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A Tech Teacher on a Mission

Automating Edcamp with Google Add-ons, Part 3: Autocrat

5/25/2015

23 Comments

 
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This is the final part to a three part post (and the coolest of them all, IMHO) detailing how we used Google Add-ons to make organizing easier for Edcamp35. The first post outlined how to use FormMule for confirmation emails and email updates and the second post gave an overview for using DocAppender to filter specific information from those who were willing to facilitate a session.

Add-on #3: Autocrat

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Basic Add-On Description: Autocrat takes the data from a Google Sheet and renders it into an easier-to-read Google Doc or .pdf format. Additionally, you have the ability to customize the file name, type, destination folder in Drive, and you can even customize a mail merge with the documents attached! Again, this add-on for Sheets is written by the still-ever-amazing-and-awesome Andrew Stillman. (Fangirl, much? Yes. Just, yes.)


Add-on’s Function for EdCamp35: This particular workflow is my favourite use of edcamp add-on awesomeness, mainly because it allows for collaboration of your edcamp attendees. The purpose of this add-on is to automatically create collaborative session documents as the session board schedule is being finalized. Each document would be automatically created and filtered into a publicly shared folder (all documents inside would automatically inherit the folder’s sharing permissions). This way, all attendees can use the folder link to locate their session and the corresponding collaborative Google Doc to take notes on. Even better, you have a window into sessions that you were unable to attend, and to share with others later on, too!

Basic How-To:

Step 1: Create a template for what you would like your session documents would look like. This year’s version looked the one below (and you can snag your own copy on Drive if you click on the image):
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Step 2: Create a publicly editable folder in Drive where you’d like to keep the collaborative edcamp Docs. You can also create sub-folders inside of it for each session time slot that would run within your edcamp. If you make a folder for each session, it makes for easier for attendees to find the session title that they may be looking for.
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Step 3: In a different folder (for us, it was our Edcamp35 organizing folder) create a new Google Form with questions just like the ones pictured below. Add any other fields you think you might need… remember to collect everything you'll require to fill in your template doc’s fields. Here is a link to our form or take a look by clicking below.

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Step 4: Backing up now.... on our template document, you may have noticed these strange tags: <<Room Number>>, <<Session Name>>, etc. These are called merge tags. Wherever you add them in your template, Autocrat allow you to merge specific responses from the form into each doc that is created. For example, if I input “Genius Hour” into the form under Session Title, then I have made it so “Genius Hour” will now replace <<Session Name>> on the template document.

Now, it’s your turn! Go back to your template document and add merge tags that will correspond the data you input from your form. It’s nice to have the form and the template doc side by side (pictured below) to make it easier to correspond with one another before launching the add-on.
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Step 5: On the Sheet that receives the form responses, I installed Autocrat in the “Add-ons” menu. Click on the “Launch” button in the menu and a sidebar will pop up for you to begin the use of the add-on. When the sidebar pops up, click "New Merge Job".
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Note: This is the sheet that accepted our responses for the Edcamp35 2015. Your sheet should be empty - no data!
Step 6: A pop-up window will appear in your Sheet to set up the Autocrat add-on. Start by adding your template doc from Drive or by choosing a template in the document list below.
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Step 7: Ensure that your merge tags correspond with the appropriate fields from your document. Some of your merge tags will automatically choose the corresponding entry from the form if they have the exact same name. Others, you will have to select from a drop-down menu.
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Step 8: The merge settings step has a lot of little sub-steps. First, what will your merged documents be named? You can customize this using the naming tags listed on the next step of the add-on. All documents were titled a very specific way so that they would be easy to for attendees to see and for organizers to sort (see image below). Our nomenclature for merged docs was $sessionTitle - $Rm - $sessionNumber. So, for example, a session document would come out titled as the following:

Genius Hour for Beginners - Rm208 - 3

And it would also have matching information inside of the doc where the <<merge tags>> sit.

