Session 14: Filling Forms Online

At a glance: pupils learn every kind of form field, enter names, dates and phone numbers exactly right, upload a file, check before Submit, save the confirmation, handle errors and time-outs, and stay safe with real forms, then register a fictional pupil for the BIH Hub Holiday Camp with zero errors. · Time: 90 minutes (adjust the timings if your period is shorter) · Workbook pages: 6

Learning outcomes

By the end of the session, pupils can:

Recognise and use the common form fields (text box, drop-down, radio buttons, checkboxes, date picker, file upload, CAPTCHA) and complete every required (*) field.
Enter details accurately and consistently: names exactly as on their documents, dates in the format asked for, phone numbers and email addresses without mistakes, and upload a file in the right format and size.
Check a form before pressing Submit once, save or print the confirmation and reference number, know what to do when a form errors or times out, and stay safe: official websites only, never pay strangers to "help", never share a PIN, and ask a trusted adult.

Before the session

Build the practice form in Google Forms with the Hub's learning account. Title: "BIH Hub Holiday Camp Registration (PRACTICE)". Questions: Surname* (short answer), First name* (short answer), Other names (short answer), Date of birth* (Date), School* (short answer), Class* (drop-down: JHS 1, JHS 2, JHS 3), Camp track* (multiple choice: Coding, Design, Robotics), Activities (checkboxes: Typing contest, Quiz, Drama, Football), Parent/guardian name* (short answer), Guardian's phone* (short answer with Response validation > Regular expression > Matches ^0[0-9]{9}$ and the error text "Enter a 10-digit number starting with 0"), Email (short answer with Response validation > Text > Email address), and "I agree to the camp rules"* (checkboxes, one option).
Optional: add a File upload question for the photo. Google Forms only allows uploads when respondents are signed in to a Google account, so add it only if pupils use the Hub's learning accounts; otherwise skip it (the workbook says "if the form has an upload field").
In Settings > Presentation > Confirmation message, write: "Registration received. Your practice reference is BIH-CAMP-14. Please save or print this page." In the Responses tab, link the form to a Google Sheet so you can check answers quickly.
Make a short link or QR code for the form and write it on the board. Test the form yourself on a pupil PC, including Ctrl + P > Save as PDF on the confirmation page.
Put a practice picture called Practice_Photo_Akosua.jpg on every Desktop (a cartoon avatar or a picture of an object, never a real child's photo), under 1 MB.
Check every PC has a Documents > BIH_TechClub folder (from Session 4); create it if not.
Test the Date question on a pupil PC. If it shows mm/dd/yyyy, set the account or browser language to English (UK), or point it out as the US-vs-Ghana date trap from Page 3.
Load the Form Filler 3D lab on the projector PC and test it.

Running order

Time	Activity	Workbook	What the mentor does
0–10 min	Typing warm-up	–	Pupils open the typing trainer and do today's drill while you write the form link on the board.
10–18 min	The very strict clerk; where you will meet forms	Page 1	Ask who has an older brother or sister who did SHS placement. Walk through the six steps of Figure 14.0.
18–28 min	Form fields and required fields	Page 2	Open your practice form on the projector and point out each field type. Pupils do the "Your turn".
28–38 min	Names, dates, phone numbers, autofill; Spot the Mistakes	Page 3	Write 04/07/2012 on the board: "Which day is it?" Pairs do Spot the Mistakes; check together.
38–48 min	Uploads, Submit, proof, errors, safety	Page 4	Show the phone-scan steps on a phone if you have one. Read the safety box aloud together.
48–56 min	Form Filler 3D lab	Page 5	Demonstrate the first mission, then pairs play and try to catch every mistake before Submit.
56–78 min	Holiday Camp Registration (zero-error challenge)	Page 5	Pupils fill the practice form for Akosua, partner-check, submit once and save the confirmation. Check the response sheet live and award team points for perfect forms.
78–86 min	What would you do? and written review	Page 6	Show of hands for each situation; pupils write the two answers alone.
86–90 min	Self-assessment, sign-off, winners	Page 6	Sign off. Announce the team with the most zero-error forms. Everyone signs out (if they signed in) and closes the browser.

