Bragto U: Using Forms Pt. 1

Bragto University
Class: DOCS 301 Using Forms

Objective:  You will be able to create an online form to collect and collate demographic information.

Materials:

• Google Docs Account

Procedure:

It happens at the beginning of every year.  With new students comes the need to get important information.  How do we as teachers collect this information?  By passing out index cards or a sheet of paper.  Then the adventurous, fans of tedious, time consuming enter this data into a their computer.  They setup an Excel spreadsheet and spend quality time typing all of this information in.  Using Google Documents, this data entry can be outsourced to the student or even the parent.  You will need a Google Docs account to get started.  If you don't already have one, you can signup for one; its free.



Procedure: Part 1- Creating your form.

1. Login to your Google Docs account.


2. Click "Create New" to access the documents.  Choose "Forms".
   
   [caption id="attachment_51" align="alignright" width="196" caption="Docs Menu Options"][/caption]


3. Title your form. (Example: Virtual Index Card or something lame like that.)


4. Create your questions.  There are different types of question.  Choose the type which is most appropriate: (Text would be most relevant.)
   
   
   
   1. Text: Use this for the input of a small amount of text. For example, a first name or phone number.
   
   
   2. Paragraph Text: Use this for the input of a large amount of text.
   
   
   3. Multiple Choice: Give your users a list of options, predetermined by the creator.
   
   
   4. Checkboxes: Similar to multiple choice, but the user can select multiple checkboxes as opposed to the multiple choice where the user can select only one.
   
   
   5. Choose from a list: Similar to multiple choice, items are put in a drop down box.
   
   
   6. Scale: Create a scale for the user to select. For example (Select from 1-10, or Good to Bad.)  Scale determined by creator.
   
   
   7. Grid: To be discussed at a later date.
   
   
   
   


5. Forms comes loaded with two questions that you can edit.  Click on the edit button to begin.  Create a field for the student's first name by placing "First Name" in the Question Title box.  This will be how your question will appear on the form.  Set the Question Type to "Text".


6. You will want to click the checkbox for "Make this a required question."  If that is not clicked a user can submit information without filling in fields on a form.  You want to make sure that you get all the information that you want.  Click "Done".  You have created the first question.


7. You then can duplicate the first question to create the rest of your form.  Just change the Question Title to elicit the information you want.


8. Once you have all the appropriate fields that you want filled out, part 1 is complete.  You may want to liven the form up by adding a "theme" with a cool background and font.  The theme I selected was Notepaper Purple.

Part 2