Setting Up a Digital Data Collection System

Data collection is the name of the game in Special Education. I don’t know about you, but I always seem to be misplacing paper data sheets. When I heard about the idea of setting up a digital data collection system my interest was piqued. Not only would I be able to ditch all the paper data sheets in my classroom, I’d be able to take my data with me anywhere I went. Because the data is completely digital, I’m able to access it anywhere I’m able to log into Google. That alone sealed the deal for me.

Let me tell you, moving to digital data collection was exactly what I needed to streamline my data analysis. Reviewing data become so much easier since all of my data was in one place and did you know Google makes graphs for you?! Talk about a game changer.

I’m going to walk you through how I set up my Google Data Collection sheets. This is just how I set up my data sheets. It’s not the only way and I encourage you to dive into Google Forms and play around with them. You’ll find a way that works best for you.

What to include on your forms

I like to create a form for each of my students. This allows me to keep data separate without cluttering up my form. You’ll see as I walk through my form setup that I’ll put in some extra work on the front end to make digital data collection easier when it’s time to input that data!

Before I get started, I like to pull up my student’s IEP goals. When I build my form I usually include the following:

• IEP Goals (progress monitoring)
• ABC Data
• Independent Work Station Data

The other things I make sure to include on my forms are places to enter the date. I like to add this information on each goal we’re tracking. This allows me to look at the data points along with the dates. I can see which goals have had a lot of input and which need more input more easily.

Another thing you could add is a place for staff to track who has collected data. This has been helpful when you need to track accountability within your staff. I can go back and see who has been inputing and collecting data pretty quickly. This is an optional step, but can be useful if needed in your program.

Setting up your digital data forms

Now that you have an idea of what data you’re going to be collecting, it’s time to start building some forms. To get started with building digital data collection forms you’re going to need a gmail account. Most schools are using Google and G-Suite, so you may already have one. If you don’t, you can create one for free to get started.

Once you have a gmail account, you’re going to want to head to forms.google.com and create a new form. Google gives you a lot of templates to choose from. I like to pick a blank template to get started.

Once I have a blank form opened, I like to rename the form on the top with my students name. I’ll also change the color of my form. Since my classroom is color coded, my form will match the students assigned color. This just makes it easier to glance at the form and know I’m in the right place.

Customizing your forms

Before you getting started, it’s important to think about what information you want to get out of your form. This will help you choose the right kinds of questions for your forms. For example, if you’re tracking duration, you may want to use a linear form. If you’re tracking accuracy, you may want to use a form where you can mark if responses are correct or incorrect. Another things I’ve realized is that if you want multiple pieces of information, you’re going to want multiple questions in your section. Each piece of information I want to track will need to be a separate question. For example. If I want to track accuracy with letter sounds as well as prompt levels, I’m going to add both of those questions to my form separately, but within the same section.

Creating Data Collection Forms

I am a fan of using sections in my forms. This just provides a cleaner look and simplifies things when inputting data. I’ll create a section for each IEP goal, abc data, and work station data. To do this, I start by asking the question of which IEP goal is being tracked. The person inputting data will be able to select one of these when working in the classroom.

Once this question is completed, I click the “create new section” button. Each of my IEP goals, ABC data, and work station data fields will become a separate section on my form. That will allow us to navigate directly to where we need to input data without having to scroll and look for it on the form.

Setting up data forms for IEP Goals

Like I said earlier, I make a section for each IEP goal for my students. This allows me to see that chunk of data together when it’s time to review data. For this example, I’m going to create data forms for 2 academic skills and 1 behavior skill. You can see that the question types are different for the different goals. When I’m tracking accuracy I like to use a grid. To track duration, I like using a linear scale. This is a great opportunity to play around with the different types of questions and see which work best for you and your classroom.

Letter Identification Goal

In this letter ID goal, my student is working to identify the letters in their name. You can see that I’ve created these as “rows” on my form and added + and – to the columns. When I input data, I’ll be able to select if they student knew the target letter.

I also like to collect information about the prompts needed. Oftentimes my goals will want tasks completed independently. This information is valuable when reporting on goals. After I have all of the information I need, I click on the equal sign next to the form to create a new section for my next goal.

