck allows teachers to create slide show-style presentations using their Google Slides account. This can be done from scratch, however, there is a massive selection of templates to work with, making the process easy.

Pear Deck also allows teachers to see the deck live so they can see who is participating at that moment. Student responses appear on the teacher’s screen in real time, even if working remotely.

Teachers can create, share, and present their Pear Deck presentations directly from a laptop or tablet easily. There are apps but user reviews are not great as there are some usability issues – so it’s often easier to use this via a web browser.

While building, teachers can pick from four question types:

• Draggable questions with agree/disagree or thumbs up/down.
• Drawing questions with a free space or grid for students to draw in.
• Free response questions with short text, long text, or number capabilities.
• Multiple choice questions with response of yes/no, true/false, or A,B,C,D.

How to share Pear Deck Join Code?

To share a Pear Deck join code with your students or audience members, you can follow these steps:

• Open your Pear Deck presentation and click on the “Present” button.
• Once you are in presentation mode, click on the “Settings” gear icon in the top right corner.
• In the Settings menu, click on the “Session Settings” tab.
• Under “Session Settings,” you will see a section titled “Join Instructions.” Here, you can customize the instructions that will appear on the screen when students or audience members join the Pear Deck session.
• Copy the join code provided in the “Join Instructions” section. You can also choose to display the join code on the screen by selecting the “Display on Projector” option.
• Share the join code with your students or audience members through a method of your choice, such as displaying it on a screen, sending it via email, or writing it on a whiteboard.

When students or audience members enter the join code on their own devices at joinpd.com, they will be able to join the Pear Deck session and participate in the interactive presentation.

How to join Pear Deck?

If you are a student and your teacher is using Pear Deck, you will need to join a Pear Deck session by entering the session code provided by your teacher. You can do this by going to joinpd.com and entering the code. This will allow you to participate in the interactive presentation and respond to prompts and questions on your own device.

How much does Pear Deck cost?

Pear Deck pricing starts with the Free package with Individual Premium & School packages. The three packages are:

• Free : Offers most of the main feature including creation of lessons, Google and Microsoft integration, student Locks and Timers, templates to use, and access to a Flashcard Factory.
• Individual Premium at $149.99 per year : This has all of the above as well as the ability to view and highlight responses by name, support remote and asynchronous work with Student Paced mode, add draggable and drawable responses, add on-the-fly questions and activities, share student progress with Takeaways, get Immersive Reader, add audio to slides, and more.
• Schools and districts at a custom price : All of the above plus efficacy reports, training, dedicated support, and LMS integrations with Canvas and Schoology.

How to measure the success of your Pear Deck presentations?

One of the excellent features of Pear Deck is the ability to track audience participation and engagement through analytics. You can see how many people responded to each question or poll, which questions were most popular, and how long people spent on each slide. This data can help you adjust your presentation for future audiences and improve your overall presentation skills. Additionally, you can ask for feedback from your audience at the end of the presentation to get a better understanding of what worked well and what could be improved upon.

Pear Deck Engagement?

Pear Deck engagement refers to the level of participation and interaction of students or audience members during a presentation or lesson that is created and delivered using the Pear Deck platform.

Pear Deck offers a range of interactive features, such as multiple-choice questions, short answer questions, drawing activities, and more, that enable students to respond to prompts and questions in real-time on their own devices. This allows educators to gauge the level of engagement and understanding of their audience during the presentation.

The engagement dashboard in Pear Deck provides real-time data on student participation, responses, and progress throughout the presentation. Educators can use this information to adjust their teaching strategies and adapt the presentation to ensure that students remain engaged and on track.

Some ways to increase Pear Deck engagement include:

• Incorporating interactive activities and questions that require student participation
• Varying the types of activities and questions to keep students interested and engaged
• Providing timely feedback to students to keep them motivated and on track
• Encouraging peer-to-peer collaboration through group activities and discussions
• Using student-paced mode to allow students to work at their own pace and engage with the material in a more personalized way.

