While many educators have jumped on the band wagon and are using Google Docs for word processing one of the hidden gems is the Google Forms feature. Google Forms allows teachers to customize and create engaging surveys that can be completed over the web. Once a survey form is completed the information is aggregated on a Google Spreadsheet for analysis. Google Forms is an ideal tool to engage student and have them collect authentic and meaningful data that they can analyze using the Google Spreadsheet tools. Google Forms is ideal for students who may have difficulty organizing information and graphically displaying it using a pencil and graph paper. Google Forms is an wonderful way to students with multiple means of engagement strategy that would allow them to decide on the topic to survey and they give them the tools to interpret the data.

Teachers may want to pair up Google Forms and a Text to Speech Tool (TTS) to make tests more accessible for students with reading disabilities.  Here is a link to a Blog Post on how to use Google Form to create an accessible test. Google Forms can be used by math teachers who present math word problems that can be read by the computer using a TTS tool. There are many free TTS applications ( ie. NaturalReaders) that can be used for this purpose as well some higher end products to accomplish this task ( Kurzweil 3000, TextHelp Read & Write Gold, WYNN). Click on this link to see an example of a test prepared with Google Forms or look at the Google Form below.

• Teachers can support students who have difficulty reading worksheets by creating the tests with Google Forms and then have the students use a text to speech application to have it read. This will work well with word problems.