Using Google Forms FormEmailer Script

Over the past 5-6 months, I've been looking for an ideal way to have submitted Google Form responses go to my students in the form of an email and I think I finally have my solution!  This has been around for a while and I remember looking at the FormEmailer script a while back but for some reason I didn't go as in to detail with it and didn't think it would fit my needs.  Double backed to it today and I'm super excited to use this going forward!  Here are some directions and my use case to share in case others want to try using this.

First, I created my rubric Google Form.  An example of this is here.  This Google Form would be only for me to fill out as the teacher.

STUDENTS' EMAIL ADDRESSES

I made sure the first question was "Email Address."   This part would probably take me the longest going forward. I entered all my student's Google Apps for Education email addresses as a drop down menu choice.  So my kids could see the form linked up on our class website, I would make a COPY of the spreadsheet/form and take out the first question so no one could submit this form or see other's email addresses.  (I wouldn't want a curious student filling out the original rubric and have the FormEmailer script running to send a copy to whoever, would I?)

FormEmailer SCRIPT
After the form was ready to go, I had to install the FormEmailer Script.  Honestly, I don't know that much about scripts in Google Spreadsheets other than they are little bits of code that can make things happen.  Thanks to Henrique Abreu who created this FormEmailer script and his website has great directions for showing how this works.  Again, I know nothing about code and I could get this to work so give it a try! :)

STEPS TO USING THE SCRIPT
I followed Henrique's video and the steps below the video to install the script in my Google Spreadsheet.

I went to TOOLS > SCRIPT GALLERY and did a search for "FormEmailer."  Two scripts came up.  The screenshot below shows the one you should install to your spreadsheet.

After installing the script, I went to FormEmailer > SETTINGS and I created the email that my students would receive. I followed the advice given in Henrique's video to use the "placeholders."  If you don't know any HTML coding, you can uncheck the HTML box on the left and just craft the email the way you want.  If you do know HTML coding, you can leave this checked and add little codes where needed to do things like bold or do a linebreak

and so on.  My Email to my students is below:

TEST, TEST AND MORE TEST
After crafting this email, I went and filled out the form, making sure to choose my own email address as the "student" for now just to test things out.  I saw the data from the form go into the spreadsheet.  I then went to FormEMailer > PROCESS MANUALLY and was asked what row to send, so I chose row "2" which is where my student submission was.  The email went through and looked good but I tweaked a few things back in the FormEmailer > Settings area and ran again until things looked the way I wanted.

THE TRIGGER
After testing a few times, I decided I want to turn on the ability for the form to automatically go to the recipient when the form is "SUBMIT"ed.  The details on Henrique's site didn't say how to do this in the newest version of the script so I threw out a call on Twitter.  Thankfully, new tech friend Michelle Russell shared with me what a "trigger" was and how to turn it on.

I went back in to the spreadsheet and went to TOOLS > SCRIPT EDITOR.  I clicked on "Copy of FormEmailer" as shown below.

The Script window opened where all the code for this script was located.  Scary.  I didn't touch any of it!  Go to TRIGGERS > ALL YOUR TRIGGERS.  

In the "All your Triggers" window, I clicked ADD A NEW TRIGGER and made sure the windows showed what is shown below.  

Run = timeDriven

Events = From Spreadsheet & On Form Submit

I checked out the notifications link and you can have the spreadsheet email you if there's a problem. I set that to email me immediately if there's a problem.  Screenshot below of my choices.

I clicked SAVE in the Triggers window and then went to FILE > SAVE in the script window just to be sure everything saved.  

I then tested filling out the form and seeing what happened.  Totally worked!  Any new submission sends the email address in that row the email I created with the details.   Screenshot below of the email the students will receive.  

So in the end, I now have a digital rubric I can use with my students to be able to quickly and efficiently email them feedback on a project.  Entering student email addresses into the first question of the form is what will take me the longest, but for that little bit of time for the bigger payoff of authentic feedback (and no paper!) it's totally worth it.  I suggest you try it out and see what you think.  This is a also a great resource for administrators looking to do walk-throughs or staff feedback forms when visiting a class.

P.S.  Check the "help/troubleshooting" section of Henrique's site if you run into any problems.

Why the BLACK In My Internet World??

I just wrote an email to my staff about what's going on in the internet world today and I thought I would share this through my blog as well, because the implications affect all of us and how we use the internet.   

=================================

All - 

Just sharing some answers here before the questions come up today.

Q:  Okay, I went to Google this morning (Wed) and the logo is all blacked out. What gives?  