Overall, Pear Deck engagement can lead to improved learning outcomes, increased participation, and greater retention of information. By using the interactive features of Pear Deck, educators can create engaging and effective presentations that meet the needs of their students

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Pear Deck- Full Review and Ways to Use it In Classroom

By Med Kharbach, PhD | Last Update: May 17, 2024

Pear Deck is a tool that allows you to turn your presentations and lessons into interactive learning materials. The way Pear Deck works is simple and easy: First, make sure you install Pear Deck add-on in your Google Drive or your OneDrive. Next open your Slides or PowerPoint presentation and add Pear Deck’s interactive features. 

You can add a number of question types including multiple choice, open-ended, Draggables, and more. You can also use Pear Deck’s pre-made templates to  design interactive presentations. Once your presentation is ready, you can present it to the whole class. Students can join the session from any device with a web browser using a unique access code. Or, you can assign it as homework assignment for students to work on at their own pace.  

Using instructor-paced mode, teachers can control each deck from their computer, monitor students progress and provide timely feedback. Teachers can also select specific students responses to share with the whole class or show answers of the whole class. Students answers are anonymous only teachers can access identifiable information. Teachers can also lock students screen and  prevent them from editing their answers.

All Pear Deck presentations and materials are saved in a folder in Google Drive. Teachers can use Drive sharing options to share these materials with students, parents, and colleagues.

The purpose of this post is to introduce you to Pear Deck and familiarize you with some of its main features. More specifically, the post covers the following points:

What does Pear Deck do?

Ways to use pear deck in the classroom, how to add pear deck to google slides, how to create a pear deck lesson or presentation, how to add pre-made slide templates to your presentation, how to manage students responses, instructor-paced mode versus student-paced mode, add questions to your pear deck lessons/presentations, a- pear deck teacher feedback, b- give students feedback using takeaways, grading students responses, is pear deck free.

• Pear Deck Video tutorials 

Pear Deck basically adds interactive features to your presentations and lessons making them more engaging and learning-friendly.  You can either design your interactive presentation from scratch or use an existing presentation in Google Slides or PowerPoint. Alternatively, you can access Pear Deck library and search for ready-made templates to use in your presentations. 

Here are some helpful suggestions on how to use Pear Deck in your class:

• Create interactive lessons and presentations to engage students in learning. 
• Use Pear Deck to conduct formative assessments in your class. Create presentations that embed specific questions to test students comprehension and use teacher dashboard to view students responses in real time. Similar tools to use for formative assessment include:  Quizalize , Kahoot , Quizlet , Goformative , Blooket , and Quizizz .
• Empower students voice by allowing them to share feedback (anonymously if you want) and encourage them to take ownership of their learning.
• Ask students to work in groups or individually to create interactive presentations to share with the whole class.
• Create interactive presentations to use in various educational activities in class including bell ringers, reflections, and exit tickets.
• Provide shy students and those who are afraid or embarrassed to ask questions in front of their peers with a venue to speak, share, and be engaged.
• Pear Deck supports multiple learning styles. Students can type, draw, or provide numeric responses and feedback.
• Students use Flashcard Factory game to create vocabulary lists to review and enhance their vocabulary learning.

There are two ways to add Pear Deck add-on to Google Slides: The first way is you go to Pear Deck, click on Create presentation and follow the on-screen instructions . The second way (for Slides) is to:

• Open a presentation in Google Slides
• Click on Add-ons
• Select get add-on
• Search for Pear Deck and click to install it.

Pear Deck lessons and presentations are all created within Google Slides or PowerPoint online. You need to install Pear Deck add-on/add-in in order to create your presentations. If you have not already installed it, you will be prompted to install it when you start creating presentations. 

You can either design your presentation from scratch or use an existing Slides or PowerPoint presentation. Here is how to get started creating Pear Deck presentations/lessons:

• Log into Pear Deck
• Click on Create a Presentations
• In Google Slides, click on Add-ons and select Open Pear Deck Add-on
• Use the Pear Deck Sidebar to add questions , audio, or pre-made templates

Pear Deck has this incredible library of free pre-made templates that you can use to create your lessons and presentations. You can edit templates the way you want. For instance, you can change background images, text, question types, etc. 

