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High Five: Free Web 2.0 Assessment Tools

by Guest Blogger April 6, 2017

written by Guest Blogger

This is a guest blog by Beth A. Burau, Instructional Technology Coordinator and German teacher at Bishop Lynch High School in Dallas, TX.

Perhaps the most frustrating sound for a teacher is that of complete and utter silence following the question, “Are there any questions?” While a student or two may take a teacher up on the offer for some clarification or insight, more often than not, the silence simply indicates to the teacher that the class understands the material. It’s not until homework is turned in later that the truth and the teacher’s assumption are revealed – there should have been questions.

To monitor whether or not students are learning and to help provide immediate feedback, we should make sure that “checks for understanding” or formative assessment tools are a consistent part of any lesson. Here are five simple Web 2.0 tools to help teachers quickly assess student understanding before the bell rings. They’ll be certain to prompt high fives at the end of class for a job well done.

Socrative – With this free app, students can use their own computers, tablets, and phones to respond to teacher-created questionsl which are either self-paced or teacher-paced to check for understanding. Socrative also has an easy-to-use Exit Ticket option, which is great for getting student responses to spontaneous questions during class or as a way to check for understanding after the lesson is done. The responses are graded, and the results are easy to use.

Plickers – If students don’t have access to devices, but the teacher has an iOS or Android device with a camera, this is the perfect free Web 2.0 tool to use. However, this tool requires some preparation in advance and is not suggested for last-minute assessment. The teacher needs the app installed on a mobile device to use during class, but can create the true/false and multiple choice questions on a desktop computer. Teachers create their questions online and print out Plickers Cards for each student to use. The teacher poses questions to monitor class learning. Then the students simply hold up their card to show their answer, and the teacher scans the room with a mobile device to record and view the results.

Quizizz – Have you used Kahoot! with your classes? If so, you may want to try Quizizz, a similar Web 2.0 tool for formative assessment. Students can use their own device or share devices to answer teacher-generated questions. As a teacher, you can use the app in class or assign quizzes for homework or review. Unlike Kahoot!, Quizizz is self-paced, so students don’t feel as much pressure under time constraints, which is great if you have anxious students or students who need more reading time for each question in class. Students are afforded more time to process the questions and respond instead of simply guessing quickly to earn points.

Microsoft Forms If you’ve heard of Google Forms, but have Office 365 Education at your school, you may wish to use these forms for formative assessment instead. As the instructor, you can require the students to log in using their Office 365 account to access the form, which allows you to not only verify the student’s identity, but also to view student results by name. The teacher can then quickly scan all the class responses to check for understanding or identify select students who may need some additional help or instruction.

QuizSocket – This free, online “fast quiz” beta tool doesn’t require an account, just an email address. Using mobile devices, students are given a quiz key to join in. A teacher can then ask real-time multiple choice questions verbally, write them on the board, or include them in a presentation slide. The pace of the poll or quiz is controlled by the teacher, who advances the multiple choice options “ABCD” one at a time for the students. Individual question responses can be viewed synchronously on the website during each question and can also be downloaded as a .csv file at the end of the quiz for further analysis by the teacher.

These are just a few great—and best of all, FREE—assessment tools, so you’re never left wondering if your students are truly understanding the material. Do you have any favorite assessment tools? We’d love to hear from you in the comments.

Beth A. Burau has taught levels PreK-College across various content areas since she began teaching in August 2000. She now serves as the Instructional Technology Coordinator and German teacher at Bishop Lynch High School in Dallas, TX. Beth holds a B.A. and M.Ed. from the University of Notre Dame and has published education articles and chapters both in print and online. She is a proud member of TCEA and a TCEA certified Campus Technology Specialist.

April 6, 2017 0 comment

Five Forms Solutions for iOS

by Miguel Guhlin February 7, 2017

written by Miguel Guhlin

“My admins are looking for a way to do teacher evals,” wrote a colleague, “using self-created forms that have drop-down boxes, not just text. Any suggestions?” This question got me thinking about all of the different ways to do forms. Let’s do a quick review of available solutions for filling out forms on any mobile device.

Solution #1 – Forms Connect

This solution, available in iPhone and iPad app versions, as well as a pro version, defines itself in this way:

The FormConnect and FormConnect Pro apps allow you to create various types of forms including patient intake, customer contact, onsite inspection reports, invoices, expense reports, proposals, purchase orders, surveys, and more. The data collection app will set you back $14.99, offering an impressive list of features.

