EDOL 533: WEEK 2- Spreadsheets

     

     Though I have never actually created spreadsheets for use in the classroom, I have used software that is driven by a spreadsheet based interface such as Infinite campus, etc. I plan to learn to use software such as excel, and to learn to create spreadsheets for classroom management such a database to show who has turned in what assignments, etc.

     I can also see where it would be very effective to have the students learn to use the software to create charts and graphs to help them in areas where it is necessary to measure, track, and evaluate certain processes that are continually changing such as weather systems, the stock market, use of natural resources, etc. Allowing the students to create such charts would give them a "visual" understanding of the system being measured, as opposed to just writing a bunch of written information and data on the whiteboard and hoping that they "get it." The visual would allow the students a point of reference as we discuss as a class, and help them to see the effects of change in the system as the data rises and falls.

     I am excited about the prospect of learning this new tool I have found, and in researching more creative ways for it to be implemented in the classroom. I believe that this is another avenue for learning that the student base will buy into, and that it can be a very effective way of showing them how such software can be learned and used to measure many different types of processes, which allow for the imagination and creativity to be used in the equation.