Share Data with Google Docs

An article by Darin Wagner    No Comments

There are a lot of exciting things that can be done with Google Docs, and one of them is the ability to easily enter and share data for analysis and evaluation. Here is one simple example.

Let’s say that we have a science lesson in which we ask students to measure the growth of plants. We first create a form in Google Docs to capture the desired data. Here is a sample form that students could use to enter the plant growth measurements.

Once submitted, the results entered from the online form display in a spreadsheet. Here is sample data submitted by four students.

To help students compare growth rates, we can create a chart in Google Docs from the data. There are several types of charts available (column, bar, pie, line, scatter, area). In this case, a line chart is appropriate.

Now that all the information is stored, we can share the spreadsheet by embedding it in a web page, blog, or wiki. Google Docs also allows for the generation of charts based on the data entered. This, too, can be embedded, separate from the spreadsheet if necessary (as shown in the example below).