Why did we do this? The name of the sessions is the most important aspect for attendees, so that came first. The room number is secondary. The session number was for the organizers so that we put each document in the correct collaborative docs subfolder. Remember, we had Edcamp35 Session Docs named as a parent folder and subfolders for session 1, 2, or 3. The session number in the name makes it so we don’t have to open the documents one by one to see where they should live, or continually reference the session board to figure it out.
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Step 9: Next, select “Email and/or share merged documents” and input your own email address (you need one; I just delete these notifications in my email later). I also ensure that it's shared as a publicly editable Google Doc, but… Google Nerd Note Reminder (as if all of this wasn’t enough already): If the destination folder is publicly editable, so will all the Docs be that are created within it. Secondary note: if you’re using Autocrat for a different purpose, you can also customize the email subject, address, and message, too!
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Step 10: Click to expand the Advanced Options menu. This is where you can ensure that the Docs being created would land in your appropriate parent folder. Make sure that “Run autoCrat when new forms are submitted” is checked off before pressing “Save".
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Step 11: Test out the magic by filling out your form. Check the merge folder you chose to see if the document merged. You should also see the evidence of a merge on the response spreadsheet - clickable links and a merge confirmation field.
Step 12: Delete any test documents you created and double check that your parent folder is shared to be publicly editable. Share the folder link on the morning of edcamp or before so that people can access it. For Edcamp35, we created shortened URLs for this as well as QR codes for participants to scan around the building to get connected with our collaborative documents.
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Step 13: We repeatedly filled out the form with session titles and rooms on the day of the edcamp in a frenzy as the session board was being built. After the documents were merged into the parent folder, we had to drag and drop each session into its corresponding session subfolder. Note that this is best done in “List View” in Drive, not "Grid View”.
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Each of these documents would get dragged and dropped into the appropriate session folder.
If you’re curious what the final structure might look like, check out our final merged products from Edcamp35 here. Some documents got edited by attendees during the conversations, others didn’t. But what we created was a shareable source of evidence of professional conversations that others could learn from. The coolest part? I learned from sessions I didn’t even attend, and so did many others! And it didn't really take that long to set up, either.

I really hope you enjoyed learning about Google Add-ons for Automating Edcamp from this series of blog posts. Thank you for planning amazing educational events (or being curious about it!) and being a part of growing professional practice through sharing and collaboration!
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23 Comments

Automating EdCamp with Google Add-ons, Part 2: DocAppender

5/15/2015

1 Comment

 
This is the second part to a three-part post detailing how we used Google Add-ons to make organizing easier for Edcamp35. To see the last post on using FormMule for confirmation emails and email updates, please click here.

Add-on #2: DocAppender

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*Note: Designing your form well is really important when using the FormMule and DocAppender add-ons. While DocAppender is less likely to be used in the case of edcamp, it can be helpful!*

Basic Add-On Description:
DocAppender takes the data from multiple choice questions and populates corresponding information you specify into a Google Doc of your choosing.   This add-on for Google Forms is also written by the ever-amazing Andrew Stillman (like all the ones I use!).

An example question in a Google Form might be: Do you want cake? Answer options would include “Yes” or “No”. Google Docs named “Yes” and “No” would be used to store information as it was collected. You could choose to include all the names of people who wanted cake as well as the cake flavours they’d like, giving you a nice slick list after all of the forms are filled out. The document literally gets appended every time someone completes the form, thus the name “DocAppender”.

Add-on’s Function for EdCamp35: To collect data on who would be willing to facilitate sessions and what kinds of sessions they would be willing to facilitate. In edcamps past, we have lacked facilitators in several of our rooms, and new edcampers didn’t know where to start. With our DocAppender list of facilitators, we were able to identify which sessions didn’t have facilitators and we tapped those folks on the shoulder to step up and get those conversations started. This also could be used to track food allergies or requirements if you’re providing lunch, but we used food trucks instead.

Basic How-To:

Step 1: Find and install the DocAppender Add-on in your Google Form.
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Step 2: Create your edcamp registration process through a Google Form - you’ll have to coincide this step with the original set-up of the Google Form from my first post.

To do this, we created a mandatory question asking, “Would you like to facilitate a session?”. Upon signing up, participants had to choose either
  • “Yes, I would be willing to moderate a session.” OR
  • “No, I’d rather not.”
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Step 3: Create or choose a Google Drive folder that will hold your documents to be appended. After you select your folder, click the "Next" button on your DocAppender sidebar.
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Step 4: Indicate which multiple choice question you would like to create documents for. Google Docs will be automatically populated for you within the folder you chose when you click the “Save” button. These Docs will be named exactly as the responses to the question you’d like to collect data on. Our answers were: “Yes, I would be willing to moderate a session.” or “No, I’d rather not.”, so our Google Docs were called the same thing. Click "Next" when you're done.
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Step 5: Choose all of the data on your form you’d like appended to each document and how you would like it to appear. Every time a response is submitted, that information would get populated into each document. We only really needed data from one of the responses, but you have to collect both anyways. Click "Save Changes" to complete the set-up.
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Step 6: Fill out your form to do a test run of whether or not it worked (remember which response you select!). Check by opening the Google Doc with the response you entered. It should have appended the data you indicated in the set-up!
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For our use with Edcamp35, when a response was submitted, anyone who said “Yes” to facilitating a session would automatically have their name, email addresses, and suggested topics saved in a table on the “Yes” doc. Our organizing team could then contact specific attendees regarding anticipated sessions that might be harder to find facilitators for. 

