Using Microsoft Forms in your in-person or online classes

One tool I make use of quite a bit in my in-person and synchronous classes is the cell phone. I realize some instructors would rather have students stay off their phones, but I talk with my students about being present in the class which means they leave the class (virtually) when they are on social media or chatting on their phones with friends. Instead, I have students participate in activities using online tools such as Microsoft Forms. This post isn’t meant to be a step-by-step instructional guide to using Forms. Instead, I want to share some ways in which I use forms in my classes and how you might make it work for you as well.

Ranking Question

This is one of my favourite uses for forms in my classes. I have used it my ELLA, Student Success, and TESL courses. Here are some examples of how I put it to use:

1. In my lowest-level ELLA writing course, we are working on paragraph structure. I took an eight-sentence paragraph that had a topic sentence, supporting sentences with transitional keywords, and a concluding statement and I mixed up the sentence order. Students in groups in class worked together on their phones, tablets, or computers to put the paragraph into a logical order. I only needed one response per group, so I had them designate a leader to post the responses on behalf of the team. Once each group has submitted their response, I then review it together as a class. Forms provides a graph showing the order of the sentences based on a calculated total of all responses. This shows the average response for the entire class. Later, I can review each group to see which group had difficulty with the exercise. Here is an example you can try for yourself along with the graph I would show to the class:
   • Form
   • Graph
2. In my TESL course, I had them work through the order of a sample lesson plan that had been mixed up. In this situation, there were multiple ways of doing things, but there were three main blocks that needed to go in a certain order. The items within those blocks could be ordered differently. When we reviewed together, I wanted to show the three main blocks and how they were important. Again, we did this on phones, tablets, or computers in pairs or groups and only one response needed per group.
3. In my Student Success course, I had students put things in the order they found easiest to most difficult for them. The topics were based on problems students encounter during their first year in college. They discussed these as a group, but responded individually on their phones, tablets, or computers. We reviewed the average responses as a class.

Paperless Practice Activities

I use the text question option a lot in my forms. This allows students to share their ideas or answers in various ways. I’ve used it with APA reference writing practice, discussion style questions, and problem-solving questions. It is often done in pairs or groups with a review at the end with the whole class. It is one of the simplest ways of reducing paper use in my courses.

QR Codes

While you can share a form with students with a link they can click on, Microsoft Forms also creates a QR code for each form that you can share with students and they can scan with their phones or tablets. There are two ways I use QR codes in my classes.

1. I will often download the QR code for the form and paste it as a full-screen image in my slides. Students can then scan it on their phones or tables and start working on it in class. Having students working pairs or groups helps with situations where some students might not have a phone or tablet. Only one person per pair or group needs to scan the QR code and they submit the responses on behalf of the group. I use this in almost all of my classes. Students are so used to doing this since it was a common practice during the pandemic to access information.
2. I have also created a scavenger hunt using QR codes. I create a form for each task I want them to perform in the scavenger hunt and then I download and print the QR code. I paste those QR codes around the campus in areas where I think they should get to know such as Student Services, the fitness centre, and The Learning Centre. I try to hide the QR codes a little bit to make it a bit more challenging and to make sure other people don’t find them and remove them. When students scan the QR code, they get a question about the area and they need to submit their answer. They get a customized thank you message that gives them the next clue. They do this in pairs and when everyone is done, we review the answers as a class and I sometimes give prizes for the most correct answers. I don’t give prizes for the fastest completed since some students might have mobility issues and take longer to complete. I also want them to work through the answers instead of just getting it done. This activity takes some time to set up, but my students have mentioned how much fun it is and I know they at least know what some of the key areas of the college are and where they are located. It is really good for newer students to the college. I also provide students with link to the campus guide they can use to help them locate the places based on the clues.

Student-Created Forms

Since each student has access to Office 365, they also have access to Microsoft Forms. That means they can create forms as part of their work for the class. They can also invite others to work on the form with them by getting the Share to Collaborate link and sharing that with their partner(s). In one of my classes, students were assigned a study skill to research such as exam preparation, notetaking, and time management. As part of the assignment, they needed to do their own research study by creating a form they would use to gather data from students across Douglas College. They would then take that data and create an infographic they would share with their classmates and even the college (we put them up in the hallway). They needed to create both open and closed questions which could then be used in different ways in the report and the infographic.

Rating Question

You can add a rating question to your form to check in with students on how things are going. This is helpful as an exit ticket before them leave for the day to see how confident they are about what they learned that day. It can also be used as a way of midterm check-in to find out what has been working and what hasn’t in the course so far.