Pear Deck offers  several template types including:

• Beginning of lesson: Use these templates to introduce lessons and they include ‘easy-to-use warm-up, temperature check, and reflection slides’.
• During lesson: “Slides in this section could be used to prompt additional thought, discussion, or deeper engagement. Slide types include true/false, checks for understanding, summary, diagrams, maps, graphs, and more. These flexible slide types can be customized to an unlimited array of subjects.”
• End of lesson: Use these slides in activities that ‘wrap ip class with opportunities for reflection and exit tickets’.

As a teacher, you are able to display students answers anonymously on the projector screen. In this way they get to see and compare their answers. Also, those who are struggling with questions will realize that they are not the only ones having problems. 

As answers are displayed on the screen, students might be prompted to change their answers thus causing distraction in class. To prevent this, you need to time lock answers by clicking on the lock responses button. Click the button once more to unlock responses.

Pear Deck’s premium version offers more tools to help you manage students responses. These include the ability to filter students answers before they show up on the screen, star answers to show samples on the screen, hide inappropriate answers, and even block disruptive students.

This mode is ideal for synchronous teaching. It allows you to connect with your students in real-time.. Student-paced mode allows students to go through a Pear Deck lesson/presentation at their own pace. They get to control the movement of the slides. 

From the Teacher dashboard, you get to view students work. Simply hover over the thumbnail to see who is on each slide and who is lagging behind. As you go through students responses you can star those you want to discuss with the whole group. To assign the rest of the Pear Deck questions as homework, simply leave the session open by clicking on Leave session. Student paced mode is especially ideal to use in flipped learning sessions, remote learning, to differentiate or scaffold teaching, and more.

Make your lessons/presentations interactive by adding various forms of questions. These include: 

• Text-based questions: Students textual responses to your prompt.
• Multiple choice questions: Students pick the right answers
• Number: Students provide numeric responses
• Website: Students view and interact with a website embedded on their device
• Draw: Students draw an image or text on their device in response to your prompt
• Draggable: they can be in the form of agree/disagree or thumbs up/down.

Two ways to provide teacher feedback to students:

There are two ways to provide teacher feedback: the first one is through Pear Deck teacher feedback and the second through Takeaways:

“Pear Deck Teacher Feedback has been launched in beta! This tool allows you to leave comments for students next to any type of response (Drawing, Draggable, Text, Number, and Multiple Choice) via the Dashboard. Students instantly receive their own feedback on the Student View. Teacher Feedback, along with the Dashboard, is a Premium feature available to those who sign into Pear Deck with Google and Microsoft Office 365.”

Pear Deck Takeaways (premium feature) allows you to give students personalized feedback regarding their performance. Takeaways are individualized and editable Google Docs that contain the Slides from presented Session, students’ responses, and spaces to leave comments and notes. 

Each time you publish a Takeaway, students receive a link to their Takeaway. They won’t be able to see the takeaways of their peers. Students can access a copy of their Takeaway in the Share with me section of their Google Drive.

When they open their Takeways, students will see their responses and the accompanying slides. As a teacher, you have full control over ownership and editing rights of Takeaways. You can also share students takeaways with parents and/or co-teachers through Google Drive. 

“Each time you publish Takeaways you get a blank responses copy, which is stored in the Google Drive folder with the rest of the Takeaways in the Session. You can share it to a student who missed class so they can work through the lesson.” Check this page for a full step by step tutorial on how to use Takeaways in your teaching.

One way to make grading students responses on Pear Deck easy is to export them to a Google Sheet. This requires that you log in to Pear Deck using your Google account. If you want to see students names in your Spreadsheet you need to  require email login before you present. 

The process to export students responses is simple: after you end a session open the More Actions menu and click on Export to Spreadsheet. All spreadsheet exports are saved in the Exports folder located in the Pear Deck folder in your Google Drive.

Pear Deck is a freemium service. It offers both basic and premium subscriptions. The premium plan has the added features: add draggable and drawing responses, immersive reader, add audio to Slides, supports remote and asynchronous work with student paced mode, keep students in sync with locks and timers, share student progress and feedback, and many more. 

