Google Forms Getting Better and Better

Great news came through the Google Apps Update Alerts that is specific to Google Forms.  There were three big changes that will make Google Forms even better for the use in the classroom.  Some of the changes do not appear on my Google Apps for Education Account but are already available on my personal account.  Here is a quick preview of what has changed:



Shuffle Questions:  By checking the box "Shuffle Question Order" which appears in the Form Settings, a user will find the questions are put in a different order per user.  According to the Article in the user settings, this will also shuffle the images and videos along with you form.  There is no mention of how things are recorded on the response spreadsheet, but through tests I did determine that the shuffled questions are still recorded in the proper order making grading and scripts still usable.
Allow One Response Per Person:  By checking this box, you would be able to limit people form making multiple responded.  This is great in the classroom where students are voting or should only have one attempt at the form.  This can actually be done without collecting a user name as the form will ask for the user to sign in, but the form does not collect the information only uses it to be sure duplicate responses are not allowed.

Shorter URL's:  When you have finished the form and click "Send Form" at the end of the form a new option will appear as shown.  You can still use the regular URL generated, or you can select for Google to shorten the URL right from this box by clicking the box next to "short URL" and the URL will be changed to a shortened version that you can still copy.  While I think this is a great tool, for younger kids I still prefer a URL shortener that allows you to customize the extension of the URL.

Search it:  Much like you see in Doc and Slides, you will now see a "search the menu" shortcut that will allow you to get to many of the features in Firms without having to find the option in the menus.  If you want to Insert an Image, you can easily use this search area and type"image" or the keystroke Alt+/ and "image" and it will open that feature for you.  The option as shown below appears if you have minimized the menus.