-or-

Q:  So, My kids were researching some information today (Wed) and Wikipedia is gone!?  AHHHH!

Today (Wed), is a day where larger companies and organizations on the web are "blacking" out some or parts of their sites as a way of speaking out against some legislature known as SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act) that are currently before Congress.  The Senate will begin voting on these bills next week (Jan 24).  

Personal thoughts: You might be thinking, "but piracy is bad, right? Why wouldn't you want to stop online piracy?"  The reason many are opposed to this is because while these bills are being touted as focusing "online piracy" the implications for this would give the government control over the internet and take away the sense of freedoms on the internet where we can create our own content, start our own businesses, and really have the internet be a wide open frontier.  If the gov't starts to regulate the internet, they would get to have a say in what websites you can go to, how online businesses can be run, and really clamp down on what we can and can't do.  The whole purpose of the "world wide web" is that it's open to all to explore, create, communicate, and collaborate.   I personally don't want to see the government have any kind of regulation over the internet because I think there are many at the top that don't have a sense of what the fundamental foundations of the internet are supposed to be.

So, what can I do?  Here are a few links with more information:

• Article with a lot of details about these two bills
• More answers and facts HERE along with a 2min video that really shares the thoughts behind this movement.
• Great info graphic HERE with a lot of details & an online petition if you want to speak out against these bills.
• See what people are saying online with the #stopSOPA tag
• OR -- use the freedom you have on the web and do a search on "stop SOPA" or "stop PIPA" and see what you find!

Just wanted to educate all on what was happening around us today in case you hear about it on the radio or see it on the news so you have a little more background information. 

Thanks for reading,

Chad

Apple & Google: Get Along!

Setup
This blog post about Apple and Google not getting along when it comes to the iPad and Google Apps for Education comes from my being inspired by the "This Week in Google" podcast episode #120 with Leo LaPorte, Jeff Jarvis and Gina Trapani.  While writing what's below, I also stumbled on my friend Scott Meech's open letter to Apple & Google which is very similar to what I'm writing about and I wholeheartedly agree with his thoughts.  

Caveats
I am not going to pretend I have any kind of insider knowledge for how the companies of Apple and Google work.  I am part of the Google Certified Teacher network and also an Apple Distinguished Educator and I'm very proud of both accomplishments. I get to network with some fantastic people that are doing some really great things in education, but I have no inside scoop on anything.  The following thoughts come purely from my own use of Apple and Google products/services and reading or listening to some online content that is really disheartening.  I'm not out to upset anyone. I'm just trying to change the world.

source

History
There's no love lost between Apple and Google.  I'm currently reading the Steve Jobs biography.  Admittedly, I'm not even halfway through it yet, but everyone is talking about it.  I've listened to some podcast reviews where others have shared some of the stories about how Steve Jobs had offered Google some valuable retail space on the iPhone home screen in exchange for Google not pursuing their own touch enabled software in the form of Android.  We know now that Google did not accept that offer.  I share all this so people don't think I'm naive in saying, "Why can't they just get along?"  I get there is a lot of competition between these two companies and that competition drives the marketplace.

Educational Device

My philosophy when using technology has always been, "the right tool for the job."  If I'm moving around the building to help a teacher, that tool will probably be my smartphone, an Android based HTC Evo.  I can quickly add something to my to do list, snap a picture or shoot off an email.  If I'm going to a meeting, it might be my iPad or laptop so I can take notes.  Lately, it has been more likely that I will grab my laptop instead of my iPad and we're getting to why that is. 

iPads?  Chromebooks?  MacBooks?  Netbooks?  Wind--- nevermind.  I find myself constantly feeling like a hypocrite when I talk to others about which device would be "best" for the classroom.  The iPad is very versatile in that the camera has many uses.  The Apps are pretty much unlimited.  The ability to AirPlay when connected to an AppleTV in the classroom makes the iPad super attractive in terms of being a great teaching device.  Hands down, this is a great device for the classroom.

Chromebooks from Google are also a viable classroom device, especially for those districts that have gone with Google Apps for Education.  Any student can log in to any Chromebook and access all of the content that is contained in his/her Google account.  The services just work and help to take out a lot of logistics (saving to a flash drive, having to email files home, saving on one computer in the school) that make for lost time.

