ISTE Article 5

Beyond Show and Tell: Using Spreadsheets to Solve Problems
Mary Burns

This article is about Excel Spreadsheets as the first wave or generation of Microsoft Office tools. With technology developing as fast as it is today, applications like Excel seem so primative with its limited functions. Educators are often reluctant towards spreadsheets because they think it is only used for math and science. Don't get me wrong, Excel is great for charting and organizing data, but what use is it to a history teacher? This article explains that there are visual, analytical and disciplinary skills associated with using this program. A history class used Excel to chart all 435 members of congress and assign them a district based off the census. I would never have thought of using Excel as a disciplinary tool. From experience, I know it takes a lot of patience to fill in each little box and it really does get tedious and frustrating. Maybe it's just me, but I just don't like spreadsheets. I wish there were an easier way of filling in tables.

Q1) Would I incorporate spreadsheets in my classroom activities?
Like I mentioned before, I don't like spreadsheets. I find them frustrating and the whole process is just agonizing. I agree that they are great for making graphs, but I am very traditional and would rather have my students chart line graphs and the accompanying table by hand.

Q2)What topics would I be able to have them chart if I were to use spread sheets?
If I were to use spreadsheets, I would make them chart things relevant to them. For example, students don't care about the population of fish in a make believe lake. The article mentioned an activity in which students charted and graphed the student population at that school and whether or not the popualtion would eventually be greater than available classroom space. I thought that was really cool.