After testing and tinkering to make sure it works, your form link should now be fully ready to send out to attendees! If you are looking for more geeky Google tricks for edcamp organizing, stay tuned on my blog for Part Three which will feature the use of the Autocrat Add-on for EdCamp35! 
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1 Comment

Automating EdCamp with Google Add-Ons, Part 1: FormMule

4/29/2015

8 Comments

 
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Earlier this month, our organizing team put on the 2nd annual EdCamp35 event held at R.E. Mountain Secondary in Langley, BC. The event seemed to be a success, from the wonderful feedback from participants as well as the excited buzz that continued into the following weeks.

While many people pitch in to make edcamp possible, it should be known that there are a number of technology tools that make our jobs easier, too! I used 3 Google Add-Ons to automate our edcamp planning this year. 


This blog post will be the first of a three-part series that will outline how to use Google Add-Ons for edcamp organization ease! I will be covering our use of FormMule, DocAppender, and Autocrat for EdCamp35. 

Add-on #1: FormMule

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*Note: The first two add-ons that I will cover rely on one another, but FormMule is more likely to be used than DocAppender so I’m covering it first.*

Basic Add-On Description: FormMule is an add-on for Google Sheets written by the amazing Andrew Stillman. It is used to send specific mail merges through the creation of customized message templates. FormMule allows the inclusion of merge tags - if a participant inputs their first name into the form, their first name will automatically appear where the <<First Name>> tag is located within the email template. Finally, it can be set up so that as soon as new data is added to a Google Form, the destination Sheet will automatically send the email to the person who filled out the form.


Add-on’s Function for EdCamp35: To send automatic registration confirmation emails to attendees as soon as they register. This kept us from having to deal with writing dozens of emails saying - “Yes, you’re registered, don’t worry!” It also gave participants the preliminary information they needed regarding details for the day of edcamp.

Basic How-To:

Step 1: Create your edcamp registration process through a Google Form

You can take a look at EdCamp35’s copy here and use it as a springboard for creating your own. Make sure you are collecting all of the information you’ll need from attendees, particularly full names and an email address. As soon as your Form is created, a Sheet will be automatically created and will be the destination for your registrants’ data.

Fill out your own form right away to test it out. This is an extremely an important step for later. If you want to fill it out more than once with your own information, or have your co-organizers do the same, that’s fine.


Step 2: Write the template email that you would like attendees to receive

Provide your registered edcampers with some peace of mind that they have, indeed, successfully registered for your event. You don’t have to get fancy with this; including only necessary information in this initial email is okay. Please note that if you want to get fancy and include hyperlinks and images, they will have to be written in HTML in FormMule. Here is a copy of our registration confirmation template if you want to use it as a model for your own.


Step 3: Set up the FormMule add-on

The set-up for FormMule is pretty easy and has a few steps of its own. Ensure that you set this up on the destination spreadsheet for your registration form.

First, go to Add-ons. If you don’t see the FormMule, add-on, click “Get add-ons” and search for it. Once you’ve installed it, click on FormMule, then Open.
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A window to run the FormMule add-on will pop up and you will have to go through the steps to set it up, but it’s pretty straight forward. All of the steps as we used them are outlined in the following images.

Window 1:
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Click "Next: Templates and send conditions" which will take you to Window 2:
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After this step, click “save template settings”, then “Next: Edit templates”. Window 3 should appear, where you can edit your email template:
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Finally, click on “Preview and send all” to take a look at your handiwork. If you’re happy with the preview you see, press "send all". If there is something missing or doesn’t look right, use the back button to review the steps to fix it.

Once you press “send”, you and any other organizers that filled out the form earlier should receive an email confirming your registration for edcamp within a few minutes. If you don’t receive an email, troubleshoot for the following:

  • be sure to check that the “trigger on form submit” toggle is on (first step of FormMule set-up)
  • that there isn’t a typo in the emails that were submitted to the form
  • that the <<Email Address>> merge tag is in the “To” space of the email template

Finally, you’ll want to test out your live form with another email address. Return to your registration form and fill it out one more time (with a different email if you want to REALLY make sure). If you’ve received the registration confirmation to that address, I’d say you found success with Google Add-ons for Edcamp… Part one. 


Now you could send your form link out to attendees, but maybe you are looking for more geeky Google tricks for edcamp organizing? Stay tuned on my blog for Part Two which will feature the use of the DocAppender Add-on for EdCamp35.
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    Author

    Victoria Olson
    A curious and passionate educator in Langley, BC

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