Solution #2 – iFormBuilder

Zerion Software’s iFormBuilder boasts an impressive list of features, including data encryption and secure data storage on the device with an internet connection. Some key features include “27 element types, powerful smart logic, and smart table search.” Although a robust solution, cost may become a factor given that pricing starts at $5K+.

Solution #3 – GoFormZ

GoFormZ offers the ability to scan existing printed paper forms via the web, then convert them into a mobile-friendly form. The form will work on all mobile devices and via the web.

You can use the form editor to create drop-down lists, automate calculations, embed maps and photos, and add data sources for list items. Setting up an account is fairly quick.

Solution #4 – WuFoo for Education

five Branding itself as a “choose your own adventure story” for form development, Wufoo automatically builds the database, backend, and scripts needed to make collecting and understanding your data easy, fast, and fun. Because they host everything, all you need is a browser, an internet connection, and a few minutes to build a form and start using it right away. It comes with 400 + templates.

Solution #5 – Microsoft Forms and/or Google Forms

Forms creation solutions from Microsoft and Google make it easy to get started. While neither offers an exclusive iOS app (yet?), accessing these forms are a cinch via the iOS Safari browser. Whatever tool you decide upon, both offer a wealth of features that make form creation and data aggregation easier (read Forms Smackdown blog entry for more details).

Also, Google Forms has a series of templates (if you need inspiration from the old Google Forms templates, be sure to investigate those before “early 2017” when they will go away) to get you started. I have no doubt Microsoft Forms will eventually feature a template gallery, too!

five

February 7, 2017 0 comment

Google letters against a blue sky atop a building

Google Tips and Tricks

App-Smashing Google Tools

by Miguel Guhlin July 20, 2016

written by Miguel Guhlin

“How do you blend tools to solve a real-life problem?” That’s a question that pops up often for me. A popular concept from using iPads is “app-smashing,” which involves taking what you made in one app and dropping it into another. Usually, this results in a refinement of the initial product, enhancing it with audio or video. You can do the same with Google Apps tools.

Let’s consider these real-world scenarios which may all be solved by combining key Google tools such as Sites, Forms, and Sheets:

Classroom Scenario:

Students have asked how they can know who else has signed up to attend an after-hours, academic field trip. To automate the process, create a Google Form to capture student registrations, which are saved to a Google Sheet, and those responses can be displayed on a Google Sites location.

District Scenario:

Staff have a variety of questions regarding a new initiative. They want to make sure you, the administrator, are getting the responses. To eliminate email traffic (after all, who needs more email?), you want them to fill out a Form with their question. Then, you and your team are able to record your response in an additional column. Both their questions and your responses appear in a Google Sheet housing the responses.

Solution:

Create a sample Google Sites location that provides some background information on the event, has the Forms link, and displays the responses (as well as any additions you have made). Share the link via social media or email the link to the Sites location to those who need it.

Let’s walk through what this might look like:

Step 1 – Create the Form and Sheets spreadsheet for responses.

To begin, develop your list of information queries. For example, in the case of the classroom scenario, you might want to include queries like the following:

Your First Name
Your Last Name
Your District Email
Staff or Student?
Attend Field Trip?

Once the person has completed the form, they would be shuttled off to the Google Sites location that is to be created in Step 2. In truth, you could probably complete Step 2 first to get the link or just come back and edit the form. Another key component of this step is to create the Responses form and designate where those responses will appear in a Google Sheet. To verify the form is working, submit a fake response. Once the response has been submitted, you will notice that the Responses Google Sheet has placed your responses beneath a column corresponding to the information queries.

After the last column in your responses, add another column entitled “Status.” In this column, you and/or your team will update the status of each form submitted. In the case of questions, you can type a short response, being sure to set the format for the column to “wrap text.” You will also want to set up notifications on your Google Sheet featuring the responses to the Form so that you receive an email every time the form is completed. Here’s one example with data partially blurred to protect the innocent:

Step 2 – Create the Google Site

Create a Sites location with three tabs to include the following:

Home – This tab is your “Welcome” screen that allows you to provide background information for visitors to the Google Sites location.
Ask for Help – This tab includes a link to the “Ask for Help” Google Form. The form is actually embedded in the Google Sites page, enabling visitors to fill it out and submit it without having to leave the Sites location.
Check Status – This tab features an embedded copy of the Google Sheet which houses your responses.

