Self Grading Form: Google Forms

Summary

            Since Google Form results are collected and stored in a Google Spreadsheet, answers can easily be converted to quantitative data and formulas can be applied to automatically grade answers and calculate student averages.

What I Did

            I created a brand new Google Form with quiz questions. For the questions, I went to the Virginia Department of Education’s website to access previous subject tests for Virginia’s Standards of Learning. I collected science questions based on standard 5.7 and presented them in the quiz as they appeared in the test, as multiple choice questions. After several people responded to the quiz, I accessed the spreadsheet from Google Drive. Across from the row of questions, I listed the correct answers. In the columns of answers, I wanted numerical data that would identify whether each student answered the question currently (received a score of 100 respectively) or incorrectly (received a score of zero respectively). At the end of each row, I wanted to calculate the average score earned by each student. Special formulas are used to obtain these scores.

For individual questions, you need to use something that looks like “=if(B3=$J$1,100,0).” This specific formula is used, for example, when the first student answer is in B3 and the corresponding, correct answer is in J1. This formula can be dragged down the column to automatically grade all student answers. The formula for obtaining the average looks like “=average(J3:O4).” This specific formula is used, for example, when scores from the first student lies between J3 and O4. This formula can be dragged down the column to automatically grade all student answers.

Grading the form, while a fairly easy thing to do, is a very difficult thing to explain. I watched this helpful video before I attempted working with my result spreadsheet.

Take my quiz!

See my quiz results!

How I Would Use It

            As this application requires computer and internet access, I most likely would not ask elementary students to take Google Form quizzes to earn grades. This is not to say that I would not want to be able to obtain this data. Teachers should constantly analyze student data for information about student progress and teaching effectiveness. Alternatively, I may use this application to give student anticipatory quizzes before a new teaching unit. Grading this form would allow me to identify what information students already know and what information students may have misconceptions about. Finally, it would be possible for me to give students the same quiz at the beginning and end of a teaching unit to monitor overall student progress.

 

What I Learned

            I recently took a course through which I learned various formulas to use in Excel spreadsheets. I learned formulas that allow me to add a column of numbers, find the average, to find the standard deviation, and to find the correlation of two columns of data. Some of these formulas will be helpful in the classroom on a daily basis while others will be helpful mostly while conducting research. The formula and format for grading is new to me and one that I will certainly be able to use frequently in the classroom in order to work both work more efficiently and gather data for research.

 

Standards Reflection

Teachers who engage in action research may find Google Forms to be an asset to their work. Using this tool for such an endeavor would help them to meet standard 3 “d” ISTE-NETS-T’s standards. The standard calls for teachers to locate, analyze, and evaluate information resources using digital tools. Google forms allow teachers to locate, analyze, and evaluate authentic information. Overall, the outcome is the same, teachers are collecting research that allows them to use research for their personal development, to support research in their field, and to support learning in their classrooms.

Google Form: Google Drive

Summary

The user of Google Form creates this product with the intention to gather qualitative or quantitative data. While there are applications that allow users to gather such data through surveys, such as Survey Monkey, Google Forms can be used for an extra special purpose; a Google Form could be a survey or an online quiz.

Google Forms are best seen not described as they have two faces. Once a user has completed their form, it becomes available for public use as a website. However, the form’s creator continues to use the form through the use of a Google Spreadsheet. The individual taking the survey or quiz sees an arrangement of various question types on a themed background. They may be asked to go through one or more pages of questions. Once their answers are submitted, the creator can view responses in a spreadsheet without doing any of the work to organize the information. As Google Spreadsheet allows the user to employ formulas for easy analysis, Google Forms can be used as an efficient classroom resource.

How I Would Use It

Here is a list of simple ways I might use Google Forms in my classroom.

·         Attitude survey before starting a unit of study

·         Field trip survey (ask students about their learning and experiences to determine whether the trip was worthwhile)

·         Students create their own quiz at the end of a unit

·         Anonymous mid-term or end of year survey

·         Self-assessment form

·         Survey answers can give direction for class discussion

·         Survey students about a sensitive lesson topic (students do not need to be put on the spot; teacher can explain general student thoughts and feelings)

·         Grade student presentations in the moment

Google forms for professional development.

·         Departmental surveys

·         Survey answers can give direction to teacher or school wide meetings

·         Survey students for action research

I found a Google Presentation called “81 Interesting Ways to Use Google Forms in the Classroom” and like the following ideas.

·         Students survey other classes and graph results

·         Create a Woordle based on qualitative responses

·         Create a class story by collecting ideas for plot, character, setting, etc.

