Google Forms and Autocrat

Google Forms and Autocrat.  Two of my most essential tools for blended learning and for creating a paperless classroom.  Google Forms at its simplest will replace any standard worksheets with fill in the blanks.  At its essence, Google Forms is just a visually pleasing way to enter data into a spreadsheet.  Here are some ideas of how Google Forms allows you to take data entry one step further:

  • Get immediate formative assessment data from students to adjust lessons in real time
  • Embed an image for students to analyze (diagram, map, example, real life scenario, formula, thought-provoking image, etc)
  • Embed a video for students to respond to (YouTube works best.  Note:  Embedded videos do not retain custom start times)
  • Create multiple pages within a Google Form with questions that direct students to answer different questions based on prior answers (Think adaptive testing or Choose your own Adventure)
  • Create a rubric for the teacher to fill out when grading student work
  • Create a rubric for the student to fill out to evaluate their own work
  • Create a daily journal or exit survey to be filled out every day that will keep a record of student feedback over time
  • With data verification, check student answers before they submit their work

With every one of these applications, students click submit on their survey and their results are saved in the teacher’s master spreadsheet of results.  This is sufficient for some projects but at other times the students need to be able to access their data again.  This is where Autocrat comes in.  I was hesitant to use Google Forms for tests and assessments because I had no easy way to return the results to students individually.  Autocrat is an Add-On created by New Visions Cloud Lab  which takes data from a spreadsheet and prints separate rows out into separate documents according to a template that you have created.  Being able to run a script and generate personalized documents completely changed my world and enabled me to jump even further into being paperless.   Some more ideas for how to utilize the tools in Autocrat:

  • Share student results from a Google Form
  • Provide immediate feedback to students
  • Create personalized documents for students, specifically grade sheets, schedules
  • Email form results to a student, parent, student study team, etc.
  • Email a receipt for sign ups, reservations, purchases, etc.

Using both Google Forms and Autocrat takes some time in order to figure out all the settings and to figure out how to incorporate the tools available into your teaching.  With these videos I hope to clarify many of the options and settings that each tool provides.  No matter what, it is worth while to give each a try and see how they can streamline your teaching.