Pear Deck Video tutorials

• How to Make Interactive Google Slides with Pear Deck (New EdTech Classroom)
• Pear Deck Getting Started  (Pear Deck)
• How to use Pear Deck with Canva  (Pear Deck)
• Pear Deck for Microsoft Teams  (Pear Deck)
• Giving Teacher feedback with Pear Deck  (Pear Deck)
• Managing Students Responses  (Pear Deck)
• Add Questions to An Existing Lesson with Pear Deck  (Pear Deck)
• How to Add Audio to Pear Deck Slides   (Pear Deck)

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Meet Med Kharbach, PhD

Dr. Med Kharbach is an influential voice in the global educational technology landscape, with an extensive background in educational studies and a decade-long experience as a K-12 teacher. Holding a Ph.D. from Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Canada, he brings a unique perspective to the educational world by integrating his profound academic knowledge with his hands-on teaching experience. Dr. Kharbach's academic pursuits encompass curriculum studies, discourse analysis, language learning/teaching, language and identity, emerging literacies, educational technology, and research methodologies. His work has been presented at numerous national and international conferences and published in various esteemed academic journals.

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Using pear deck for interactive classroom presentations: a step-by-step guide.

Pear Deck transforms traditional lesson plans into interactive presentations that foster active learning and boost student engagement. As a versatile educational technology, it allows teachers to create dynamic slides incorporating formative assessments like quizzes, drawings, and draggable activities.

These features engage students in real-time feedback during lessons, ensuring every voice is heard.

Leveraging Pear Deck’s compatibility with Google Classroom and other platforms makes integrating it into existing learning environments seamless for educators. Its collaboration with leading educational organizations brings a wealth of specialized content directly into the classroom.

With its user-friendly interface , the software empowers teachers to differentiate instruction and cater to diverse student needs while maintaining the focus on pedagogy.

Step-by-Step Guide to Using Pear Deck

Start by creating your Pear Deck account and integrating questions into your slides to engage students. Then, present your Pear Deck to facilitate interactive classroom discussions and gather student responses in real-time.

Creating Your Pear Deck Account

Creating your Pear Deck account is your first step towards interactive presentations that captivate students. You’ll empower their learning experience by encouraging active participation right from their own devices.

• Visit the Pear Deck website and click on the “Teachers, Sign Up Free” button, which brings technology into the classroom with just a few clicks.
• Choose whether you would like to sign up through Google or Microsoft, ensuring seamless integration with your preferred classroom tools.
• Enter your email address and select a strong password to secure your educator profile; security is crucial in today’s digital learning environment.
• Verify your account by clicking on a confirmation link sent to your email, solidifying your commitment to enhancing student engagement.
• Fill out essential information about yourself and your teaching context to personalize the platform for your specific needs and goals.
• Opt-in for Pear Deck’s training resources like help videos or webinars, which are designed to streamline the learning curve for educators.
• Install the Pear Deck add-on or extension if you’re using Google Slides or Microsoft PowerPoint; this allows you to begin integrating questions into slides effortlessly.

Integrating Questions into Slides

Integrating questions into your slides transforms a standard presentation into an interactive learning experience . Pear Deck’s design allows you to easily add these elements, enhancing engagement and understanding.

• Start with your normal slide deck in Google Slides or PowerPoint.
• Open the Pear Deck sidebar to tap into its interactive features.
• Choose the type of question you want to integrate from the six options Pear Deck offers: draggable, drawing, multiple choice, number, text, or web slide.
• Place a multiple-choice question where you want students to select an answer from given options.
• Insert a text slide for open-ended questions, allowing students to articulate their thoughts.
• Add a draggable question for matching or sorting activities that require students to move objects on the slide.
• Use the drawing tool when you want students to illustrate concepts or highlight areas of an image.
• Implement number slides for math-focused queries or when precise numerical answers are necessary.
• Embed web slides for incorporating external content directly into your presentation.

Presenting a Pear Deck

After integrating questions into your slides, now it’s time to present your Pear Deck and engage your students in an interactive learning experience. Here’s a step-by-step guide to presenting a Pear Deck:

• Open your prepared presentation in Pear Deck and click ‘Start Lesson’ to launch the engaging, interactive slides for your students to see on their devices.
• As you navigate through each slide, encourage students to respond to questions, interact with the content, or provide feedback using the various interactive elements available within Pear Deck.
• Monitor real-time responses from students as they engage with the slides, providing immediate feedback or adjusting the pace of the presentation based on their understanding and participation.
• Utilize features such as draggable elements and drawing tools to encourage creativity and active participation during the presentation.
• Use the ‘Teacher Dashboard’ feature to keep track of student responses and engagement levels throughout the presentation, allowing you to tailor your teaching approach accordingly.
• Incorporate discussion points or collaborative activities within the presentation using its Iinteractive tools to foster a dynamic classroom environment.

