Last week Google announced a new useful feature to Google Forms that allows you to add a file upload option. Now you can collect image files, small video files (max. 10 mb), and various document types including PDFs, Drive Docs, and MS Office files. This means you can now collect a broad array of learning artifacts in addition to text responses, survey, and quiz questions.
Collecting student work, images, and video files in a Google Form may have some advantages over other digital collection methods such as email, Google Classroom, and other digital file collection tools such as SeeSaw or Padlet. Each of those methods are fantastic in their own right, but here are a few reasons why the new Google Forms file uploads option might be worth adding to your digital teacher toolbox.
Collecting student work, images, and video files in a Google Form may have some advantages over other digital collection methods such as email, Google Classroom, and other digital file collection tools such as SeeSaw or Padlet. Each of those methods are fantastic in their own right, but here are a few reasons why the new Google Forms file uploads option might be worth adding to your digital teacher toolbox.
Quick Organization of Digital Documents
There are times when we want to collect evidence of learning such as a photo of station work, a screenshot showing the results from an online activity for formative assessment, or create a quick photo challenge such as "find an example of parabola". Using the Google Forms upload feature helps to organize all of the uploads into a folder that is linked to the form, making it easy to view, assess, and share back to students for activities such as digital gallery walks.
Combine Forms Quizzes with Performance task Evidence
This summer Google Forms added formative assessment features that let you treat fixed response questions like multiple choice questions as a quiz. The quiz feature will auto score results and even notify students of their results immediately after submitting their response if you choose.
Combining this quiz feature with the file upload option allows you to make your formative assessments more authentic and rigorous by having students upload photos demonstrating a skill (think math), or a quick video think aloud, as well as files that show more in-depth evidence of learning.
Combining this quiz feature with the file upload option allows you to make your formative assessments more authentic and rigorous by having students upload photos demonstrating a skill (think math), or a quick video think aloud, as well as files that show more in-depth evidence of learning.
How to get started
Adding the file upload feature to a Google Forms is easy. Open a new Google Form from within Google Drive. Title your form and add your first question. Look for the question type drop down menu and select the file upload option. Once added, you can also select what types of files you wish to accept if you want to limit options - for instance an image file only.
Students must be logged in using their PHS Google Apps account
At this time, the file upload option will not work without a PHS Google Apps login. This means that it cannot be used to collect files from outside sources such as parents or very young students who do not yet know how to login.