I don't like spreadsheets. I admit it. I find them intimidating. I use them when I have to for budgeting and finances, but I don't like them. (I know that I said that before!) I do like how they make some of my work easier, but I've never really learned how to use them. I know how to plug numbers in to pre-formatted cells like I do for my budget, but I don't really know all that spreadsheets can do. I have learned how to format and create functions, but I don't use them enough to remember from one time to the next, so I find that every time I use a spreadsheet, I have to learn all over again. This is frustrating. This being said, I was pleasantly surprised by this weeks assignments. It never would have occurred to me to use a spreadsheet for a recipe, but it was slick. The lesson that I found was interesting too. Although the basic use for the spreadsheet was fairly predictable, I liked the thinking that was incorporated into the process. The students were really being asked to evaluate and analyze the information that they had inputted. Then they had to speculate about how the numbers would change if they changed certain statistics, etc. and how they would be able to use this information.
I'm not sure that I will ever come to love spreadsheets, but maybe if I continue to work at it, I can learn to peacefully coexist and accept that spreadsheets might have more to offer than I had once believed.
I agree with your comments completely! This past week's work with them has gotten me feeling a bit more comfortable with them, but I would really need to feel as though there was a benefit to using it for a particular task. I would be great if they came up with a "kid's version" of spreadsheets so that I could use them more comfortably with my students because I don't like to think that my personal feelings dictate what I teach them.
ReplyDeleteDeb,
ReplyDeleteNice post.
I am glad to hear you had a positive experience with the spreadsheets this week. Their potential is immense, but I think you have to start using them for things you find beneficial (just like any program). Getting comfortable with formulas takes some time, but once you start playing you will find many uses. Start with the simple ones: =Cell1+Cell2, =AVERAGE(Cell1:Cell5), etc.
I also haven't used spreadsheets much, but I can see how they can be useful- especially for group projects. I think the hard part is finding a use for them that naturally integrates into a lesson. The important thing is to not just technology for technology sake, and I think it will take much time and thought before I can really integrate them as well.
ReplyDeleteDeb,
ReplyDeleteEven though I am on the other side of the spectrum (I love spreadsheets) I can identify with your feelings towards them. Like Dave said, start simple by finding some easy real-life application that students can do. It took me a couple years before I started playing with more complex formulas and features and that was only because I had a use for them. Spreadsheets are great because you can decide to use them for something as complex as creating a gradebook or something as simple as creating a class list when you want everything to line up more easily without dealing with a word processor's "quirkiness"(is that a word? ha).