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Benefits of Using Pear Deck for Classroom Engagement

The platform enables educators to create engaging and interactive presentations, promoting active student participation. Using Pear Deck empowers teachers to individualize instruction and cater to diverse learning needs in the classroom.

• Enhances Student Engagement: The platform encourages active participation and collaboration, fostering a dynamic learning environment where students can interact with the material.
• Promotes Formative Assessment: The platform allows educators to gauge student understanding in real time, providing valuable insights for adjusting teaching strategies and addressing misconceptions.
• Facilitates Differentiation: With Pear Deck , educators can customize content based on individual student needs, supporting inclusive classrooms by accommodating various learning styles and abilities.
• Increases Equity in Learning: By offering diverse engagement opportunities, Pear Deck promotes equitable access to educational resources for all students, regardless of background or ability level.
• Strengthens Teacher-Student Connection: Using Pear Deck fosters meaningful interactions between teachers and students as they collaborate on shared presentations, enhancing communication and support within the classroom environment.

Enhancing classroom engagement and fostering inclusivity has never been easier, thanks to Pear Deck’s interactive features . With carefully curated ready-to-teach lessons and user-friendly resources, educators can seamlessly integrate questions into their presentations.

By utilizing Pear Deck, teachers can create an inclusive learning environment that caters to diverse learning preferences and backgrounds. Embracing this platform empowers educators to collect valuable data for instruction while promoting educational equity in the classroom .

Maximizing Classroom Engagement with Socrative

(Image Credit: Pear Deck )

Frequently Asked Questions

How does pear deck transform presentations into interactive experiences.

Pear Deck converts traditional classroom presentations into dynamic and engaging sessions by enabling students to provide real-time feedback and participate in a collaborative learning environment.

What are the first steps to using Pear Deck for my classes?

Begin by integrating Pear Deck with your existing presentation software; follow our step-by-step guide to seamlessly incorporate this tool and start creating interactive slides that will captivate your students.

Can I monitor student engagement during a Pear Deck session?

Absolutely! With Pear Deck, you can keep track of how actively each student participates and tailor your teaching methods in response to their levels of engagement during the lesson.

Is it complicated to set up a collaborative learning session with Pear Deck?

Setting up is straightforward: simply prepare your slides as usual and then employ the features of Pear Deck to turn those slides into an opportunity for every student to contribute from their own device.

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Rajat, a seasoned spotSaaS writer, specializes in creating content that guides individuals in making informed technology decisions and enhancing their business strategies. Holding a Bachelor's degree in Commerce from Rajasthan University in India, Rajat possesses extensive expertise in marketing and product management. His contributions have significantly impacted services such as Cardekho, Collegedunia and Futuregroup showcasing his ability to blend technical insight with practical business acumen.

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FAQs About Pear Deck: Cool Things You Can Do

Pear Deck is easy to use, but the potential for how to use it is endless! Want to learn some cool things you can do to take your Pear Deck activities to the next level, like embedding websites and adding audio?

Here are some of the frequently asked questions about getting creative with Pear Deck features to inspire your next Deck, along with links to the corresponding Knowledge Base articles.

FAQ #1: How do I embed a website?

If a site is both secure (https://) and embeddable, then you can bring the website inside your Pear Deck session using the Website Slide! With Website Slides, students can interact with the content without leaving your Pear Deck presentation.  

When building a Pear Deck, create an interactive web slide by selecting the Website question type from the Sidebar.

• Simply follow the prompts to add the site link. If your website is embedded properly, you’ll see a preview of it in the window.
• If the site doesn’t show a preview, that means the web address cannot be embedded because it is not secure or the site creator has not made it embeddable.

Once you’ve added the Website interactive footer to your slide, you won’t see the site on your slide until the Session is launched. Once the Session is live, students will be able to see and interact with the content on the website in the Student View.