·         Entrance and exit tickets

·         Keep track of discipline referrals 

What I Did

            There are two ways to go about creating a Google Form. In Google Drive you can either create a form as with a document, presentation, etc. or you can open a Google Spreadsheet and choose “Form” from a drop down list from the tool bar. Either way, you will be served a simple page that gets you started by accomplishing three tasks. First, add a title. Next, add a description. Finally, create your first question. There are seven question types: text, paragraph text, multiple choice, checkboxes, choose from a list, scale, and grid. At first, I didn’t understand what some of these choices meant. I checked out a YouTube video of a Screencast which described each.

            I created my Google Form to be a getting to know you survey. I would put this or a similar form on my classroom website, hoping students would take the time to answer some questions about themselves, their family, and their favorite things. I found uses for each question type. I was pleasantly surprised to learn, while playing with the question types, that depending up the respondents answer to a multiple choice question, the user can set the respondent on a unique questioning track. For instance, for my survey, I am having students tell me which season is their favorite. If they respond that winter is their favorite season, they will be sent to a new page with questions specifically about winter. Therefore, I can ensure that respondents do not become confused or waste their time with unnecessary questions.

            When I was finished creating my form, I was able to share it as a website, I was able to embed it in my blog, I could embed it in a website, or I could email it.

Take my survey!

 
This is what my survey results look like.

What I Learned

            I had absolutely no idea that Google offered such a useful feature. What’s more, if I had noticed the option to create a form, I don’t think I would have understood its purpose or ventured to use it. I’m glad to know about it now, as I’m sure it will come in handy in the very near future.

Standards Reflection

Teachers who ask their students, their students’ parents, and their colleagues to respond to a Google form, there are meeting standard 3 “b” of the  ISTE-NETS-T’s standards. The teacher and respondents are collaborating to poll data using an online resource. Of course, data is ineffective unless something is done with it. The teacher who collects and analyzes the data is ensuring that the data will be used to inform classroom practices that will ultimately support students’ success.

Teachers who engage in action research may find Google Forms to be an asset to their work. Using this tool for such an endeavor would help them to meet standard 3 “d” ISTE-NETS-T’s standards. The standard calls for teachers to locate, analyze, and evaluate information resources using digital tools. Google forms allow teachers to locate, analyze, and evaluate authentic information. Overall, the outcome is the same, teachers are collecting research that allows them to use research for their personal development, to support research in their field, and to support learning in their classrooms.

Diigo: Week 5

My Public Diigo Library has just been updated. The New York Times has reported on some very interesting issues in education this week including a couple articles related to technology in the classroom. I've highlighted the heck out of a few that appealed to my logic, emotions, and personal ethics. Put on your thinking caps, grab some tissues, consult your coincence, and check out my library.

Google Forms Part 1

Google Drive has an option for creating forms. Forms make it easy for surveying or quizzing students. I just made a Google Form survey to give students before they join me in our classroom for the new school year. If I could get students to fill out and submit this form, I would be able to learn about them as individuals and about their backgrounds so as to make them more comfortable during the first weeks of school and to better differentiate my lessons and other class experiences. To view my Google Form, click on the link above or check out the new page I created specifically to hold the awesomeness that is my Google Form.

Presentation: Prezi

Summary

            Last week, I learned how to use PowerPoints in new ways; this week, I learned how to use a more “modern” version of the presentation application called Prezi. Prezi is an online resource that allows users to create presentations with text, photos, videos, diagrams, shapes, a drawing tool, and a highlighter. While it may seem at first that Prezi is more limited in its functionality, I believe that it actually provides many more flexibility for the innovative designer. Most significantly, designing a Prezi is not simply about setting information into creative designs as is PowerPoint, designing a Prezi is about presenting information in a manner that corresponds to the logical thought patterns of a creative and critical thinker.

Without having had multiple experiences using Prezi, I would say that for me, using this application is like creating a fancy, professional graphic organizer. Unlike with PointPoint, which can be developed slide-by-slide as the user’s ideas develop, with Prezi, I would suggest creating an outline or other graphic organizer that illustrates major ideas in an organized fashion before beginning a Prezi project. When starting a new project, Prezi will give you the option to choose a design template which includes a diagram for your information or a blank presentation. With either option, you are given a canvas on which to create boxes or circles or whatevers of information that can be moved around, resized, and tilted. Prezi is the ultimate tool to use for thinking outside of the box, or should I say slide, and running wild with your ideas; the only rule is to reduce the risk of your audience experiencing motion sickness.

