This week I will deep dive a little on the google forms.  I briefly discussed this topic a few post ago when discussing the tools in the G Suite for Education.  I wanted to talk about the various things you can do with google forms as I just benefited from it last week.

One of my responsibilities in a group project was to create an online assessment.  I used google forms to create this online assessment and it allows you to create your own questions with your own answers.  You can upload graphics/pictures to improve the quality of your questions.  Customize your design. You can create multiple choice, true or false, or matching questions.  This was my first time using this tool and it was not difficult to use, and it is free.    

Some additional ideas on how to use or what to use google forms for:

1.      Surveys

2.      Quizzes

3.      Q&A

4.      Invitations

5.      Contact Information

6.      RSVPs

7.      Sign up rosters

8.      Event registration

9.      Applications

10.  Order form

11.  Feedback evaluation

12.  Work request

13.  Customer Feedback

14.  Course Evaluation

Google Form Link:
https://www.google.com/forms/about/

Billy

This week I will discuss CS First, which is a computer science program to teach kids (ages 9-14) how to code.  Coding is just another way of providing instructions for computers.  CS First offers many instructional videos to assist in teaching kids’ computer science which include curriculum like art, game design, music, storytelling, creating characters, logos, and interactive presentations, and so many others.  CS First is available for anyone and everyone can teach.  No experience required, its free, and includes fun hands on learning.  

To use CS First, just visit the CS First website (listed below) and the Scratch website (listed below).  Scratch is the platform that allows the learner to follow along by practicing the activities.  Tried it myself, quite fun, easy, and interesting.  Just select the activity or topic and follow along.

This type of teaching is quite common, my son is in the computer science program at his elementary school and attends on Tuesdays and Thursday where he learns about coding.  The only requirements to use CS First is a computer and the internet.

I also included an example (tutorials) on how to use CS First for teaching students which is listed below.

CS First Website:
https://csfirst.withgoogle.com/en/home?_ga=2.122768331.1703182709.1572881691-1576734497.1567429265

Scratch Website:
https://scratch.mit.edu/

Example on how to use CS First for teaching students (Walk through):
https://csfirst.withgoogle.com/c/cs-first/en/cs-first-tutorials/getting-started-with-cs-first/introduction.html

Looking forward to everyone’s comments and experiences with CS First and Computer Science.

Billy

The tools offered by google for teaching and learning that we have discussed the past couple of months are google classroom, google Expedition, google suite for education, and google Chromebook.  This week we will focus our discussion on the accessibility for google tools for teaching and learning.  

Accessibility for students with disabilities is critical for any website, product, or service as a good percentage of Americans have a disability.  According to an article by Oblinger and Ruby, 20 percent of the U.S. population have some sort of disability.  Google for Education focuses on creating their products with accessibility to allow every learner to take advantage of these products and services that they offer.

Below is a link for the G Suite user guide to accessibility.  Each of the products offered under the G Suite for Education has a guide on how to use their products to make accessibility and usability better and easier.  For example, the guides offer how to use screen readers for each product, how-to setup keyboard shortcuts for each product, changing text, images, and video sizes, and many other services.   
https://www.google.com/accessibility/products-features/

Below is an official blog about how Google is using AI to improve products for people with impaired speech:

https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/accessibility/

Below is the link to the main website for Google Accessibility if you would like to learn more.

https://www.google.com/accessibility/

Looking forward to your opinions and input on Google Accessibility.

Billy