Additional questions? Read our help article, Embed Websites and Activities in your Pear Deck , for more detailed instructions and ways to troubleshoot links that are not embeddable.

FAQ #2: How do I embed a video in Pear Deck? ‍

For videos to display on Student View: ‍

To allow students to control the video on their screens, embed your video into a Website Slide (see above). Students will see both the contents of your slide and the embedded video on their screen.

You can embed a video from a source like YouTube by following these steps in our Knowledge Base, or you can save your own video to Google Drive and embed for students to watch. ‍

To add your own video: 1. In your Google Drive, click on the video to open it. 2. Click on the more actions button (three dots), and select Share .

3. Change the share settings so anyone with the link can view it. 4. Click on the more actions button, and click on Open in a new window . 5. In the new window, click on the more actions button, and click on Embed item. 6. Highlight only the URL address within the embed code. 7. Using a Pear Deck Website Slide in your Google Slides, paste the link in the URL window.

For videos to display on the Projector View: To play the video on Projector View on a screen in front of the class or in a videoconferencing platform, add the video directly to your slide. You can learn how by following these step-by-step instructions on our Knowledge Base .

FAQ #3: How do I add audio to my slides?

Pear Deck’s Add Audio feature lets you record or upload audio files to lessons and enables students to listen to those clips from their own devices. Adding audio to a Pear Deck slide is simple to do:

• On the Pear Deck Sidebar, click the Add Audio to Slide button.
• In the Sidebar window, click Record to capture new audio, or Upload to add a pre-recorded audio file from your computer. Pear Deck can support .mp4 files no larger than 20MB.
• When you are satisfied with the recording, click Save Audio to Slide .
• When you're done, click the red Add to Current Slide button to confirm.

Once the Session is live, students will be able to play the audio in Student View simply by clicking the headphones at the bottom of the screen.

To learn more about Add Audio and get answers to other questions you might have, read the help article on adding audio recordings to your slides .

FAQ #4: How do I open Reflect & Review and share the link with students?

In Reflect & Review, you and your students can view question responses by individual students after a Session ends, offering and receiving feedback as well. What’s great about Reflect & Review is you don’t have to open anything. It opens automatically after a session has ended, allowing you to seamlessly flow between the in-class session and the after-class review.

You can still access Reflect & Review after you have saved and ended a session by copying and sharing the link with students. For past sessions that are already closed, go into More Actions (the three vertical buttons) and select Reflect & Review.  

Visit our Knowledge Base to learn more about accessing Reflect & Review immediately after a class session or at a later time.

FAQS About the Pear Deck Power-Up

The Pear Deck Power-Up enables your videos, animations, and GIFs to play at full resolution when you present using Google Chrome and Pear Deck for Google Slides. Just install the free Power-Up Google Chrome extension to get started. ‍

Note: Only you, the teacher/presenter, need to install the Power-Up extension on your Chrome browser. Students do not need to install it, and it works automatically for any student who joins your sessions.

Here are some presentation instructions to keep in mind to enable the Power-Up correctly:

• Present from Google Slides with the Pear Deck for Google Slides Add-on by clicking Start Lesson in the Pear Deck Sidebar. (Trying to present from your Pear Deck Home or Sessions Menu will cause an error.)
• Use a keyboard or mouse clicks to move your presentation forward. (If you’re using the arrows on the navigation bar within Pear Deck, it will skip over any animations/transitions as the arrow automatically moves the presentation to the next slide.
• If you want GIFs and videos to play on the Student View, add them to a Website slide. The Power-Up only enables GIFs and videos on Projector View.

Looking for more learning resources to get started with Pear Deck?

‍ Check out one of our on-demand webinars or self-paced training Decks made by Pear Deck Coaches! We also have a How-To Handbook specifically for remote and asynchronous learning.

More questions?

You can always find step-by-step instructions in our Help Videos and Knowledge Base as well.

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Add Audio Recordings to your Slides

With the Pear Deck for Google Slides Add-on*, you can leave audio instructions, descriptions, or examples for your students to hear while they respond to Interactive Questions in your Pear Deck Slides Sessions. Make a new recording instantly or add one from your computer. The recordings you insert are playable on the Student View of your presentation Sessions, so this feature is a great complement to any remote learning lesson. * This is a Premium feature and is only available in Pear Deck for Google Slides at this time .