Key ideas and how to explain them

The very strict clerk: a clinic nurse can say "Is that Akosua?"; a computer saves exactly what you type, and it may end up on an admission letter or certificate.
Six steps: get ready, fill in, check, submit once, confirm, keep proof. Most problems come from skipping step 1 (getting documents ready) or step 6 (keeping proof).
Fields: text box (type), drop-down (pick one from a list), radio buttons (one choice), checkboxes (any number, or one "I agree"), date picker (check the year), file upload (format and size), CAPTCHA (proves you are a person; never asks for a password), Submit (once). The red * means required.
Exactly as on documents: same spelling, same order, no nicknames, capital first letters. Link to the "Ghanaian name dilemma" pupils will meet in Session 17.
Dates: in Ghana day first (DD/MM/YYYY). 04/07/2012 is 4 July, but in the US format it is 7 April. Read the hint.
Phone numbers: a Ghana mobile number has 10 digits starting with 0; with +233 the first 0 is dropped. Only a parent's number, with permission.
Uploads: read the format (JPG, PNG, PDF) and the size limit (KB and MB from Session 6). No scanner: Google Drive's Scan button on Android, or Notes > Scan Documents on iPhone. Photo compression is taught properly in Session 28.
Proof: write down the reference, save the page as PDF (Ctrl + P) or take a screenshot (Win + Shift + S), and look for a confirmation email.
When it goes wrong: read red messages; "Session expired" means start again, ready this time; never press Submit repeatedly; avoid the last day before a deadline.
Safety: official website only (from school or an official letter, .gov.gh, padlock); never pay strangers who "guarantee" a place; never share PINs or voucher codes; never use form links from WhatsApp or pop-ups; a trusted adult checks before any real form is submitted.
Team points: one point per pupil whose form has zero errors, one for each mistake a partner catches before Submit, and one for a correctly saved confirmation file.

The 3D lab

Form Filler ("Fill in a practice online application on a 3D laptop. Catch the mistakes before you press Submit, and save your confirmation"). The laptop shows the practice Holiday Camp form for the fictional pupil Akosua Boateng (the Page 5 profile). Yaw started it on a shared computer and left four mistakes, just like Page 3: a first name in small letters (akosua), the date in the wrong order (2012/14/08), a 9-digit phone number (024 000 000) and an email with a space. Pupils type into the real form fields in the side panel and the laptop screen updates. Three missions:

Catch the 4 planted mistakes and fix them before you press Submit.
Fill every * required field from the profile and attach a photo that meets the rules. (Pressing Submit early shows the red "This is a required question" messages; of the three files on the desk only Practice_Photo_Akosua.jpg, 240 KB, is accepted: the 3.2 MB photo is too big and the .docx is the wrong format. "👀 Partner check" lists the fields that still do not match, without giving answers.)
Submit once, write down the reference and save the confirmation as a PDF in your folder. (The reference is BIH-CAMP-14, the same as your Google Form; saving to Downloads is accepted but the lab explains it belongs in Documents > BIH_TechClub.)

On the projector, do the first mission together, reading each field type aloud (text box, drop-down, radio buttons, checkboxes, date). Point out that the form catches the date, phone and email mistakes itself, but not the small-letter name: the strict clerk saves exactly what you type. Pairs then do missions 2 and 3. If the internet is down, the Form Filler lab can replace the Google Form for the Page 5 mission: it uses the same profile and the same steps (fill, partner check, submit once, keep proof).

