While searching the internet for spreadsheets and databases in the classroom, I came across this one:
I found it extremely helpful in that it contained links to numerous other sites that provided a lot of useful information and tools, and those led to even more links to other sites! I could have spent all day just clicking from one site to the next. The only downside to the site was that some of the links appeared to be outdated in that the page could not be found. Some of these were easily fixed by just conducting a search and then you were redirected to the correct page.
During my studies this week, I was really surprised at what a young age students were exposed to spreadsheets. As an Accountant, I had always viewed spreadsheets as a means to an end. While mathematics seemed a reasonable concept to use in this arena, it was very insightful to see everything from Art to Science lessons being taught through the use of spreadsheets. Teachers can adapt or modify any subject with the help of a spreadsheet to make it provide useful information and learning opportunities for their students. This gives students who learn through either auditory, visual, or kinesthetic styles a way to be able to see and use the information to gain an understanding of a concrete concept.
Not having worked much with databases in the past, it was insightful to see the abundance of information that can be stored and easily accessed through various queries. It would be immensely time-saving for an educator to use these tools to compile student attendance, grades, contact information, etc. Instead of the traditional way of writing everything down, then having to compute attendance and grade percentages manually, it can be provided at the click of a mouse.
As stated, I have not worked much with databases in the past. The closest thing to a database that I worked with in a regular capacity was the analyzing of prior year worksheet tabs in a spreadsheet when conducting audits. Our firm was small, so almost all compilation work was done through the use of spreadsheets. As such, I do have a lot of experience with spreadsheets in relation to input of data, predictions and forecasts, financial information presentation, analysis of trends, ratio computation and comparisons, charting and graphing, and critical analysis.
I will use my new insights into the educational possibilities of spreadsheets, as well as my past experience, to show students that there is no end to how raw data can be used to provide valuable information for all forms of decision-making. One example of this is to have students perform a task a set number of times while noting the number of correct responses of each student in a spreadsheet. Depending on the grade level, the students could then be taught how to (1) create graphs or charts of the information, (2) create formulas to determine the mean, standard deviation and mode of each set, or (3) use the information to predict outcomes based on how often a task is performed (i.e., how does repitition of a task, or practice, increase scores). Everything from basic visual representation of the data to providing a critical thinking tool for students could be created using the same raw data.
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