How to insert an audio recording into a slide

How it works on the student view.

• Video guide

• In Google Slides, open the Pear Deck for Google Slides Add-on .
• Open any slide.

• The first time,  allow Pear Deck access to your microphone when prompted in your browser.

• When you are done, click Pause .
• Choose to Resume to add more to the recording,  Delete to remove it, or Done  to save the recording for review.
• If you Save it, click the Play button to preview it, or Rerecord Audio to start over.
• When you are satisfied with the recording, click Save Audio to Slide.
• Click Play  to preview it.
• When you are satisfied with the recording, click Save Audio to Slide .
• When you're done, click the red Add to Current Slide button to confirm.

• This object is not the audio player - it simply stores your audio file on this slide, which will be playable on the Student View when you Start (present) the Lesson and students join it .
• You can move the object anywhere on the slide, drag it off of the slide onto the canvas, or resize it by selecting it and dragging the edges. The audio file will still work in your presentation Sessions.
• To change or replace the recording , go back to the Pear Deck sidebar and click the blue Add Audio to Slide button to open the recording window again.
• To delete the audio file entirely, select the object and click Delete .
• Right-click on the grey object and select Copy.
• Go to a new slide.
• Right click on it and select Paste.

When your Deck is ready to present, click the green Start Lesson button in the Pear Deck Add-on sidebar to start a new Session. You'll be prompted to choose Student-Paced or Instructor-Paced activity. Audio recordings can be played on the Student View (only) of any live Session. Here's what students do:

• Join your Session. They can click the Join Link OR go to joinpd.com and enter the Join Code from your presentation. When they do, they enter the Student View.
• Go to a slide with audio instructions.

• This Audio Player opens. Click Play or Pause . 

Q: Does this work in both Student Paced and Instructor Paced Modes?

A: Yes, students can play audio recordings on the Student View in either Session mode.

Q: I clicked on the "Audio Included" object, but it doesn't play my recording.

A: This object only stores (and does not play) the file. If you want to listen to or change the file before presenting, click on the blue Add Audio to Slide button in the Pear Deck sidebar. During a presentation Session, the only way to play the audio file is to open the player on the Student View . Pear Deck Slide Audio cannot be played on the Projector or Dashboard Views.

Q: What is the advantage of Pear Deck Slide Audio over another option?

• The Slide Audio works in both presentation modes, so students can even play it in a Student-Paced Lesson, without the teacher needing to be online at the same time.
• You get to make original recordings with it, so you can easily customize instructions to the rest of your lesson as you build it.
• You can layer it over any type of interactive slide, so students can listen to the instruction and respond to the interactive question on the same screen

Q: Do the Google Slides audio clips work in Pear Deck?

A: The Google Slides menu also lets you upload only pre-recorded audio clips into your slides via the Insert > Audio menu.  You can play those audio clips in a Pear Deck presentation under certain conditions: 1) On the Projector View only, 2) in an Instructor-Paced Session, and 3) with the Pear Deck Power-up Chrome extension installed. 

Q: It won't work because it says I need to allow microphone access

A: The first time you add audio to a Pear Deck slide, you are prompted to grant Pear Deck permission to use your microphone. You must allow Pear Deck access to your microphone in order to use Slide Audio. If you still need to allow microphone access, click on the lock button in the URL bar to update settings and allow access. You should then be able to start making recordings with Pear Deck Audio.

Q: What type of file can I upload?

A: You can upload an .mp4 file from your computer. If it is saved in your Drive, please save it to your computer then upload it to Pear Deck Slide Audio.

Q: When I try to upload a file, it says my file is too large. Why?

A: Pear Deck Slide Audio can only upload files of 20 MB or less.

Q: Can I add more than one recording to a slide?

A: It is only possible to add one Pear Deck Audio recording to a slide. You may have found that you can copy and paste multiple recordings to a slide. But in this case, when you present a live Session to students, only the first recording you inserted will play on the Student View.

Q: Is there a limit to the number of slides to which you can add audio?

A: Nope! There’s no limit to the number of slides. We simply recommend keeping recordings short so it's easier for students to focus. Happy recording!