Friday, June 17, 2011

iData with the iPad---a tutorial for therapists and educators

Data collection isn't the most fun topic.  Before iPads, my folders for kids were full of sticky notes, therapy data forms, attendance forms, and other assorted loose items.  At progress report time, I would try to study my hand-written data for trends, and come up with some percentages to show growth, or lack of growth.  For children with multiple goals, or those with collaborative goals, consistent data collection was even more challenging!

I have recently updated this to reflect the changes that Google has made in making forms (6/15/13).

Enter Google Forms and Spreadsheets!!!  This blog is a brief tutorial on how to create a Google form for your data collection, which then saves your information into a spreadsheet.  Once I create my form, I can save the form icon to the iPad screen making recordkeeping easier than using pencils and graph paper!

Step 1---go to Google Drive  (you must have a Gmail account).  Under 'create new', select 'form'.  It will take you to a new form which you will name in the next step.



Step 2    In the top line, give your form a title.   If you are collecting data for an IEP, you can name it after the IEP.  If it's some other purpose, call it something else!! Then pick a theme (for IEP stuff, I usually go with the plain form. It's up to you, though.)  Then click OK.


Step 3  Now you are ready for the fun part.  You get to create questions for your form. These questions, in my case, are taken directly from specific IEPs or treatment plans.  You will be creating one form per client
Some questions lend themselves to different types of responses.  If you need the date of a session, or the number of minutes seen recorded, this might work with a 'text' response.  If you are recording whether a child met or didn't meet an objective, multiple choice (yes/no), might work better. If you want to record an anecdotal response, select 'paragraph text'.
    For my first question---I'm recording attendance.   I want to make sure I record if the student was present, and if there was no speech that day, why.  I'm using the 'multiple choice' question type since there is only one answer that will work.  Once finished with the question and answer possibilities, I click 'done'.




After clicking 'done' this is what question one looks like on the form:


Step 4:  You are now ready for making Question 2.  You can add a question by clicking button below your first question, or edit an existing question by clicking the pencil to the right of your question.  You can see that I already added a second question using the 'checkboxes' type of question which can allow more than one response.

add second question


click pencil to edit; click add item to add more questions



You can add as many questions as you want.  One SLP I know collaborates with a teacher and puts the entire repertoire of the objectives from a child's IEP on the form.  It makes for a long form, so if you want a shorter one, limit yourself to one section (e.g. communication objectives).

Step 5  Once the form is complete, send it to yourself and anyone else who will be completing it (e.g. teacher).









Your information collected by this form will go into a spreadsheet in Google drive.  This is what a sample spreadsheet looks like.

With  one click, a summary of all of your information over time can be generated with graphs and lists.  Here is a sample.  
Google forms and documents have really helped my record keeping for my kids. Here is a blog I posted about using Forms and Docs to take attendance.  I hope Google forms help you too, and you can use it in your work!
 

36 comments:

  1. Thanks for doing this, Ruth! I will definitely try to set some of these up for next year.

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  2. Great post, thanks for sharing it. I will share this with my team in the fall to try to streamline data. Love you blog and the ideas your share. Happy 4th.

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  3. Really, really want to do this. I'm a little confused about how you list all the names on your caseload. Is each name entered as a separate Title , or just how do you do that? kmeixner@3lks.net

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  4. What is the "one click" that you click on to get the information into the graph form? I got up to that point and can't for the life of me figure it out....

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  5. I knew as soon as I asked you I would figure it out! Form- show summary of responses. Thanks for this great idea!

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  6. How does this work with groups of kids? I think it will only do one form at a time. Will I always fetch the form from the email or can I access it another way?

    Sounds like it could be very cool... just haven't figured out all the nuances yet. Anyone have any "been there done that" suggestions?

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  7. Great idea, Ruth! Thanks so much for sharing these tutorials. I just referenced your blog on mine, www.speakingofspeech.blog.com, as I know others will want to give this a try. Have a great summer!

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    1. Thank you Pat, I read your blog all the time---it's wonderful. Thank you for including me.

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  8. Holy Wow! This blows my mind. I have got to start doing this. So great!

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  9. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  10. Thank you SO much for this post. You have changed my life!!

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    1. Thank you for your nice words. Let me know if you have questions.

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  11. I am so excited at the prospect of using GoogleDocs for therapy data, but I'm having a hard time finding a meaningful way to set up the form (and maybe Google doesn't currently have a setting that would be conducive to this). I would love to be able to enter the student's score on a task (say, 11/13) and then at the end of the quarter have the data on the spreadsheet with averages. I tried entering the information in a text box, but then it treats is as text rather than numbers. Do you have any tips?? Thank you for this tutorial!!

