Tech Geek

I've been fascinated by Google Forms ever since it was announced as a part of what was at the time called Google Docs and Spreadsheets, also known as Google Dachshund! One of my cousins, who is getting married this summer, is using Forms to help with her wedding planning. But I've never actually used them myself. So I have invited Justin Snider to help all of us learn a bit about how they work. Thanks Justin!

P.S. - It was good to see some of you at the Extravaganza! I was the one running around setting up projectors for the workshops, in case you saw me and didn't know who that was! - Pastor Andy Arnold, the ELCA Youth Ministry Network Tech Geek

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In this stressed economy and working with a tight church budget our large church staff was told by our council to "reduce printing and publication costs." I immediately thought of finding ways to convert some printed publications into digital publications. One big one for me was our registration for our annual high school winter retreat with another church. I would mail a packet to all 50 of my high school youth that included a flyer, a registration sheet, the rental forms, and the tubing forms which created a heavy, costly, tree-killing, paper mailing. This year I have a created an online registration, using Google Forms, that I posted on our youth site. Google Forms is a part of Google Docs, the free online application suite from Google. Youth and volunteers can go online and register, and using options within the form, this creates a neat spreadsheet with all their data including name, cell number, rental information, if they needs lessons, etc. I then share this spreadsheet with the other church, so we both have one spreadsheet with all our vital data for when we call the ski resort to make our lift ticket, rental, and lesson reservations.

So here are some helpful steps in creating your Google Form:

1. Go to docs.google.com and sign in. If you have never used Google Docs, you may need to create a free account. You do not need a Gmail account.
2. Getting started. When you are logged in, click the New tab on the left side on the page and click Form in the drop-down menu. (You may also create another type Google Doc from this menu.)
3. Creating the input form. Here is where you give a name and description to your form, then create all the questions. For each question, you can give it a title, help text, then what type of question you want (text, paragraph text, multiple choices, checkboxes, choose from a list, and scale 1-?), and finally an option to make that question a required question in your form.
4. Tweeking the questions. To add a new question click the Add Question button at the top left of the page. To change the order of the question simply drag the question box and drop it in the order you like. To edit a question click the pencil on the top right of each question box. To delete a question click the trash can.
5. Getting it out there. Once you have your form how you like it, you can either email the form to the group or individuals you like, or, as I like to do, embed the form into your website or blog. This is done by clicking More Actions, then Embed, copying the address it gives you, and pasting into a web design software or some blogging sites.
6. Viewing your results. You can choose to have the Google Forms email you when someone completes a form. Or, docs.google.com will have a list of your forms. Click on one and it will show your spreadsheet with the results, which you can edit, export to to Excel, a PDF, a website, or other programs (under the Share menu). You can also share with others or view a summary of the answers that magically appear in pie charts (for multiple choices answers) and graphs.

For an example of a form that you can fill out click here.
For the results of this example form click here. 

Enjoy using a new tech tool in your ministry!
Justin Snider
YouthDirector - at - GloriaDeiOlympia - dot - org
www.GloriaDeiYouth.org