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November 16th, 2013 Lineup - Google Tools for Teachers

Go Google for Presentations 10:00 AM EST, presented by Tia Simmons 

I am a big fan of using Google Docs forms to collect and organize information. Forms offer efficient ways to monitor and manage digital resources. There are many ways to put this fun, multimedia capable tool to work in the classroom

Discover three great ways to use a Google form.

Use a  Google Form as an Exit Ticket

• Create a simple form to check understanding.

• Add Flubaroo from the Google Apps store and create a self-grading quiz in a flash.

• Use advanced features to provide students with feedback based on their answer.

• Embed images and live video in a form to go beyond a paper and pencil worksheets.

Use a Google Form as an In Box

• Create a virtual in box to collect links to ThingLink images. 

• Information collected lands in a sortable spreadsheet to help you stay organized.

• Filter data and work efficiently.

• Enjoy easy access to the work of all of your students on all of your devices.

Embed a Google Form into a ThingLink

My nominations for the 2012 Edublog Awards:

• Web results display a relevant snippet of information with citation information and a link to the full website. Select the Insert Link button to include a link to the full website in the document or select the Cite button to include a footnote citation in your document.
• Maps are displayed in the search results when searching for geographic locations. Edit maps by zooming in and out and choose Insert to add the map to your body of your text.
• Search for quotations with the click of a button, then choose the Insert button to include a properly formatted quotation in the document.
• Choose Scholar to access a link showing the number of times an article has been cited and a list of sources that have cited the article. View the full website and insert a footnote citation into a document by selecting Cite.
• Select your default citations format by clicking on Settings in the research pane. Choose from MLA, APA or Chicago.

• Web results display a relevant snippet of information with citation information and a link to the full website. Select the Insert Link button to include a link to the full website in the document or select the Cite button to include a footnote citation in your document.
• Maps are displayed in the search results when searching for geographic locations. Edit maps by zooming in and out and choose Insert to add the map to your body of your text.
• Search for quotations with the click of a button, then choose the Insert button to include a properly formatted quotation in the document.
• Choose Scholar to access a link showing the number of times an article has been cited and a list of sources that have cited the article. View the full website and insert a footnote citation into a document by selecting Cite.
• Select your default citations format by clicking on Settings in the research pane. Choose from MLA, APA or Chicago.

1. Encourage Teachers to Create an In Box with a Google Form

• Teachers create and publish a Google Form, or In Box, in a convenient place for students to access. 
• When it's time to turn in a Google Doc, students complete the simple form and submit a link to their Google Doc.
• The information submitted by students automatically populates a spreadsheet to be used by teachers to keep track of assignments and also to quickly access those assignments for grading and review.

Here are a couple of tutorials to help you create and use an Assignment Tracker as an In Box to keep your mailbox clutter free.

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Teacher Tutorial		Student Tutorial

2. Teach teachers and students how to use the revision history 

The Google Docs revision history tracks all changes that have been made to a document by each collaborator, which makes this a useful feature for student accountability. The date and time stamp are extremely useful for tracking student progress and randomly assigned user colors make it simple to monitor the contributions of each collaborator. To revert to a previous version of a Doc, just click Restore this version. Teach students about the digital documentation in Google Docs.

3. Encourage teachers to create and use templates

If you're looking for an easy and efficient way to provide students with a starting point for a digital project, Google Docs Templates can help. You can save time and guide the learning by providing students with a consistent page format by using and creating your own templates. A Google Docs template is like a virtual copy machine. You create it like any other Google Doc than make it available in the templates section. Users can click to pick up their own copy of the template which is added to their list of Google Docs while the original document stays in tact. There are plenty of user-submitted templates already created and available for public use and there is even a category for Students and Teachers. Here are some tips and tricks to get you started.

How to Use an Existing Templates

1. Sign in to your Google account
2. When viewing your list of GoogleDocs, choose Create New > from Template .
3. Use the search box at the top of the page to find templates and use the links on the left side of the page to narrow your search by category or specific type of Google Doc.
4. When you find a template you like, click Use This Template. A unique copy of the template will move to your list of Google Docs, while the original template will remain in tact.
5. Modify the template as needed and use it.

How to Create a Template

1. Sign in to your Google account
2. Create a new document, presentation, form, spreadsheet or drawing.
3. Add your content and save.
4. Go to your list of Google Docs.
5. Choose Create New > From Template .
6. On the new screen that appears, choose Submit a Template.
7. Click on the link to Choose from your GoogleDocs
8. Complete the form with information about your template and submit.
9. The template will become available in the gallery in a few minutes.

Here are some ready to use templates available for teachers and students:

• Student Report
• Historical Facebook
• Newsletter
• Grade Report
• Syllabus
• Charts in Spreadsheets
• Lesson Plan
• Project Tracker
• Class Notes
• Essay Grading Rubric

Looking for more ideas? View my Bulletin Board, Great Ways to Use Google Docs.