Google Forms make it extremely easy to create an online data entry form in minutes. First the user selects the type of question she would like to add:
- Multiple Choice (radio buttons)
- Drop-down list
- Check List (allows more than one choice)
- Rating Scale
- Short Text
- Paragraph Text
- Grid (Much like two-dimensional multiple choice)
Then the user enters the question text and the text for each choice/answer. She repeats this process until the form is complete. At any time, she can drag and drop questions to sort or arrange them. She can also insert page breaks so that users don't have to scroll endlessly down the page to view questions.
When she is done creating the input form, she simply emails the address/URL of the form to those she wishes to complete it.
That's when the magic begins, because each Google Form automatically creates its own associated Google Docs spreadsheet, and as respondents submit their forms, their responses are automatically recorded in the spreadsheet. From there, the data can be summarized, analyzed, and even graphed right within Google Docs. If desired, the data can also be exported to Excel and analyzed and graphed there.
Where would Google Forms prove useful?
- Registrations for meetings, PD sessions, ...
- Polling members for preferred dates for a meeting, ...
- Evaluation feedback for PD sessions, convention sessions, ...
- Brief online quizzes ...
- Students in Psychology and other classes often conduct surveys as part of their course. These could be done online with Google Forms.
- Counselors and others could track their time and contacts by repeatedly using a Google Form.
- Parent, student, or staff surveys
- 360 degree reviews
If you are interested in Google Forms, here are a couple of tutorials to get you started. You will need a Gmail/Google account. After that, the process is remarkably easy.
If you have any questions regarding Google Forms, be sure to contact your Elearning Catalyst Teacher for assistance.
Posts
Hi Cal,
ReplyDeleteGreat post. One bit of advice I would add is that it is very important to "begin with the end in mind". I would encourage the creator to consider what data they want and how they want to use the data once the survey is complete. Especially how you want to sort it on the spreadsheet or in Excel.
--Ken
Good point. I tended to focus on the technical aspects rather than the design, partly because there are so many different ends that people might want to achieve. But certainly, things like separating first and last names into different fields for sorting purposes and making sure that data comes in in a format which the user can manipulate with formulas are extremely important considerations.
ReplyDeleteEven considering things like having lists for the people to choose from makes the data easier to manipulate as some people will spell things differently which makes it more challenging to clean uo the sort. Such as people may call their school Irwin and others call it O.M. Irwin. Small things at the start make work easier at the end.
ReplyDelete