Once your Google Sites location has been created, you can share it with others, even using a URL shortener to make it easier to share.

As you can see, you can add even more information to your Google Sites. But this makes it easy to quickly capture and share information and questions without being inundated via email with people’s requests for assistance. It also more quickly organizes the information for your review and externalizes it so that anyone you designate can look it up via Google Sites. This eliminates people calling or emailing you repeatedly to ask for the status. And it helps create a knowledge database that facilitates information sharing with interested individuals.

July 20, 2016 0 comment

Google Tips and Tricks iOS Tips and Tricks Web 2.0 Tool

Tools to Help You Better Communicate with Parents

by Dr. Bruce Ellis March 15, 2016

written by Dr. Bruce Ellis

Communicating with parents is crucial when it comes to building a rapport and gaining their support throughout the school year. There are a variety of tools that you can use to help facilitate this process. Prior to using these tools, check with your district’s communications and/or technology department to see if they have a subscription to a paid tool that they would prefer you to use; the district-provided tool may have additional features that the following ones lack.

Tools for Parent Communication

Google Forms – Collecting information from parents is necessary. You may find that the traditional form you send home doesn’t get returned, is illegible, or gets lost in transit. Google Forms allows you to collect information electronically to avoid those problems. And using Google Sheet add-ons such as AutoCrat, formMule, or Yet Another Mail Merge enhance your form so that it looks more professional before, during, and after collecting the information.
Remind – For educators who want to communicate with parents without sharing their personal cell number, Remind is a great solution. Formerly Remind101, this tool lets parents and students join a list to receive your texts. You can have up to 10 classes for free with each generating a unique code. Share the code(s) with the specific groups of students/parents to let them join the appropriate list(s). The nice thing is that you don’t see their phone numbers and they don’t see yours; Remind acts as a middleman to protect both sides. This is a wonderful way to remind students and their parents about upcoming project deadlines, field trips, class events, and more.
ClassDojo – Designed for elementary students, this is a great tool to help students monitor their behavior throughout the day/week. As the teacher, you can create an account and then generate a unique code for each student that allows his or her parents to connect and monitor their child’s behavior any time. Children get to create an avatar for themselves, personalizing the process.
Google Hangouts – Many parents want to be available to support the teacher but may lack transportation or time to visit the campus for face-to-face visits. Google Hangouts to the rescue! This is a quick way to have virtual office hours or an online open house that lets parents “visit” you without dealing with some of the barriers that may prevent them from being there. Google Hangouts on Air will record your meeting in case you want to share it later or have it available beyond just that time. Since this tool is open to anyone jumping into the conversation, be aware of your topic; conversations about specific students and data should be handled in a more private and secure manner.
BuzzMob – Make communicating with parents easy with this tool that has tons of features. Share assignments with push notifications. Send updates and reminders. Add events with photos, videos, and chat with multi-language translation.
PuppilAsset Parent App – If your school uses PupilAsset, then have your parents download the free parent app that connects them with their child’s attendance, behavior, progress data, and regular school reports.

Update: Google Classroom Feature for Parents/Guardians

If you are using Google Classroom, then you should be taking advantage of its parent-friendly feature, guardian email summaries, that alerts them assignments that are due, teacher announcements to the class, and notices of any missing work. Once you (or an administrator in Google Classroom) invite a parent/guardian, they’ll have seven days to accept the invitation. Note that they will need a Google email address to access this feature. They can select to receive notices daily or weekly and can unsubscribe at any time. This feature is turned off by default so you’ll need to turn it on when you are ready to start using it; you can learn how to turn it on and manage summaries at this site. Google’s support site has provided documentation that you can share with parent and with students so they each get information tailored to their view/access of email summaries.

Have you already started making use of this newest feature in Google Classroom? If so, drop us a comment and let us know how it’s going and what your parents think of it. We’d love to hear from you.

Other tools to check out include SeeSaw, Sesame, Collaborize Classroom, or ClassPager.

Regardless which tool you use, parents do want to hear about their child and enjoy it when teachers have positive things to share. Do you use another tool to communicate with parents and celebrate student achievement? Let us know which tool you use – we’d love to hear about it!

March 15, 2016 1 comment

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