Google Forms might be my favorite member of the Google family.

• As a teacher I use forms for quizzes, group projects and school fundraisers.
• As a principal I use forms for staff surveys, course selections, and quarterly grade reports.
• As a small business owner I use forms to set follow up reminders, send out invoices, PD certificates, and organize events.

In this episode I am sharing five ways that you can design better Google Forms!

1. Use validation to collect better data
2. Make your forms look pretty
3. Automate with Add-ons
4. Filter, Sort, and Pivot your data
5. Auto-grade and lock your quizzes

Are you ready to become a Form Fanatic?

Each spring I teach a 5 week Google Forms masterclass through Google Classroom. This course is for anyone who is familiar with forms and is ready to become a form master! 

Last spring I offered this course for the first time and the feedback was outstanding:

"I was a casual user of Forms, but I was not using the data that I had collected to it's full potential. Now I am writing better Forms so my data is of higher quality and I am better able to analyze the results so I'm making decisions based on data...not just giving surveys." - Laura Foreback, middle school teacher

This course is perfect for classroom teachers, tech coaches, and school administrators!

Head over to chrm.tech/forms for details!

Audio projects aren’t as common as image or video projects, but that doesn’t mean that audio isn’t a great option! Because they lack a visual element, audio projects are easier to create and require more attention to the core content of the assignment.

Engaging audio requires creative writing and planning, making audio projects a great option for writing focused classrooms.

This episode features classroom ideas and tools for recording, editing, and publishing audio projects in your classroom. 

Featured Tools: 

• AudioRecorder (Chrome App)
• Padlet 
• Twisted Wave
• Booktrack Classroom
• Soundtrap
• Anchor.fm
• Headliner.app

For more tips and lesson ideas for Chromebook Classrooms visit chrmbook.com. 

Over the past 50 years, Bob Gregory has been a school teacher, a church pastor, a school principal and an education resource supplier in Australia and around the South Pacific region. He officially retired in 2015 and in 2016 became the education manager for Transform Cambodia, an NGO dedicated to helping the children of Cambodia escape poverty.

In this episode you'll hear how Chromebooks are being used to give hope to more than 3,000 Children in Cambodia. 

For show notes and links, visit chrmbook.com/podcast

Google Forms gets "Locked mode" and it's an exclusive Chromebook feature!

Locked quiz mode prevents students from accessing opening new tabs or accessing unauthorized digital content.

In this mini-episode I break down everything you need to know about locked quizzes!

For more details on this new feature, including a video overview, visit http://chrm.tech/lockedquiz

Note: As of December 6, 2018 the locked quiz feature is only available to a small number beta testers. I anticipate that locked quizzes will become available to all G Suite for Education users in January 2019.

Are Chromebooks good for more than math games and web research?   This is one of the topics that I discuss with Andy Losik, elementary STEM teacher, during this episode of the Chromebook Classroom Podcast!   Andy Losik (@mrlosik) is a PK-5 STEM teacher at Hamilton Schools in west Michigan. Andy has a rich background as a classroom teacher and technology expert. He is an Apple Distinguished educator, Google Certified innovator and Discover Education Programs Champion, and helpful guy.   Show notes: Chrmbook.com/podcast

With Chromebooks in your classroom, exploring remote and exciting parts of the world has never been easier!

Joining me on this episode of the podcast are Kim Randall and Kelly Kermode, two wonderful and well traveled educators, and authors of Bring the World to your Classroom.

Visit chrmbook.com/podcast for links, resources, and tools mentioned in this episode of the Chromebook Classroom Podcast.

How do you make math interesting for a middle school student?

Eric Marcos has been helping students create instructional math videos since 2007. These amazing (and entertaining) videos have been watched by more than 1.6 million students and teachers from around the world.

Eric teaches in Santa Monica, California and also runs mathtrain.tv where you can find all of his videos.

Visit chrmbook.com/podcast for links, resources, and tools mentioned in this episode of the Chromebook Classroom Podcast.

How do you help teachers develop new skills and grow as professionals?

Andrea Derrick has developed an impressive digital learning program to encourage the staff in her district to develop new skills. This comprehensive, detailed program helps teachers regardless of whether they are just starting to use technology in the classroom or are an advanced user.

Chromebook web filtering is should mean more than just blocking bad websites. Bharath Madhusudan, co-founder of the web filtering company Securly, shares how his company is working to keep kids safe on the web by using machine learning and natural language processing to prevent cyber bullying and self-harm.

Visit chrmbook.com/podcast for information on Securely's free Chromebook filtering tools. 

How do you teach world language in the age of Google Translate? Bethany Thompson (@bthompsonEDU) began teaching French 19 years ago. She has personally observed the impact that technology has had on the classroom. These challenges and opportunities aren’t unique to world language, however. They also impact math and many other subject area. This conversation is filled with practical ideas for embracing change and challenge students to be critical thinkers.

When you listen to my conversation with Bethany, I think you will be impressed by some of the creative, non-traditional ways she is using common tools like Google Docs, Presentation, and Google Forms. She isn't using lots of language-specific apps and extensions. Instead, she is applying readily accessble products in some creative ways.

Visit chrmbook.com/podcast to download a copy of Bethany's accent shortcut cheat-sheet  for Chromebooks!