Short answer, you can’t easily do it, but it can be done.    There are numerous tools available and we looked at a few, but DocHub was a logical choice as in most cases when a student went to open a PDF on a Chromebook at our school, they would have an option to open with DocHub.  DocHub is a Google Chrome Browser extension that allows teachers to modify PDF files by adding data entry fields.  Teachers, in turn, can deploy the PDF file to students who can type text into data fields and click check boxes/radio buttons.  That’s it in a nutshell.

A language arts co-teaching team tackled the challenge by having students use DocHub.  When we broke down the steps to make this all happen from start to finish on a student perspective it totaled 13 steps.  We assumed worse case scenario in the event someone didn’t have DocHub installed already (about 3 steps).  Nevertheless, quite a lengthy list of steps.  It doesn’t include the steps that a teacher needs to take to prepare a PDF document to be “edited.”

Bottom line is that if you have access to a large number of pdf files as part of your curriculum and are looking for a way to allow students to input answers, DocHub is legitimate option but you have to commit to it.  By training your students to open a pdf with dochub, entering their responses and submitting properly you potentially can expand the scope of the activities and materials in your classroom.

For more information on how DocHub works you can visit their website.  Feel free to contact me to learn more about how to train students to use DocHub.  I can tell you the kids picked up quick on it.  Our only issue was technical with the DocHub extension causing Chrome to crash.  After a restart or two on the Chromebooks, we were back in action.