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Forms in PowerPoint by @VictoriaTheTech

My mind was absolutely blown when I learned that PowerPoint has a feature to incorporate Microsoft Forms directly into the presentation, meaning that I can collect feedback directly in the PowerPoint!
Forms in PowerPoint by @VictoriaTheTech

Guest Post by Victoria Thompson

It’s no secret that I love Microsoft Forms. As a former math educator and a current instructional coach, I incorporate Forms into my work on an almost daily basis. I love the math notation that Forms has—including writing equations—and the versatility of the platform. Since I started using Forms heavily about three years ago, my instruction and my practice has changed for the better.

Using Forms With Student ISTE Standards

I work in a district that is 100% remote and will likely be that way for the foreseeable future. Because of this, we are trying to find ways to incorporate the student ISTE—International Society for Technology in Education—standards into our daily practice. If you’re not familiar with ISTE, I highly recommend that you check the organization and its mission statement out. On top of the resources it provides to bring students and classrooms into the 21st century it places a heavy emphasis on digital citizenship and ensuring that students are using technology properly.

As my school site works on identifying concrete ways to incorporate ISTE student standards alongside academic content, I’ve been asked to hold mini-lessons and sessions on ISTE activities that can be done with students. And, as someone who just recently presented at ISTE 2020 on using technology to create inclusive math classrooms, I happily obliged!

I don’t hold these sessions with students though, rather, I model them with teachers so that they can use these methods with their students in our digital learning platform. Typically, whenever I hold a lesson or session with teachers, I like to get some sort of feedback afterwards. While I’ve used a handful of different platforms to do this in the past, my mind was absolutely blown when I learned that PowerPoint has a feature to incorporate Microsoft Forms directly into the presentation, meaning that I can collect feedback directly in the PowerPoint!

Using Forms to Collect Feedback in the PowerPoint

Immediately I knew that this could be revolutionary for not only professional development sessions, but also for just general feedback at the end of lessons. How many times have you had to move to another platform at the end of a lesson to collect student feedback? If you’re using PowerPoint, now the vehicle for feedback is embedded in the slide deck!

Just follow these steps:

  1. Open your PowerPoint presentation and choose the slide in which you want to insert a form. I usually do this at the end of the professional developments/sessions that I hold. If you’re teaching a class and are interested in incorporating feedback at the end, you might also want to take this approach as well. 
  2. On the Insert tab, select Forms. This will open Forms for you.
  3. A Forms panel will open on the right of your PowerPoint presentation, and this is where it gets fun! Under My Forms, click “New Form” or “New Quiz” to begin creating a form or quiz directly into the PowerPoint. (Side note: THERE ARE QUIZZES TOO?! I’m definitely going to have to play around with this so I can see all of the features!)

What a neat, innovative way to incorporate Forms directly into a presentation! When I first learned about this tool I was jumping for joy. I can’t wait to try it out with my teachers and I also can’t wait to update y’all once I do!

About The Author

Victoria Thompson is a STEM Integration Transformation Coach at Technology Access Foundation–a nonprofit leader redefining STEM education in public schools–and a consultant for Ignite EdTech. She has been in education for five years and began her journey teaching fifth and sixth grade math and science in Summerville, SC. After completing her masters degree in curriculum and instruction she moved to the Seattle, WA area in 2018, where her career has pivoted to focusing on STEM integration in schools, K-12 mathematics instruction with research on decolonizing mathematics curriculum for teachers and learners, creating inclusive math environments, and using technology to bridge equity gaps in math education.

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