Module 2A-4 Activity 7: Spreadsheets as a learning resource

21-01-12

Activity 7 was in two parts. The first part was challenging for me, however the second part was even more so.

Students will benefit from using spreadsheet in class by being able to record information from various sources in different forms, whether in a table, graph or chart.

In the case of statistical or numerical data they may be able to have formulae for certain calulations, for example finding means, averages, standard deviations, etc.

However spreadsheet could be used as a database to store information that may be represented in codes and saved in a workbook that is a codebook, etc.

As a result my impressions of the value of a spreadsheet as an educational tool is that it has alot to offer to students and teachers alike in the development of technical skills and general knowledge on how to represent information.

Part 1 of activity seven gave an example of how a teacher used spreadsheet to bring out the concepts of number and range in mathematics using spreadsheet as a learning tool.

Part 2 of the activity was my turn to do the same. Show how I would use spreadsheet in a big group in a computer room. I was very shaky in producing this activity. However as a summary it is an activity in which the students will have to work independently on their computers to record information from their pilot questionnaires using spreadsheet, focusing on the cell concept of spreadsheet. In addition to that codification and categorization which will later help them to further analyse data.

I think that I need to practice somemore in this area.