To many, going paperless seems like a daunting task. Most teachers have gotten into a comfort zone. They know how things run, they know how long tasks take, they have it down. However, as we progress as educators, we must change with the times. Kids are growing up in a digital age, and it only seems logical that we would teach them the way they are growing up.

The age old pen and paper tests can often be digitized. Let’s face it, many of the tests teachers give are multiple choice. Google Forms is an excellent way to digitally deliver the same test. It saves paper, ink, and grading time. Yes, grading time. One of the chief concerns I hear from teachers is they don’t wish to go paperless because they don’t know how to test and grade tests on a computer. This is where the Google Sheets add-on Flubaroo comes in.

If you are unsure of how to install an add-on, click HERE for an example of how to install a different add-on. The process is the same, just search for Flubaroo instead of Essay Metrics. There are add-ons and extensions available for many Google products, be sure to explore them. Many increase efficiency and productivity significantly.

Once you get the Flubaroo add-on installed, it will appear in the add-ons menu, as shown below. Make sure you have the spreadsheet opened that holds the responses from your Google Form.

Click Add-ons then Flubaroo, then Grade Assignment. This will open the screen below.

Select your options, such as how you want questions graded, if at all. You will need to make sure you have identified one question that is used as an identifier for the student. Note, this question, once identified as the student id, will not actually generate a score.

Your next step is to tell Flubaroo what the correct answers are. Simply tell it which response line is the key, and it will use that line to grade the rest of the responses.

Flubaroo will take a moment to do the grading, and bless you with the following screen.

You then have a spreadsheet that has scores in it. You also have data that shows how the group performed on each question, and it highlights the lowest performing question for you.

Flubaroo is a life saver when it comes to grading assignments. Especially those really long ones. I’m not a huge fan of multiple choice tests, but agree that they do have their place from time to time.

Google Apps for Education, and Google Apps in general have tons of available add ons. Take the time to look through them, see what is out there that may suit your needs. I have a blog post HERE about installing extensions in Chrome. Remember, the processes are virtually identical for each one, experiment, find something new… then, most importantly, share what you found.