Educational Service
Google Apps for Education has really taken off.  Many school district are "going Google" where students and staff are able to have a Google account that will let them access all the great features that fall under the Google umbrella.  Apple doesn't have anything that's even remotely close to this.  Apple has the iWork suite, but the functionality and flexibility provided by Google Docs far outweighs the current versions of iWork.  I say versions, because you would think you could take a Pages file from the Mac and "iCloud" it to your iOS device, but you can't.  I'm sure Apple is working to make this happen, but it's not there yet.  Currently, Google Apps for Educations offers a lot for educational institutions and the cost is great for school districts (free).

source

The Problem
So, here in lies the problem.  Google Apps for Education doesn't work well in the Safari browser on the iPad or iPod touch.  Google Documents and Spreadsheets "kind of" work, but it's not a manageable solution.  Recent speculation also suggests that Apple is doing what it can to "divorce" itself from Google.  Apple reportedly bought a "map" company with speculation being that they are trying to get Google's mapping services off iOS devices.  The "divorce" article linked above also states that Apple might use Bing as search results for Siri, the iPhone 4S voice assistant.  Siri-ously?

source

The Plea
As an educator, it is very frustrating to see two companies that both offer great products for education to be so far away from making something beautiful.  If Google Apps for Education worked on the Safari iOS browser like it does on the desktop, then both parties would be in an #eduwin situation.  Google's services would be utilized by students that would grow up and hopefully seek out Google Apps for Business as a viable solution for their companies.  Those same future entrepreneurs would see how versatile the Apple products are and no doubt continue to purchase them.

I heard or read somewhere that both companies say it is the other's "fault" that Google Apps won't work on the iPad.  I would hope that two companies that claim to put education at such a high standard could work together to find a way for these two products/services to work together.  Both have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

So, in closing ... Please, Apple and Google, find a way to make some beautiful magic for the educational arena by allowing Google Apps for Education to work seamlessly on the iOS platform like it does on the desktop computer.  Both of you will come out winners.  Do it for the children.

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Google Multiple Sign-In

With many school districts "going Google," some educators are finding that they might have multiple Google accounts.  Switching between these can be frustrating in your browser, but fortunately, Google has a built-in feature that users can turn on called Multiple Sign-In.  Google's directions for turning this on are here.

For those that need to see some visuals, the steps for turning this on are outlined below...

Go to the Multiple Sessions Sign-In Page and log in with one of your Google accounts.

If you logged in to a PERSONAL account, you might be at the Account Overview page (shown below).  Look for MULTIPLE SIGN-IN and click EDIT.

If you logged in to your Google Apps for Education account OR after you click EDIT from a personal Account Overview page, you will get to a page that looks like this....

Click ON for Multiple Sign-In and then click SAVE.

After saving your choice, click on your Google account name on the top right and choose SIGN OUT.

Go BACK to the Multiple Sessions Sign-In Page and log in to ANOTHER Google account.

Repeat the same process as above and turn on "Multiple Sign-In" for this account and then sign-out when finished.

What will happen now going forward is that when signed in to one of your accounts, you can go up and click on your Google account name in the top right of the browser and choose SWITCH ACCOUNT (shown below) to easily switch to another account.

After choosing SWITCH ACCOUNT, you will see your other accounts listed that have Multiple Sign-In enabled (shown below).  If for some reason you don't see your account, you can click the choice that says "Sign in to another account" and after entering the credentials for that other account, it should show there in the future.  

Once that is all set up it's very easy to SWITCH accounts in your browser!  As a tip, always pay attention to which account is showing on the top right of the browser in the black bar to know which account you're in.  And if you switch accounts on that tab, it sometimes might not switch accounts on the other tabs you have open so make sure to close all other tabs as to not confuse the browser.  

BONUS TIP:  

In Chrome, you can open a separate window that is totally independent of the account you're currently logged into. This is called the INCOGNITO window.  Go to FILE > NEW INCOGNITO WINDOW (or CMD+SHIFT+N as a shortcut) and a separate window with a "blue" border will open.

The little icon of the spy in the corner tells you that this is the "incognito" window. :)  This is great for doing demos or showing students how to log into an account without having to log out of an account that you currently have open.  Screenshot below.

Google Earth Navigating Activity

Working with a 7th Grade Social Studies teacher on using Google Earth for the first time with students.  Our final product will involve Lewis & Clark's expedition and having students create a Google Earth file with pins for locations from the trek.  

As a "Getting Started" activity, we are going to have students using this handout and possibly the links below to learn how to NAVIGATE around in Google Earth.  

Helpful Links:

• Google Earth Navigation Tutorial
• Google Earth Searching For Places Tutorial
• Handout for Students

Please share any projects or ideas you have for using Google Earth!

Google Spreadsheets for Voting Collection

Our middle school ran elections this week for Student Council officers. The Advisor of Student Council and I worked up an idea where videos of the candidates giving speeches would be placed in the shared drive so staff could show the videos during Home Room. Votes would be taken and then staff would enter the votes per candidate on a Google Spreadsheet. This went over very well so I wanted to share how we set up the Google Spreadsheet so others could use this idea in the future.

