As a teacher, one essential aspect of my job is collecting and tracking data. Luckily, there is a modern and free tool that address my exact needs. Google Forms are a great resource that allow users to create a range of digital surveys with a variety of answer types, including written response and multiple choice. These digital surveys can be used as an impromptu way to collect information in a variety of scenarios. Students: There are many situations when Google Forms are the perfect tool for your needs, especially when working with students. I teach four different course and typically have around 120 students each year. This means, I have many students to track, and many categories to track them within. One simple example of how teachers can use Google Forms is for getting to know their students by creating a quick poll. Teachers can ask general open ended questions and allow for written responses. However, if you wanted to make your questions more specific to your content, you could easily create a multiple choice survey that focuses on students’ experience and interest in your subject. For example, I have created a Reading Survey that simply inquires as to my students’ personal reading habits. This is a quick and easy survey that I like to give at the start of the year because it provides me valuable information about my students. Furthermore, I could give the same survey periodically to see if my students have become more interested in reading throughout the year. Google Forms go well beyond simple interest surveys. They are great for collecting and computing mathematical figures. When my students take their mandatory reading assessments and are given their Lexile scores, I have them take a survey so we can look at our progress as a class and even compare that data to other classes, for fun competitions. Google forms takes the data, and generates a visual such as a pie chart, making the information even more accessible for users. More importantly, it allows me to track the progress of my students in a quick and efficient manner. Possibly one of the best applications of Google Forms is as an assessment. Teachers can create quizzes out of surveys. There is almost no limit to the length and type of quiz I could assign via Google Forms. Students could access a hyper link, be taken to a quiz and answer either multiple choice or short/long answer questions. Teachers can even insert graphics and videos to enhance the experience and better support the learner. Personally, I am a fan of the fact that when you create a quiz, you also create an answer key. This makes scoring the quizzes even faster and more efficient. Truly, the uses of Google Forms are limited only by the imagination of the user. Parents: As a teacher, it is also important to make connections with our students’ parents. Once again, Google forms may be exactly the tool needed for the job. Teachers can create and share surveys to learn about parents’ availability and or desires to participate in the classroom. Google Forms can be easily be utilized as signup sheets. For example, at the start of each year, teachers can create a materials “wish list” for the classroom as well as a corresponding form to sign up for specific items. The same approach can be applied for signing up chaperones for field trips and classroom visits. Colleagues: Another great use of Google Forms in school is for professional development purposes. For example, the English department at my site frequently sends out surveys as a means of collecting everyone’s input on various topics and can expedite our decision making process. Recently our department was asked to pilot two different curriculum. During this time, our teams would respond to polls and surveys regarding our progress with the materials, what was working, what was difficult. Ultimately, our department was able to gather a great deal of data from over a dozen individuals and help us make an important decision. Extending knowledge of new applications. Google is dedicated to meeting the changing needs of their consumers. As a teacher, I have many needs when it comes to digital tools. Sometimes I am not even aware of my need for a tool until that very need arises. Luckily, Google offers many new applications. As I progress through my Master’s program, I have realized that while I may know some things about educational technologies, there is still so much to be learned. I would like to attend a Google training to become more familiar with these newer applications. One specific add on I am interested in learning about is Flubaroo. Flubarro is an add-on for Google sheets and is designed to create detailed grading summaries for various assessments. After students take a quiz via Google Forms, Flubaroo can provide teachers a spreadsheet of the results, showing whole class and individual student results. This is but one of the many Google extensions and add-ons that I would like to begin utilizing in my own classroom in an attempt to become a more innovative educator.
5 Comments
Hi Jimmy
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We've started using Google forms so much more for PD. I love it because it is so much more efficient than what we'd been doing in the past (hand-raising, questionnaires). We tend to fill them out together in one room, which is really helpful when dealing with people who are frightened of, or anti-technology. The side bonus being that responses are recorded so folks can't lie about WHEN they filled it out either!
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Nai Saelee
7/2/2017 05:35:54 pm
Jimmy,
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Patrick
7/2/2017 06:01:41 pm
I like how you cleanly breakdown Google Form uses by audience.
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Dan
7/4/2017 02:55:39 am
Jimmy
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