Number Identification Goal

You can see this number identification goal is very similar to the letter identification goal. I’m tracking accuracy with the grid and tracking prompts needed in a separate question. After all of the information has been added to my form, I click to create a new section and enter the third IEP goal.

On Task Behavior Goal

Tracking duration is another common IEP goal I see. I like to use the linear scale for this. Using a linear scale helps me track exactly how long a student is able to remain on task or how many prompts may be needed. You can see, I used the linear scale to show on task duration in minutes for this student. I also use a checkbox to track independence.

Setting up data forms for ABC Data

Once I have created forms for all of my IEP goals, I like to add an ABC form for each student. All of my students will have outlying behavior at some point, so having these ready and accessible works well for my classroom. When creating the form, I always create a date and time field. I like to use a lot of short answer and paragraph input forms to describe the antecedent, behavior, and consequence because ABC data is often narrative. Occasionally I will add a setting question where we can mark the activity that the student was engaged in when the behavior occurred.

Setting up data forms for Work Station Data

The last section I like to include on every data form in my classroom is a work station data form. I use independent work stations in my classroom and collect data on the level of support students need to access their system. On my data form, I created a mini task analysis by using the multiple choice grid question type. I listed the steps student need to complete on the rows and prompt levels in the columns.

When we collect data, our classroom staff will be able to input the date and number of tasks presented. Then we will track the task name or type (matching, addition, etc.) and the prompt levels needed to complete each task in the behavior chain. We can enter data for as many tasks as necessary. After tasks are completed, students will get a chance to engage with a chosen item and we will track the prompt level students need to engage with the item. When the data is entered, we can submit and review the data.

Linking digital data form sections

I showed you how I set up the dropdown menu and sections of my form. The last thing I do before I’m ready to share the form and collect data is linking my dropdown menu to the form sections.

To do this, I navigate back to the top of my form to the dropdown section. I open up the options and click the 3 little dots in the right hand corner.

Opening the options allows me to select that I go to sections based on the answers. When I click this option, there will be a dropdown of choices next to each item in this section.

Now I match the section to the area on the dropdown menu. For example, the letter ID goal will link to the letter ID section.

My completed dropdown menu looks like this:

After you link each data input area with a section, you need to go back to each section and select that after each section the form is submitted. I find this is the best way to get small chunks of data at a time. If you want to submit more data, you will get the option to do so when you submit the form.

Filling out your digital data forms

Once you have everything ready to go, you can share the form or hit the eyeball icon on the top right. This will show you the fillable form. I like to use the link from the eyeball icon in my classroom because we have some G-Suite settings that allow people to change forms. After all the work I just put into my forms, I don’t want anyone messing with them!

Now that I’m able to view my fillable form, I can input data. The first thing I do is choose which data to input from the dropdown menu and hit the “next” button.

Then I input my data. This is just like I would do on my typical paper data sheets, just in a digital format. When all of my data is entered, I hit the submit button and my data is collected!

After submitting the data, I can be finished with my data input or using the form, I can choose to input additional data. To do that, I just click the “submit another response” link and repeat the steps above.

I’ve found that I’ve gotten more data in my classroom this way. My paras aren’t shuffling through papers to find the right data sheet. This quick and easy collection allows them to input more data in a shorter period of time and I’ve seen that I have a lot more information when I’m reporting on goals.

Reviewing data

Once you’ve gotten some data points added to your forms, you’re going to have some data to review. To review your data, you’re going to want to navigate back to the editable form you made. Once you’re there, you’ll see a tab that says “responses” at the top of your form with a number next to it. The number is how many data points have been entered. When you click on the responses tab, you’ll be able to see all of your data.

I love how the forms provide a lot of graphs (I’m a visual learner!). It’s also a possible to dive into individual submissions if I want to look a little deeper.

I know that is SO MUCH information about setting up digital data collection in your classroom, so I created a quick video that walks you through the steps. If you’re super visual like me, it will be a great place to get started.

Have more questions about digital data collection? Drop a comment on this post. I’m coming back with some follow up posts to share more information about Google Forms and how to effectively take data in your classroom.