Good Forms ol' chap!

This week in class we learned about Google Drive, Google Forms, shortening an URL, and creating a QR code. Whew! A lot but all good stuff.

Story time, I went to a junior college right out of high school, graduated and then continued onto a four-year university where I couldn't cut it and ended up dropping out. I know, your thinking wow way to hang tough. Well hold on don’t judge me yet. I ended up going back to school a handful of years later and finishing my degree and clearly am continuing my education at the current moment. Where am I going with this? While I was finishing my degree, I had decided to up grade my technology so I could hang with the youngins. I opted for an inexpensive Chrome Book. Which I absolutely loved. It had no bells or whistles to it just a device I could get onto the web with and work on assignments digitally. Because I grew up working with Microsoft products, Google was a bit foreign, but I caught on quickly. I didn’t explore much just got the basics down so I could get through my classes. Due to my laptop being very minimal all my assignments went into my Google Drive. Looking back now I absolutely love that feature. Even though I no longer use my Chrome Book I am still able to use my Google Drive and look back at old assignments or documents.
Google Drive utilizes cloud technology to store documents of any kind. You can long into your Google account from any computer and access your Google Drive containing your work. Its GREAT!

Check out this video that explains the many uses of Google Drive here then check it out for yourself.

The next tool we explored this week was Google Forms. The name doesn’t do much for me, but I absolutely love Google Forms and how versatile it is.

With Google Forms you can create surveys, quizzes, feedback logs, etc. As a teacher I get instant heart eyes. Google Forms will even grade your quizzes for you and collect data on the results of each student and class. Say whaaaat!? You heard me right. It does the work for you.

Learn how to create a self-grading quiz here

My husband, Coach Meile is also a teacher and we are constantly talking school and ways to make our classroom more efficient with technology. In his classroom he has his students work on a 20 Time project throughout the year (don’t what a 20 Time project is? Check it out here) and blog their process. He loves the creative freedom it gives his students but struggles with having to take the time to go through each blog and check for progress. We were brainstorming one evening and I mentioned how he could set up a Google Form to use as a grading tool which would also give students instant feedback AND collect data. He was a little hesitant, but he tried it out and hasn’t looked back. It has cut his time grading by 2/3 of what it used to take.

The last few tools we learned this week were URL shortening and QR codes. These is quick easy tools that make class a touch easier. Sometimes we want our students to visit a website, but the URL is crazy long. By using this you can shorten the URL and make it much easier for students to type it into the address field.

Wanting to use this tool go here

QR codes are interesting and probably aren’t used as much as they should. Its similar to URL shortening but instead you use a QR reader. You scan the QR code and it instantly takes you to a website or file.

Check out my QR code that takes you to one of my Google Forms

This week was chalk full of great tools. So many ways to use them in the classroom and in everyday life. Next week looks to be a good one too. See ya later!