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    1. Hi---so you are saying that a fraction like 6/10 doesn't translate into a number that Google can read. That's what I've been seeing--my spreadsheet acts like I'm putting in a date. Let me ask around to the tech person. I'm sure that there is a formula that will interpret your number as a percentage---I just don't know it this minute. I'll get back to this. Thanks for the question

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    2. Yep, that's the problem I'm having. I think at one point I had figured out how to enter the percentage, but I'd really rather keep it as a fraction...I'd hate to have it average 50% on a task if we really only did 2 items and the student missed one. Thank you so much!

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    3. Hi Jennifer, I've been consulting with my husband, the spreadsheet king. He says but the total correct responses in one column (one question) and the total number of stimulus questions in the next column (the next question). There are then formulas to use to get the percent (which would be the next column) for each (although that would not be done with a google form.) Do you have anyone where you work who knows spreadsheets?

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  12. Oh! I hadn't thought of putting them in different cells/columns...I think this solves it! Thanks so much!! :)

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  13. Ruth, I'm not sure where to ask this question on your BLOG so I'm adding it here.

    Your materials are amazing. I have shared them with teachers, students, other SLP's, and parents. Over the years I have made many materials and would like to share them. So with that in mind ......

    How do I add my files to the BLOG?

    Thanks,
    Mitch

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  14. Sorry, let me clarify, I am just starting a BLOG, How do I add boardmaker files to the BLOG? Thanks Mitch

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    1. I upload files to my Google Drive, set the 'sharing' to 'anyone with a link', and then cut and paste the link code to the text in your blog. You need gmail to do this.

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  15. I have completed one form for a student's IEP data collection and sent it to myself (no one will be adding info to it). I have created a folder in my email for this particular student's school (XXXXX Academy). When I go to do my daily documentation, do I have to go to my email and access the student's form from there? Also: How do I change the pie chart into a bar graph? How do I get the students name to appear on the printed document/spreadsheet? Thanks for the tutorial! Melissa

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  16. Do you have to create a new form everyday for the student? So I create the document, and then I want to use it to update weekly,not quite sure how to really use this effectively. Our district has a form that we all use, I already do it electronically but most do it by hand. It's pretty simple, a place to document type of service and an open space to write data and information. More explanation on how to use it from day to day/week to week, would be helpful. Thanks.

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  17. Thank you so much for posting this information! I am going to try it. Heather

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  18. Ruth, do you have any kick-back from your legal department in the public school regarding student information being saved in a cloud environment? How do you protect their information? My co-worker and I are considering using this as a way keep all student data in one place that we can both access.

    Thanks for your detailed tutorials, by the way.

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    1. Our entire school system keeps lots of student data in Google. That being said, I don't use students' last names or other confidential information such as medicaid numbers, birthdates, etc in my Google notes. I use this merely for therapy notes which I later print, sign, and put into the 'real' confidential locked file. You and your co-worker can do this without using last names easily. Use student initials if you feel you have to.

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    2. Thank you! That is exactly what we were thinking! Much appreciated!

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  19. Can you provide the link to your blog post for how to update the forms on the iPad? Thanks so much!

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  20. Good Morning,
    How do I get it to graph using bar graphs and not circle graphs?
    Jane

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  21. Excellent ideas. Mind=blown. I love the simplicity.

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  22. Hi. I created the questions, which were my kiddos goals, picked the answer format and shared with myself. Answered in my email and submit them opened in gdrive spreadsheet. Do I have to always go to my email each therapy session? And, how to I get back to document the next session on the same kiddo with the same goals? I got lost after that. I really think I like this I'm just getting a little confused. Thanks so much.

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    1. To answer the first question---the Google form and spreadsheet is part of Google Drive, so your google account most likely needs to be open. (on my laptop, I seem to ALWAYS have my google/gmail open. It's my nerdy nature.) I have been using my laptop for documentation, so I find the appropriate kid's spreadsheet in Google drive, then look under 'form' at the top, and then click on 'go to live form'. I fill out the form from there. If you use an ipad for documentation, there's a couple of steps you can take to put the 'form icon' on the iPad home screen.

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  23. Hey Ruth! I just found you BLOG today. I teach in Atlanta. It just so happens that I'm presenting this tomorrow at a special education conference. I'm online right now just making sure everything is in order. You stood out to me when I saw Chapel Hill. That's my hometown. Went to Glenwood Elementary. Thanks!

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    1. Small world! My kids went to Glenwood for a while! One had Ms. Newton. Do you remember her?

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  24. Is there an easy way to copy/paste data to be included in end of the month Medicaid billing? I'd like to be able to do this instead of re-writing everything. Any help would be appreciated!

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  25. Ruth,
    Thank you for these tutorials. have you every used/made a form to auto populate into your schedule? I want to be able to email teachers and have them fill in a time that works then have that time auto fill into a schedule spreadsheet so I do not have to:) any ideas.

    Thank you
    Kristie Jones SLP

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    1. I'm sure there is a way to do this, but I have never needed to. I'm blessed with a smaller caseload than typical for an SLP, and our administration has put dedicated intervention times into every grade level schedule. Lucky me!

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