By Matt Townsley, CIO Advisor
Creating surveys using Google Forms is a fairly straightforward task. In my school district, we often use Google Forms rather than other survey tools, because all students in grades 4-12 and staff members already have Google Apps for Education accounts. It doesn’t require setting up another account!
Feedback Loops
After a professional learning experience, the staff member or team of teachers who planned the activities will send out a survey to assess the perceived effectiveness of the content, delivery as well as get a feel for the next needed steps. Using consistent lykert scale statements has been effective, because it helps compare one professional learning experience to others.
Explicitly asking staff “What next steps could be taken…?” assists leadership teams charged with planning the next professional learning connect one day or afternoon to the next.
Asking staff members to complete the survey within two or three days of their experience has been effective to capture emotions, questions and thoughtful suggestions in close to real-time. Finally, we’ve found that sending a summary of the results to staff after the data has been collected creates a sense of transparency that leads to increased trust between those crafting the learning experience and those taking part in it.
The feedback loop is complete when the lead professional developer kicks off the next day or afternoon by saying, “Your feedback influenced today’s agenda. Let me explain how…”
Whether it’s Google Forms or Survey Monkey, what’s holding your district back from using feedback loops to create connections from one professional learning experience to the next?
Matt Townsley is director of instruction and technology at the Solon Community School District in eastern Iowa.
