The Value of Add-ons and Systems

Back in June when Google launched the new quizzes feature in Google Forms I saw plenty of people Tweeting things about the evils of multiple choice. Many of those same people accused Google and bloggers like me of perpetuating the evil practice of using multiple choice. The trouble with Twitter is that people often read just a headline and respond to it. Or they respond out of context without looking at the full picture. (That's one of the reasons why I don't often get involved in Twitter chats, but that's a topic for another blog post).

Here's where tools like Google Forms' quiz mode, Add-ons like Flubaroo, and other simple quiz systems like Formative have value for me and many other educators. A short multiple choice quiz that gives students instant or near instant feedback can be one part of giving you and your students an opportunity to see what they know about a topic before embarking on a new unit of study. Those same little quizzes can be used by students as a review tool to help identify what they need to spend more time reviewing. By using the instant feedback mechanisms in tools like Google Forms' quiz mode, Flubaroo, and Formative students don't need to wait for me to mark all of their responses and return them. And by having the grading done nearly instantaneously, I have more time to sit with students in one-on-one or small group settings. That meeting time is also used more effectively because the students and I already have a list of the area(s) in which we need to focus.

On a related note, if you're wondering how to use Google Forms' quiz mode, I made a video about it which you can find on my YouTube channel or watch as embedded below.

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