Article Response #5: Google Forms and Flubaroo: Less Paper, More Teaching

Papers are something that educators have a mass amount of, at all times. Papers have to be graded, archived, organized, and kept together constantly. Laurie O. Campbell provides a solution to organizing the mass amount of papers that teachers have to deal with daily in her article: “Google Forms and Flubaroo: Less Paper, More Teaching”.

Campbell starts by talking about Google Forms how they don’t only save time but how they can be implemented into an elementary school classroom in creative ways. Campbell explains, “Forms are tools that collect data teachers can evaluate for planning instruction” (p. 28). One of these ways involves collecting student information on the first day of class. A fifth grade teacher gave her students a survey in their classroom on the first day that asked questions like what they liked about science, their favorite hobbies and activities, and what they wanted to learn in school. At the end of the day the teacher looked over the information and planned lessons according to interests for her students. Campbell explains, “For instance, several students indicated that they played soccer. She was able to plan a unit on insects that lived on the soccer field. Her students loved learning science on the soccer field” (p. 28).

Fluberaoo was the next accessible application that Campbell discussed. According to Campbell: “Flubaroo is a tool designed to work in conjunction with Google Forms” (p. 29). Flubaroo is able to grade tests, administered through Google forms, and highlight any questions that were cumulatively missed by at least 40% of the class. Students are then given scores back immediately and teachers have data that they can use to further instruction or for future exams. The only con I see with this program is the reliability on a computer source for grading answers. We all know that sometimes technology has its glitches so it may be a good idea to double check the answers occasionally.

Looking at ISTE’s NETS for teachers and students I noticed that something like this could easily fall under “design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments”.  I thought it could because a teacher would be designing new digital age learning experiences that can later assess student understanding and be implemented into the curriculum. Students would be able to become active participants because surveys could either be given in class or at the library or at home. Assignments would then vary because the technology tools allow for creative exploration from the part of both the student and teacher.

I would love to look into other applications like the ones mentioned in the article. After reading the article I decided that I would do some research into Google Forms, which I had heard of before, and Flubaroo, which was new to me. Being able to save paper is one of the positive aspects of such programs but it also allows teachers to get a very clear and precise picture of student learning patterns, something I wish to master by the time I have my own classroom. 

Campbell, L. (2012). Google Forms and Flubaroo: Less Paper, More Teaching (40) 3. 28-29. Retrieved from: http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learningandleading.