First up, you need a FREE Google Account. The video below shows how to sign up for a Google Account.

Once you have a Google Account, you can access the Google Docs suite by going to http://docs.google.com or if you're already logged in and at a Google site, you can find "Documents" on the top left menu of the page as shown below.

When logged in to Google Docs, create a new spreadsheet by going to CREATE NEW > SPREADSHEETS.

Set up and create the spreadsheet as you would like it to look. An example of what this could look like is below. A tip for creating a spreadsheet like this is to also use the FREEZE ROWS and FREEZE COLUMNS options under the TOOLS drop down menu. This will help if staff moves around in the spreadsheet so their names are still shown and so the candidates at the top are always shown.

To the right of the file name at the top of the spreadsheet is a link that says "Private to only me." Clicking this link shows who has rights to the file. Click CHANGE to change the rights as shown below. We chose the setting "Anyone with the link" which allowed an edit check box to appear at the bottom. We checked the "Allow anyone to edit (no sign-in required)." Choosing this made it so any teachers we emailed the link to could edit the spreadsheet without having to have a Google Account.

Clicking SAVE will take you back a window where there is now a web address that can be COPIED or you can click on links to share the link via GMail, Buzz, Facebook, or Twitter. Getting the link out to staff was easy; we sent the link to our teacher email list and explained that teachers would enter the votes at the end of the day.

From what we could tell, only the "owner" of the file can get to this link. Editors can not pass on the link to others.

As a tip, I sent out a quick message to the staff letting them know that when they entered their information, they did not necessarily have to click a SAVE button. I attached the screenshot below and explained that the spreadsheet saves every few seconds as data is entered. If all the teacher's data was there and the save area shows "SAVED" and it says "a few seconds ago," then all is good!

It was great to pull up the spreadsheet while teachers were entering their data! According to this article on the Google Docs help area, 50 people can edit a file at once.

This use of Google Docs worked great! My hope now is that teachers who weren't familiar with this type of use of Google Docs will be interested in using this again or possibly using this with their own classes.

Public Domain Clipart Website I Love!

In this post, I want to share a tool that I've been using almost daily when creating handouts, lessons, presentations and the like. OpenClipArt.org is a site where users (anyone) can create and upload clipart to be used by others for absolutely free. It's a total community of those that just want to create and share images. You might be thinking, "how is that possible? Don't you have to cite where you got artwork from?" You do, but NOT if it's in the public domain. Here's a part of the OpenClipArt.org ABOUT page.

Another great benefit to using this site is that artwork is uploaded as PNG (think bitmap image like a .jpg or .bmp so you can use it in Word, PowerPoint or the like) or SVG (vector images for those that know how to use them in programs like Illustrator or Corel Draw). OpenClipArt.org offers a wiki and forum area for discussion with other artists.

If you're interested in making your own clipart, they link to directions on how to do this using Inkscape (a FREE and open source graphic tool)

So, how do you use the site? There's a few ways to find clipart. One way is to use the "Browse By Categories" box that is on the right side of the screen:

Right below that is an area for the "most popular tags" that uploaded clipart has been tagged with. Clicking on a tag brings up results that have that tag.

I personally find that the quickest and easiest way to find clipart is to use the SEARCH BAR at the top right of the site...

Search results come up...

...and you can either click on a result you like OR you can go to the bottom and see if there are more pages available with more results like in the example above.

From here, I click on my result to go to just that piece of clipart I like.

At this point, there are a few options you can explore depending on what you want to do:

• If the image is big enough on this page, I will just click and hold on the image with my mouse and drag it to my Word document or PowerPoint slide or desktop (using a Mac). If using a PC computer, you can right-click on the image and choose to COPY. I'm done and can go on my way. This format is PNG.
• If you need the image bigger, you can click the "Lossy: PNG" button and that will take you to a "full size" version of the image the way it was uploaded to the site by the creator.
• If you are a graphics person and need the vector format, you can click the DOWNLOAD SVG button and get a copy of the file in SVG mode that you can take and altar and do what you want with

I really enjoy the FRESHness of the clipart (especially TECHNOLOGY clipart). The clipart is not just old, static images we've all seen a million times. Try this out as a way to spruce up your next project, assignment, presentation or lesson! Share and show this to students as well! They will enjoy the freshness of finding new clipart to have access to!