  One of the most iconic features of the Prezi is the zoom and pan features. This allows the user to easily group objects and information and to create an engaging and memorable presentation. These features make it possible to set information at different orientations while allowing corresponding information to be grouped. At the beginning of a presentation, the presenter is able to explain on big topic at a time before delving into specifics.

What I Did

            I opened a blank Prezi with the intent to create a timeline featuring information from the video I created for my last blog post. I started with a line. I added a frame for a title and frames to display pictures and information relevant to a time periods and immigrant groups using the bubble tool. I zoomed into the frames to add text (a title and bullet points of information). I imported a picture with the bubble tool. Things were looking a little like my PowerPoint slides so I spiced things up by changing the size and tilt of text using the zebra tool. Finally, I tried to accomplish something that I don’t believe could ever be done in PowerPoint. I zoomed into my pictures until it was no longer recognizable. I then imported another picture within the current picture. Using the path feature on the bubble tool, I connected the text in the order I wanted it presented and then did the same with the photos. By choosing to pan from the larger original picture to my inset photo, I was able to create a unique effect.  Now, when I show my presentation, it appears as though you are traveling to a location inside my photo to view a close up of an object. You have to see it to believe it.

Frontier Culture Museum Timeline on Prezi

What I Learned

            As this was my first Prezi, I sure learned a lot. I believe that if I had not watched the tutorials before getting started, I would still be figuring out where features are and how to use them several hours later. However, I would have to say that the greatest lesson that I learned from this experience is that I should not take PowerPoint for granted.

            The final product of a well designed and informational Prezi is something to be proud of. But, I found it to be significantly more time consuming than using PowerPoint. The features that make Prezi so special can be temperamental if one is not thoroughly practiced in using them. While Prezi allow the user to present information in a way, I believe, that can best promote learning (logical information flows, diagrams, and movement), I also believe that PowerPoint presentations are able to lead learners to learn and gain knowledge.

I also learned that

• Prezi has a seperate site for educators called Prezi U.
• Prezi users can collaborate to edit a presentation by clicking on a "meeting" button while working on a canvas.

How I Would Use It

            Students in Virginia and across the country are starting to be held accountable for their knowledge and ability to use computer technologies and applications. I taught students in a fifth grade classroom, many of whom did not have computers at home. These students were just beginning to use PowerPoint. I would most likely not go into a classroom expecting my students to use Prezi themselves. However I would allow students to use Prezi at home for a special project, such as a book report, if they were already familiar and practiced with using PowerPoint. I would first have to make sure that the student interested extending their learning in this way was in fact ready to move beyond PowerPoint and I would have to have the parent’s permission to introduce this technology as it is a web based product that publishes your projects publicly.

            In addition, I may use Prezi for select lectures in my classroom, however due to its time consuming nature, I anticipate limiting my use of Prezi for conference appearances and sharing information with my colleagues. Perhaps with more practice, I will find more uses for Prezi in my professional life.

Standards Reflection

Teachers Teaching Students

When teachers use Prezi to encourage student engagement with content area knowledge, they are meeting standard 1 “a” and 2 “a” of the ISTE-NETS-T’s standards. Both require the teacher to bring content area knowledge to students through technology in a way that encourages all to think creatively and innovatively about issues. As the Prezi anti-format encourages the development of a topic in a fluid and logical way, I believe that such presentations excite a student’s creative and critical mind.

Students Teaching Peers

When teachers encourage students to use Prezi in the way I described above, the teacher is meeting standard 2 “c” of the ISTE-NETS-T’s standards. By allowing select students to extend their experience and learning by creating Prezi’s after they have learned to use PowerPoint, they are providing those students with a customized learning activity through the use of a digital resource. This addresses the diverse needs of the gifted student.

Teachers and Professional Development

When teachers use Prezi to present at a conference or present information to their school colleagues, they are meeting standard 3 “a” of the ISTE-NETS-T’s standards. Most likely, they will have already learned to use and have employed PowerPoint in their teaching careers. Therefore, they are connecting what they know about this presentation application and transferring it to this newer technology. In addition, they are effectively communicating information to school personnel.

Video: Photostory and Youtube

Summary

             I have taken thousands of pictures but creating videos is something I’ve rarely done. This week, I learned how to turn collections of my favorite photos into informative or just downright fun videos by following a process using PowerPoint, Microsoft PhotoStory and Youtube. The main objective was to create a video in the style of Pecha Kucha 20X20; that is twenty photo slides, each twenty senconds in length with an accompanying voice over. The project I decided to create, as I learned more about using these tools and this website, was a virtual field trip to one of my favorite locations in Virginia, the Frontier Culture Museum.

