Google Tools for Teachers (4): Google Sheets to Google Form — Convert Quizzes Instantly with Form Builder

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Google Sheets to Google Form — Convert Quizzes Instantly with Form Builder

Online quizzes (see here for how to build one) are incredibly convenient — auto-graded, scored, and with built-in feedback.
But some teachers aren’t quite used to building them directly in Forms, or find it too time-consuming when there are a lot of questions.
Here’s how to use the Form Builder add-on to build quizzes quickly!

Note: The free version of this add-on allows up to 50 questions per import. If you find it useful after trying it out, there is a paid upgrade for unlimited imports.
I’ll keep looking for a fully free alternative in the meantime orz

Someone in the community has also written their own code to do the conversion — if you’re comfortable with code, check out this post!
Converting a Word quiz to a Google Form — a faster method (by Teacher Lian Yuren)

Form Builder Add-on

Step 01: Install Form Builder in Google Sheets

Open a Google Sheet, then go to Extensions → Add-ons → Get add-ons, and search for Form Builder. Install Form Builder for Sheets.
Click through the permission prompts to accept (for a security discussion, see the end of this post).

Step 02: Open the Form Builder Add-on

After installing, refresh the page, then go to Extensions → Form Builder for Sheets → Start.
A panel will appear on the right side — this is where we’ll work.

Step 03: Build Your Quiz in Google Sheets

For now, close or minimize the add-on panel and focus on building the quiz. A typical quiz includes the following columns:

• Question
• (Description)
• Question type: must be written in English
  • Short answer: TEXT
  • Paragraph: PARAGRAPH
  • Multiple choice: MULTIPLE CHOICE
  • Checkboxes: CHECKBOX
  • Dropdown: DROPDOWN
  • Linear scale: SCALE
  • Multiple choice grid: MULTIPLE CHOICE GRID (formatting can be off — always review in the form afterward)
  • Checkbox grid: CHECKBOX GRID (formatting can be off — always review in the form afterward)
  • Date: DATE
  • Time: TIME
• Required: TRUE for required, FALSE for optional
• Answer choices
• Point value
• Correct answer: for multiple correct answers, separate with a comma ”,”
• (Feedback for correct answer)
• (Feedback for incorrect answer)

Reference the screenshot below:

Step 04: Use Form Builder

Open the Form Builder for Sheets add-on and click Start. A panel will appear on the right — select Quiz.
Here’s what the settings mean:

Based on the spreadsheet we set up earlier:

• Question at column: B
• Type at column: D
• Description at column: C
• Answer starts at column: F
• Answer ends at column: I
• Required at column: E
• Delimiter: check the box, set to ”,” [This is used when a question accepts multiple correct answers — e.g., if both CAT and DOG are correct, separate them with ”,”]
• Correct answer at column: K
• Points at column: J

Once everything is configured, click GET. Scroll down in the panel and you’ll see this:

All your questions have been parsed and listed out! Take a moment to check that the question types look correct.
(You can always edit things after importing, so don’t stress too much.)

Next, you’ll see two buttons: Choose and Create:

• Choose: if you already have a form set up, click this and select which form to import into
• Create: if you’re starting fresh, click this and it will generate a brand-new form for you

Then click Import Selected and let it run.
When it finishes, you’ll see a small icon appear next to the file you selected — click it:

And there’s your newly created form!

Step 05: Review and Verify Settings

Now go through the form and make sure everything is configured the way you want. Refer to this post as a checklist:
Google Tools for Teachers (1): Building a Google Forms Quiz from Scratch — with Auto-grading and Scoring
Once everything looks good, just send it to your students. Done! :D

Note: Security Concerns

Some people have asked whether the permissions Form Builder requests are a security risk.

I can’t say there’s zero risk, since it does request quite a few permissions — but most of them seem necessary. Here’s a quick breakdown:

[For enabling/disabling the form]

• View, edit, create, and delete all your Google Drive files
• View and manage spreadsheets that this application has been installed in
• View and manage your forms in Google Drive

[For running the add-on]

• Connect to an external service
• Display and run third-party web content in prompts and sidebars within Google applications

[For sending students the “form closed” message]

• Send email on your behalf

This add-on is fairly well-known in its category, and realistically any add-on with these features will need these permissions.
That said, the first permission is quite broad. If you’re concerned about security, consider creating the form from a secondary Google account — that way, the impact is minimal.

I hope this one-click Sheets-to-Form walkthrough was helpful!
If you have any questions, or there’s an activity you’d like to learn about, feel free to leave a comment anytime.
For all PowerPoint-based online teaching activities, see:

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Thanks again everyone — wishing you smooth sailing with online teaching!

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