Leave some comments on if you like, don't like or any tips and tricks you've found! OpenClipArt.org

Using Google Voice Search To Create My To Do List

I am always looking for new ways to better organize myself. Lately, I've been using my phone (Sprint EVO), which runs on the Android operating system along with some of the built in features to create and keep my To Do List. I haven't found a really good "to do list" app that's simple, quick and efficient enough for my liking so I created an alternate way to keep my items organized. Explained easily, I tap my phone, talk into it as as "note to self" and send this as a transcribed email that automatically filters to a specific folder/label in my email. This folder/label is then set up as a shortcut on my phone for quick access. Still with me? :)

Setting this up involves using Google Voice Search and setting up your GMail Account to filter some messages to a specific "label." Read on and follow these steps if you wish to set up the same thing. Here's a step-by-step on how to set this up:

1. Update Google Voice Search. Recently, Google released an update to their Google Voice Search that includes more actions. You need to go into the market and download the newest Google Voice Search to get these actions, one of which is the "Note To Self" action. (This blog post from Google explains some of the new Voice Actions that were added. There's also a video that walks through and shows some good uses for these new actions.)

2. Place Either Google Voice Search App or Google Search Widget On a Screen. I personally have the Google Search widget (above) on my home screen for quick access since the microphone is right there. Great for a quick tap while driving and/or to record a "Note to Self."

3. Record Your First "Note to Self." After installing the updated Google Voice Search, tap the microphone icon and the "Speak Now" window will appear. Start your speech with "Note to self." Example: "Note to self create powerschool screencast." The speech will be transcribed.

4. Double check transcription and send. The transcription of what you said will appear. You can manually tap on any part of the text to type and correct anything that's not properly understood. Click SEND when finished. This will go to your G-Mail email account.

G-MAIL SETUP

The second part of this process is setting up G-Mail correctly. This part needs to be completed on your computer.

1. Filter The "Note To Self" Email. Once you receive a "Note To Self" email from yourself, click on the message to see it. Click the MORE ACTIONS button (top right) and choose FILTER MESSAGES LIKE THESE.

2. Add "Note To Self" to Search Criteria. The first Filter settings you see relate to the origin of the message. Verify your email address is in the FROM area. In the SUBJECT area, type in Note To Self. This will make it so messages from "you" with the subject "Note To Self" will have this filter applied. Click NEXT STEP.

3. Choose Action Settings. On the next screen, you choose what should happen to the message. Check the following:

• Skip the Inbox (Archive It)
• Mark As Read
• Apply the Label
• Also apply this filter to xx conversations below (checking this will make it so any other "Note To Self" emails will also have these actions performed. If this is your first "Note To Self" email, checking or unchecking this option doesn't really matter.)

After checking APPLY THE LABEL, click the drop down menu next to this choice and choose NEW LABEL. Title the label Note To Self. Click CREATE FILTER when finished.

The G-Mail setup is now complete. Any messages that come to G-Mail from your email address with the subject Note To Self will now automatically skip your inbox and sort to the label Note to Self. Having the email "marked as read" also makes it so the label doesn't show a number for unread messages.

ADD G-MAIL LABEL SHORTCUT TO YOUR PHONE

Follow the steps below to add a shortcut for your Note To Self label in your email to make your "to do list" easy and quick to access.

1. Add Shortcut. Click the + button on your phone home screen (or whatever button you press to add a shortcut to your phone screens). Choose SHORTCUT.

2. Choose Gmail Label.

3. Choose Gmail account. If you hare more than one Gmail account associated with your phone, choose the one where your Note To Self emails are going.

4. Choose Note To Self Label. After choosing the email account, scroll down and find the Note To Self label and tap it.

5. Name the Label Shortcut. You can now name your label shortcut whatever you want. I chose to name mine To Do List.

6. Place Label On Screen. You can now place the new label where you want.

7. What's it look like? You have now set up a fully automated system for keeping track of your To Do List items. As you send yourself Note To Self emails, you can quickly access them by tapping on your To Do List G-Mail label. You can also click the checkmark next to any messages and DELETE them as you complete your tasks. (Note: Messages do stay in chronological order in the order in which they were received.)

DISCLAIMER: As you record your Note to Self items, you will get looked at funny by others. All part of using the tech in a way that's GEEKY! :)

That's pretty much it. A little involved process but the payoffs for me were worth it. Using this as my TO DO LIST doesn't offer some features like some other apps (color coding, prioritizing, categorizing, etc) but I just wanted something simple and quick. I personally like being able to just "say" the Note To Self item into my phone to save time. 90% of the time, the transcription is spot on. Please leave comments below if this helps you out or if you have other tips to offer related to this post.