Thursday, March 28, 2013

It's Fair Season!

Would you like to win a Flip video camera? What about an iPad? You could be the lucky one chosen because it's once again time for the Joplin Schools Annual Technology Fair!  All you have to do is sign up a few students from your class to showcase their awesome work on April 22nd from 5-7pm at the JHS 11/12 campus.

Because last year's changes were very effective, we are continuing with the categories of Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, and Creativity.  There will be elementary and secondary winners in each, and this year, we will be instituting a traveling trophy for the winners in each category.  There will also be random drawings for an iPad 1 and a Flip video camera.

Hurry! You'll need to get your entry submitted before April 15th to be included in the brochure!

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Just Google, Making Your Life a Little Easier....

One thing I love about Google Docs are the Scripts that can be installed and used with some of your already existing forms.  AutoCrat is one of my favorites.  With it, you can mail merge a form with a document.  This is what it means:
1. Create a Google form to collect whatever data you want.  Here's an example of one of mine:



2. Create a Google doc for the form data.  Where the data should be entered into the form, place double brackets. It looks like this:



3. Go back to the form, select "Tools" from the menu bar, and search scripts.

4. Search for the AutoCrat script and click "Install."  This will take a few minutes.  You'll be asked to Authorize it, and then the spreadsheet will open a new sheet in the document.  Simply tab over to Sheet1.

5. Click on the new autoCrat tab at the top and click "Run Initial Configuration."


6. Select the name of the document you created in step 2, and when prompted, just follow the bouncing ball (clicking save/submit) until you get to step 4.  Match the document tags to the sheet header titles in the form, as shown:


7. On the next screen, choose "Save merged file to Docs."  Choose the folder you want to save it to and choose your naming convention. Choose the type of file you want to save (google doc or .pdf), and check "Send merged files via email."  Your form should have had an area for users to input email.  Copy and paste the field setting for the email input into the next field.


8. Click Save settings and allow the documents to merge.  You'll notice a new column that appears in the spreadsheet.  This is your verification that the form has sent.  You'll also have a copy of the sent form in your Google Docs, should you need it.  Your new document will have all the information your users provided in the form of a letter.

The possibilities of this tool are endless! And there you go. That's just Google.  Making your life a little easier.