Common mistakes and quick fixes

Pupils often…	Try this
Type the name in small letters or all capitals	Check the Caps Lock light; "Capital first letter, then small letters."
Put the surname in the first-name box	Point to the label: "Surname = family name." Use the table on Page 3.
Pick the wrong year in the date picker	Type the date in the hinted format, or scroll the year first.
Type a 9-digit phone number	Count the digits aloud in groups: 024 000 0000 = 3 + 3 + 4 = 10.
Type the phone number with spaces and the form says it is wrong	The practice form checks for 10 digits with no spaces: type 0240000000.
Press Submit several times when the page is slow	"Once, then wait." Show that duplicate rows appear in the response sheet.
Close the confirmation page before saving it	Make saving the proof part of the challenge: no saved file, no point.
Cannot find the photo in the upload window	In the window that opens, click Desktop in the left pane, then the file, then Open.

When things go wrong

No internet: use the Form Filler 3D lab from the offline pack for the Page 5 mission, and ask pupils to fill in a paper copy of the form fields (draw the boxes on the board) from the profile card. Partner-check still works on paper.
Not enough PCs: pairs: one fills in while the other reads the profile card aloud field by field; then swap and submit a second response. Each pupil must submit one form.
A PC freezes or the power goes: this is a real-life lesson: the form is lost unless it was submitted. Restart, check the response sheet to see whether it arrived, and fill it again if not ("Session expired" in real life).

Answer key

Your turn (Page 2): region: drop-down; subjects you enjoy: checkboxes; scan of birth certificate: file upload.

Spot the Mistakes (Page 3)

First name yaw: needs a capital letter: Yaw.
Date of birth 2012/31/05: wrong order: it must be DD/MM/YYYY: 31/05/2012.
Parent's phone 024 123 456: only 9 digits; a Ghana mobile number has 10 digits. Check the number with the parent.
Email yaw asante@example.org: no spaces in an email address: for example yaw.asante@example.org.
Class JHS 2: correct, no mistake.

Holiday Camp Registration (Page 5): the response must show exactly: Surname Boateng; First name Akosua; Other names Serwaa; Date of birth 14 August 2012; School Bozoma Model JHS; Class JHS 2; Camp track Coding; Activities Typing contest and Quiz (nothing else ticked); Guardian Mr Kwame Boateng; Phone 0240000000; Email akosua.boateng@example.org; "I agree" ticked; photo attached if the form has an upload field. Reference: BIH-CAMP-14 (or whatever you set). Saved file: Documents > BIH_TechClub > Camp_Confirmation_(name).pdf.

1. What Would You Do? (Page 6)

B: do not pay; show a trusted adult. Nobody can sell a guaranteed placement.
A: start again with everything ready.
C: make a smaller copy, then upload (never use someone else's photo).
A: write the reference down and save or print the page.

2. Written Review Questions

Offices match your form with your birth certificate and school records. If the spelling or order is different, they may think it is a different person, and the wrong name can be printed on admission letters or certificates and be hard to correct.
Any three of: every required (*) field is filled; names match the documents exactly; dates are in the right format and the year is right; phone number and email are correct; the right file is attached in the right format and size; a trusted adult has checked it.

Support and stretch

Needs more support: give them a printed copy of the profile card to hold beside the screen and let them tick each field on it as they fill it in. Partner them with a confident reader for Page 4.
Finished early: fill the form a second time for a profile they invent (fictional!), with one deliberate mistake, and challenge a friend to find it before Submit; or write the safety box from Page 4 as a short poster for their family.

Evidence for sign-off

The pupil's practice response in the sheet has zero errors (or they found and fixed every error with their partner's help before Submit), they show their saved confirmation file in Documents > BIH_TechClub, they get all five Spot the Mistakes rows right, and at least 3 of the 4 "What would you do?" situations right. They can say two safety rules for real forms.

Safety and wellbeing

Pupils use only the fictional profile: never their own name, date of birth, phone number or photo on the practice form, and never a real child's photo as the practice picture. Delete the practice responses after the session. Pupils must never fill in real forms (school placement, scholarships) in the club without a parent, guardian or teacher, and the club does not help with real applications; refer families to their school. Be ready for pupils to mention people who charge money to "help" with placement: be calm and clear that they should not pay strangers, and that the school is the right place to ask. If pupils signed in with Hub learning accounts for an upload, check every pupil signs out before leaving.