RowCall Add-on for Google Sheets

Teachers frequently collect a lot of data with Google Forms.  The data then gets manipulated in a Google Sheet.  I hear a lot of requests for the ability to look at each student's data by itself.  This Add-on, RowCall, will automatically create a tab for each different entry in a column.  This means that each student would have their own tab in the spreadsheet, as well as being part of the whole grouping of data.  Check out the tutorial below.

Sort and Filter Google Sheets

Many times there is a need to organize your data in a spreadsheet.  Here is a video that demonstrates how to sort Google Sheet data and also how to filter it.  It makes using your data much more informative.

Google Docs Comments

Teachers and students will love their ability to comment on their work and the work of their classmates.  When you have "edit" or "comment" access to a document, you can easily add a comment (like a post-it note) right on the document.  All you have to do is select some text and click the comment button at the top of the page.

You will be able to type a note to the owner.  Then your comment will show up and an email will be sent to the owner of the document.

The owner will then be able to go into the document and resolve the suggestion.  Also, take notice that you can +emailaddress another person to add them to the conversation.  When you + someone, they will get an email, and you will be prompted to alter the share settings for that person.  You could add them as an editor, commenter, or just allow them to reply to the comment.  Interesting possibilities there.

Comments will be an excellent way for teachers to help students edit their work, without having to edit the work for the student.  Make suggestions, provide hints, or even create a class code for editing tips.  Give comments a try.

Google Forms has Customizable Banners and New Banner Choices

Google Forms has been going through some serious upgrades.  I've been posting about them for weeks.  One upgrade I really like is the ability to add your own custom banners to the top of your Google Forms.  I would suggest creating one for all of your Forms.  That way, your students or colleagues will recognize it as yours.  You can even create a little logo to use with it.  Here is one that we created for our future surveys.  It is a graphic that is 500 pixels wide and 150 pixels tall.

You can add your banner by going into the "Change Theme" button.  Then looking at the theme list and noticing you can now customize themes.  Click "customize".  Then open the "Header Image" area and click "Choose Image".  You can then upload your own banner.

You may also notice that there are a lot of new banner choices that Google has provided.  They are even arranged in topics.  Some cool seasonal ones are available for your Form use.

These upgrades should make data collection fun and interesting.  Give them a try!

Office files Converted with New Google Drive

There are times when you may want to upload and convert one of your current Office files so that you can share or work with colleagues on the document.  You can upload and convert Office files directly into Google format so that you can share and collaborate or even publish.  Below is a tutorial on how you can upload those files in the New version of Google Drive.  Here is a link to a version for the Old Google Drive.

Google will upload and convert Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files.




Google will also convert so that you can download files back out of Google into other formats.  That way you can send to people who need a specific format or don't have a Google Account (Boo!)

Give this a try!

New Google Form Add-ons - Choice Eliminator

Google recently added "Add-ons" as a feature of Google Forms.  There are some great options to check out.  Here is a picture of what is currently available.  Check them out.

Choice of Google Form Add-ons

One that I am really happy to see is "Choice Eliminator".  It takes choices out of a list of multiple-choice, checkbox, or list entries.  That way if one submitter selects an option, it is no longer available to people who have not taken the Form yet.  I see this as an outstanding option for people that schedule appointments.  The choices disappear so you don't double-book.  Here is a website with tutorial of how to use Choice Eliminator - click here.

Create your Form.  Go to the Add-ons store in the Add-ons menu and select the Choice Eliminator and try it out.  This will be awesome for teachers scheduling conferences.  Too bad it didn't come out a month ago.

New "Send Forms" Options in Google Forms

Google has been putting in some very functional upgrades lately.  If you are a Google Forms user, you've probably noticed quite a few.  I really like Google Forms and think teachers will love it.  I noticed a few new changes on the Send Forms button information lately.

I noticed that Google now provides a URL shortener on the Send Form window (fig. A).  It automatically will shorten those extremely long URLs to one with the "goo.gl" address.  This is great for people that are sharing the link without having to go somewhere else to find it - like posting your link on a website or email.  Great way to get a group to use their own devices to take a survey or answer some questions.  How about having students use their smartphones - YEA!

Also, Google has added a button that will give you the embed code (fig. B).  This is awesome, so you can embed the survey right on your webpage.  That way, the user doesn't have to leave the page they are on to go take a Form.

Besides the changes, you can still post your link on Google+, Twitter, or Facebook, or even email the people you want to take the Form.

Google Forms are an outstanding way to collect information from people and organize it in an easy way to analyze.  Give them a try.