Un-Google Tip of the Week

A Google Form is an incredibly powerful tool for collecting and organizing data.  Through the simple act of creating an online form, you can gather data into a spreadsheet, then apply formulas and other data analysis tools to process and manipulate your results.  Great uses of Google forms include:

• Surveys
• Entry/Exit tickets
• Quizzes or "refreshers"
• Planning and event scheduling
• Homework guided study
• Others?

There are so many ideas currently floating out there, other educators and tech sites have begun compiling lists.  I would certainly hate to steal their thunder or re-invent the wheel.

HOWEVER...

Google Forms do not include the option for attaching or uploading a file as part of a response.  Why would I want to do this?

Imagine for a minute, you have a beautifully crafted test in which you want to collect an essay or a sample of student writing.  With Google Forms, the student essay will be forced into one cell on a spreadsheet sans formatting, nuances of the English language, rhythm and meter.   Probably not the best option.

I found another online form maker (you mean...it's not Google?) called JotForm.  JotForm is amazingly easy to use and customize your forms with more options than Google Forms and a clean, professional look.  The free account allows for 10MB of collected data or 100 user responses.  It uses similar types of questions as Google forms (text, checkbox, etc...)

The cool things about JotForm, however, are the upgraded survey tools (slider bar, spinner, thumbs up/down, grading form), captcha/password and other security measures and the ability to upload files as part of the survey.  The uploaded files can be synced to your dropbox account for easy access from any device and to maximize your storage space.  Pretty slick really.

Why would I want to do this:

• Collecting writing samples are part of an example...remember the old "blue books" from college?
• Collecting writing samples for scholarships...the form will collect the major data and the file upload collects the writing sample.  From Dropbox, you can share the samples with other scholarship reviewers.
• Homework assignments with multiple types of question formats.
• Others?

JotForms are able to be embedded on Google Sites and most other types of websites as well.  I am currently in the review stage for JotForm...I'll let you know how it goes...positive so far.

I always try to remember the motto:  "One device (or website), multiple uses."