The Frontier Culture Museum is a great place to visit to learn about the culture, customs, and lifestyles of certain African, English, Irish, and German persons before immigrating to America as well as the fusion of these characteristics into the early American way of life. Visiting the Frontier Culture Museum is a wonderful experience for a family outing or field trip. It is not like most museums however. The museum is not one big building full of dusty knick-knacks, no. The rarities are authentic, period houses strategically placed along a walking trail.

My video highlights the exhibits as well as the culture and history that can be discovered at the Frontier Culture Museum. The video serves as a virtual field trip and to entice viewers to take a trip to through the Shenandoah Valley and through time.

 

The Frontier Culture Museum, while very hospitable to school groups, providing additional activities for hands-on learning also provides educational materials on their website. For teachers, the website offers documents outlining student activities at the museum and the corresponding Virginia Standards of Learning. To read the museum's field trip guide, click here. To read the museum's field trip program discription, click here. To find ticket prices info (under $8 for school groups and under $11 for general admission) as well as registration info, click here.

 

What I Did

PowerPoint

I began my project in PowerPoint. I created a 20 slide presentation with an introductory slide and a concluding slide with photos I took at the Frontier Culture Museum in between. I chose the photos based on their quality, attractiveness, and educational context. As I arranged the slides, I thought about what information would augment each photo and the presentation as a whole. In order to use Microsoft PhotoStory for the next step, I had to convert the PowerPoint slides into JPEGs. This was easily done by choosing this file format in “Save As.”  

PhotoStory

I downloaded Microsoft PhotoStory for free and imported the PowerPoint file. From here, I was given the option to rearrange my photos, add zooming effects, transition effects, and most importantly, adjust the length each slide would be shown. While many options are provided, PhotoStory tries not to overwhelm by having its users work with their videos in manageable steps. Finally, I was able to create my voice over. It was ridiculous how nervous I was! But the good news was that each slide is recorded individually. So, if I messed up, I wouldn’t have to start back at the beginning. In order to be able to upload the video to YouTube, I saved my finished project as a .wmv file.

YouTube

            Having already signed into my Gmail account, I was able to go to YouTube and simply click, “Upload,” at the top of my screen in order to share my video. My video took a minute to upload during which time I titled by video, added a description, and added tags. My video and the information I included saved automatically.

What I Learned

            In the past, I have created both PowerPoint presentations and uploaded YouTube videos. However, this was my first time creating a PowerPoint with text limited to two slides and my first time using Microsoft PhotoStory. I am slowly becoming more confident limiting the amount of text I use in presentations. I’m glad since this encourages my students to practice deducing information from images. Additionally, I am becoming better at using my slides as jumping of points for lecture and discussion as opposed to being tempted to read off of them. Using PhotoStory has also helped me to practice focusing my “lectures” to the essential information in a timely fashion corresponding to the attention span of my students.

How I Would Use It

            Creating a video with PowerPoint and PhotoStory would be a cool addition or alternative to the traditional book or oral report. Students could be instructed to use only photos they or their families have taken, granted all families have a digital camera or extras are available from the classroom. This way, students are encouraged to make text to self or text to world connection during book reports and are better able to make connect to and engage with the other conventional subjects. I must note however, that I would not ask or encourage my elementary students to upload their videos to YouTube for privacy purposes.

Standards Reflection

            I believe that creating videos for and in the classroom best corresponds to standard 2 parts “a, b, and d,” of the ISTE-NETS-T’s standards.  Teachers can create videos to teach material using digital resources that promote learning and creativity. The creation of such involves the design of new learning experiences. In addition, when teachers encourage students to create videos regarding content based learning, they are encouraging them to include information and details derived by following their scholastic interests. The student is given the freedom necessary that allows him or her to practice managing their own learning. In the end The student will have created a product using technological resources that serves as evidence of learning which can be used by the teacher for either formative or summative assessment.



Diigo: Week 4

Here are the highlights from the news articles I added to my public Diigo Library this week.

Stuyvesant Students Describe Rationale for Cheating - NYTimes.com
This article provides some insite into why students cheat and how they justify it.

Parents Pitch In to Help Texas Schools Face Budget Cuts - NYTimes.com
A public school in Texas has a new outdoor classroom thanks to parents and other volunteers. But has this created inequality in the public school system?

Feedback for Learning:Seven Keys to Effective Feedback-ASCD
What is feedback and how does it influence student learning and achievement?

Check out my public Diigo Library.