The Frenzied SLPs are back and we are coming together to talk about Data Collection. Whether you are an analytical lover of data or you would actually rather crawl into a hole at the sheer mention of the word data, I guarantee you will benefit from reading the posts in this linky party.
I know I am looking forward to reading all the link ups as I really believe that learning more efficient ways of collecting data can only make our job as SLPs more effective. Although my way of collecting data has only slightly evolved over the past 15 years, I am about to take the plunge for a major change this year.
With the push to go entirely digital and my feet longing to drag the entire way, I have attempted to take the bull by the horns and conquer the task. The reason it remains an attempt lies in the pure fact that the obstacles in my way are more challenging than I anticipated.
Although I am not giving up the fight just yet, I thought I should have on hand some of my trusty paper copies to get my year started as I muddle through the trenches.
*These forms have been updated and are currently included in my Essential Workload Forms product.
Back to the digital age. Our district went to Google Apps for Education accounts this year. It's taken the word "cloud" to a whole different meaning. Some days I just want it to remain the white and fluffy object in the sky. Other days my wheels are spinning with the possibilities. Which brings me to my grand idea to not only learn how to create a Google Form, but create a form to collect real time data during group therapy. What is a form you ask? A form is a way to collect information in an easy, streamlined way (or so they say).
While I am not yet ready to offer a tutorial on creating a data collection form or share my own creation just yet, I am
My time has run out and I have to be okay without a perfect form, so therefore I have been non-stop entering student information into my best attempt. I originally set out to create a group data collection form, but also wanted individual goals listed on the form so that I did not have to continue to refer to my paper copies. I settled for individual forms, which I hope to have sorted by group and opened on my iPad or laptop during each therapy session. Since the time required to create these initial individual forms is intense and any changes that I wish to tweak create a domino effect causing every form to be started again, I am now overlooking the flaws in my design, although reluctantly.
As I click on each student, here is a peak at what my form will look like when I enter the data.
I did a trial run last spring with my kindergarten groups. I entered the session date, type, start time, and activity plan in the form at the beginning of the session. Since my materials are already prepped, I could easily scan the objective in which I planned to take data. I kept a pad of sticky notes and a pencil nearby for tallying. At the end of a set of trials I quickly tapped on the percentage accuracy and continued on with my therapy targets and additional students.
I know this little scenario I just described seems like a perfect therapy world and last time I checked this isn't always or even usually the case. Before you skip to the next link up without giving this any further thought, I want to share the end result. Say you've diligently entered in your digital data during or sometime after your therapy sessions. It's time for interim reports, quarterly reports, or billing progress reports (11 times a year for this girl).
The option to have your responses in spreadsheet form as well as in a summary of responses is the end result I envision when I finally reach the peak of this mountain I am climbing. (Please disregard my commentary on my objective above and my responses below. I was getting a bit ornery.)
You might also want to check out this post.
