New Google Form Features To Make It A Better Tool For Teachers

by TeachThought Staff

In 50 Ways Google Can Help You Become A Better Teacher, we took a look at many of the ways Google technology and resources can improve your teaching–and thus the learning of your students. Some of these ways inlcuded:

• Use Google Drive to respond to student writing via comments, or collaborate real-time with distance learners.
• Use Google Expeditions to plan virtual field trips with/for students.
• Create a Google Drive series of folders (by topic, standard, content area, grade level, etc.) to share resources with your Professional Learning Network all over the world.
• Use Google Sheets to create charts and graphs with data–or better yet, have students create and chart their own progress.

In addition to Google Earth, another Google tool that seems underrated in terms of its utility for pedagogy is Google Forms.

Using Google Form In The Classroom: Six Updates

We’ve covered ways to use Google Forms in the classroom which you can find in our growing collection of Google technology tools for the classroom.

Two years since adding quizzes to Google Forms, Akshat Sharma, Product Manager, Google for Education recently gathered six improvements they’ve made to Google Forms an even better tool for your classroom. We’ve included the first three changes below, but you can head directly to the full post on Google’s blog if you’d like.

See also How To Create A Test That Grades Itself Using Google Forms

6 New Google Form Features To Make It A Better Tool For Teachers

1. Quiz answer suggestions: Using Google’s machine learning, Forms can now predict the correct answer as a teacher types the question, as well as provide options for wrong answers. If you give a pop quiz on U.S. capitals, this new feature will predict all the right capitals for every single state—and even throw in some curveballs, like Charlotte Amalie and San Juan.

2. Autocomplete answers: Machine learning is also helping educators save time with more predictive analysis. After you type one answer, Forms will now propose related answers. For example, if a question requires the days of the week as answer options, Google Forms will autocomplete the remaining answers. Additionally, this feature is now available in 14 languages, including Spanish, French, Chinese, German and Arabic. “I love this feature, it saves so much time. The ability to start typing something and have Forms start suggesting things before you’re even done typing is pretty cool,” says Chris Webb, a math teacher at John Rennie High School in Montreal.

3. Automatically grade checkbox and multiple choice grid questions: Grading quizzes can be time-consuming, which is why we built a new way to automate the process. Now, in checkbox grid and multiple choice grid-style questions, you can denote correct answers in the answer key, and completed quizzes are automatically assigned points based on answers. “Previously, there was a lot of repetition for teachers trying to ask these types of questions. But this [feature] saves time, collects all the data in a sheet in a way that’s really smart, and gives teachers full control over grading,” says Webb.

4. Give decimal grades.

5. Improve understanding with YouTube video feedback.

6. See the total number of points in a quiz.

You can read more in detail on Google’s blog.

6 New Google Form Features To Make It A Better Tool For Teachers