Spreadsheets

I work with Excel on a daily basis in the admissions office here at Johnson. Computing the total amount of CIY students we have coming as guest of the university or laying out key check out or even just compiling a list of addresses of the different places the travel teams are traveling this summer, there are so many possibilities.

Google spreadsheets is very similar. You can make tables and graphs from the data in spreadsheets just as in excel. The nicest feature of the Google spreadsheet is once again it offers collaboration. I know that this tool would be the most helpful and easiest part for me to master. I continually correct data someone else enters in our office and the collaborative tool of Google spreadsheet would easily allow me to correct the errors in real time and would also provide double checking on my own work from my supervisor.

The most difficult feature for me would have to be the freezing rows and merging of cells. This is difficult to me on a typical excel spreadsheet. Therefore, Google spreadsheets being a new tool at my fingertips it will take time for me to become familiar enough with the program to really feel like I can use it with full potential.

The lesson plan that I examined more closely and really felt it utilized the Google spreadsheet to the best of its abilities was the high school science lesson on the Elodea sprigs. The students were broken up into groupings of three. Each team member then individually performed an experiment using the Elodea. They all did the experiment at differing positions in the room which alters the results of the experiment. The use of the spreadsheet to collaboratively keep track of each experiments data then allowed the group to compare the differences between the three sets of data through not just the use of the data sheet but also converting the data into a graph. This spreadsheet could also be accessed at home to allow a chat feature that lets the students discuss their conclusions. How amazing! Truly, if I were to ever become a science or math teacher this tool would be in my toolbox.

Overall, I found Google spreadsheets to be just another fantastic unknown tool that we have learned about so far this week. I can't wait to tell my supervisor about the possibility of using this in drafting of events and data at work. Maybe someday I will be able to find a creative use of it in a language arts classroom as well.