When reading the Google Docs Blog I learned of a new useful feature. The Spreadsheet Sharing tab now includes to fill out a form. Basically, a form is generated based on the column headings in your spreadsheet. You are given a url for the form that you can email to participants, or use to create a link to the form on your web page. When a participant completes the form, the data is dumped into your spreadsheet/form. The participants don’t need a Google account, or even an email address.

The form has some good customization features like adding help text, editing questions, and choosing question types: paragraph text, multiple choice, check boxes, or choose from a list. You can also write your own confirmation message that your participants will see upon submitting their data. You have the choice of including the form in an email, which might not work for all email platforms. If it doesn’t, the reader can copy and paste the provided link to access the form through his/her browser. While participants don’t have access to edit the spreadsheet, they can view previously submitted data, if you enable that feature.

Since I already use Google Docs, the idea of consolidating my documents into one web location is appealing. Currently I use Survey Monkey to gather feedback from my workshop participants. The spreadsheet graph button would be more efficient when summarizing the data from these evaluations. I use Jotform to collect workshop registrations. Now with Google docs, I can subscribe to the spreadsheet and be notified in my Pageflake of new registrations. Some teachers are using Jotform for students to submit their passwords for various sites to their teacher for future reference. Since these teachers are already using Google docs, I think they will want to start using this new form feature.

A couple of features that I’d like to see added would be the option of making a question required, and password protecting the form.

Here’s a screencast to lead you through the process of creating, managing, and subscribing to your spreadsheet. Since it is a longer than usual tutorial (8 minutes), you will find a Table of Contents. Don’t let that the length of the tutorial scare you. The process is easy.

tag: k12 edtech tutorial,screencast video Google Docs spreadsheet form survey JotForm Survey Monkey

Registration is now open for the St. Patrick’s Day Project.

• PreK-3
• “…we will be trying to prove that there are more GREEN CLOVERS (you might call them hats) than any other shape” in a 14 oz box of Lucky Charms.
• “The teacher will visit the RESULT page to submit the Class results with the total CLASS count of each shape between March 12 and March 19, 2008.”
• “Additional activity ideas and worksheets are provided for teachers to expand this project for the entire week.”
• Sponsored by TechnospudProjects.com

Image Credit: Merlijn Hoek

tag: collaborative project St. Patrick’s Day PreK-3 edtech Technospud Projects

The other day my 4th grader was pondering the difference between an alligator and a crocodile. The PBS Nature Interactives webpage site had a great interactive diagram that answered her question. The critter guide then explained how some Egyptians worshiped the crocodile. From the video database we watched a short clip from the Supersize Crocs episode of Nature, which airs on PBS on Sunday nights. This same clip is available as a video podcast. We decided to subscribe to the PBS Nature podcasts so she could watch new clips from upcoming NATURE episodes on the iPod.

This is a great resource with beautiful images and videos, interactive activities, teacher’s guides and lesson plans. The site mentions a new resource coming soon, Windows Into Nature, that sounds promising for high school students:

Find teacher-created lesson plans and a rich video bank tying downloadable NATURE video clips into high school curricula in Living Environment/Biology and Earth Science.

tag: PBS Nature video science k12 edtech images podcasts animals biology Earth Science lesson plans

Quintura is a the search tool that displays results in a text list, and with a tag cloud of related words. Tabs divide the results by web, images, video, and Amazon. To refine your search, hover your mouse over words in the tag cloud to see a new set of related words displayed. You can exclude a word with a click of the red X. I can see how this visual tag cloud of related terms could assist you in further defining a search of an unfamiliar topic.

Quintura includes an option to embed flash or java code in a webpage to display your interactive search results tag cloud. Try out the coffee example below:

• Hover your mouse over a word to tweak the search and watch the cloud change.
• Click on a link in the list below to visit the site.
• Enter a new search term in the field at the top and click the magnifying glass.

Quintura also has a share button to email a search cloud. You could also use the provided link from this email message to create a hyperlink to the search cloud on a webpage, blog, or wiki. You can save your search results as a bookmark/favorite, or an html file on your computer.

Quintura for Kids is a filtered search engine that includes a tag cloud and icons for browsing. I like this version. I’ve added it to my daughter’s Pageflake. It offers only java code for embedding in a webpage or a wiki, (Java code won’t work in Edublogs).

Some other search tools:

• oSkope visual search of Amazon, Ebay, Flickr, Fotolia, Yahoo!Image Search and YouTube.
• Sputtr.: build your own personalized search page
• searchCrystal: visualization tool to compare, remix, and share search from the web, image, video, blog, tagging, news engines, or RSS feeds.
• Touch Graph: explore the connections between related websites

tag: search k12 edtech Quintura kid safe search oSkope Sputtr. searchCrystal Touch Graph

Students (ages 5-18) in the United States have been invited to design a Google logo.

The Doodle 4 Google theme is “What if…?” Students are encouraged to come up with their own ideas.

• What if…I could live underwater, or in outer space, or in Colonial America?
• What if…I could see into the future?
• What if…I could build any kind of invention I wanted?

1. 40 finalists will be invited to a workshop with Google’s official doodler, Dennis Hwang, at the Googleplex in Mountain View, California.
2. The U.S. public will vote for their favorites.
3. The winning design will replace the regular Google homepage on May 22, 2008. This champion doodler will receive a $10,000 college scholarship and his or her school will receive a $25,000 technology grant.

• School registration closes on March 28th.
• Entries must be received by April 12th, 2008.
• Visit Doodle 4 Google to register. Here you will find all the details of the competition, plus detailed lesson plans.

tag: Google Doodle 4 Google contest art log What if? prizes