The era of the digital classroom has officially arrived. Desktop computers, laptops, and tablets are now ubiquitous in modern educational settings. Comprehensive learning tools and web-based assistants like Blackboard and Canvas enhance the experience and allow you to connect with your students and track their performance more conveniently than ever before.
Online learning is projected to reach a market size of nearly $375 billion by 2026, with an annual growth rate of 14.6%. Fortunately, teachers don’t need to learn complex coding or use expensive technology to take advantage of these tools. It has never been easier to incorporate online learning solutions into your classroom, from interactive studies to game-based learning, and much more.
One way to keep your students engaged and make your job as an educator easier is by using the accessible and convenient Google Workspace products. With Google Forms, for example, you can create exams or quizzes that simplify grading. To make tracking and grading your tests as seamless as possible, you need to learn how to create an answer key in Google Forms.
Create Your Answer Key
Before you can understand how to create an answer key in Google Forms, you need to determine the type of questions you want to ask in your quiz. You have several options to choose from:
- Short answer
- Multiple choice
- Checkboxes
- Dropdown
- Multiple choice grid (respondents select one answer from rows and columns)
- Checkbox grid (respondents check one or more answers from rows and columns)
Most of them are self-explanatory and familiar to teachers. For long text responses, an answer key won’t be useful as you’ll have to evaluate each response individually. In that case, you can review and grade them one by one.
- Open Google Forms and create a new form. To save time, you can also choose the blank questionnaire template.
- Click on the Settings tab in your new form. Enable the Quiz mode switch. You can now create your answer key by building your quiz.
- Go back to the Questions tab to add your quiz questions.
- As you add questions, use the Answer key option at the bottom left of the question area to enter the correct answer. Specify the number of points awarded for the question at the top right of the question area.
- Click on Add answer feedback to share a message, links, or even YouTube videos to provide more context for the correct and incorrect answers.
This option allows students to learn from their mistakes or gain additional information about the correct answers.
Grading with the Answer Key
Now that you know how to create an answer key in Google Forms, grading your quizzes is automatic as you can see the results immediately. Then, it’s easy to send the results directly to your students.
- After students have completed the quiz, go back to the form and select the Responses tab.
- Click on the Summary tab to find the responses of all your students under Scores. If you previously chose not to show the grades to students until you’ve had a chance to review them (in the Settings tab), you can now send them the results via email by clicking on Publish grades.
Building and Grading Quizzes with Jotform
Even when you know how to create an answer key in Google Forms, you may find that its features are not as comprehensive as you hoped. If you’re looking for a quiz platform or form builder that offers more customization options, Jotform is the ideal solution for you.
With Jotform, you can easily create quizzes and tests using over 100 customizable quiz templates to choose from. Add custom images and fonts, or if you want a more interactive quiz, explore the use of conditional logic to hide or reveal questions based on a student’s previous responses. With Jotform’s Quiz tool, you can not only create your own tests but also create an answer key to automatically grade them, collect results, and export them.
For large classes and schools, teachers can customize forms with their branding and enjoy unlimited submissions storage through Jotform’s paid plans. The best part is that Jotform is affordable for budget-conscious schools. Jotform offers a special 50% educational discount to teachers and school administrators on the monthly cost of its Bronze, Silver, and Gold plans, making it a top choice for those seeking better form-building options at an affordable price.
With Jotform, it’s easier than ever to review and respond to your students’ performance. When you have a clear view of the class’s progress, you can better plan the trajectory of your teaching program. You can then give each student the attention they deserve and provide them with the opportunity to succeed.
Don’t forget to check out Crawlan.com for more tips and tricks on online form creation and digital teaching.
