Spreadsheet+Software

= Spreadsheet Software = Doyle Philpot media type="custom" key="18700246" align="right"

Description and Uses of Technology
Spreadsheets are data collection tools made up of rows and columns that can be manipulated to contain a wide variety of data on virtually any subject. Spreadsheet software has a variety of uses in the classroom. "Very young students can begin to use Students can begin to use technology to organize and analyze their data in sophisticated ways"(Siegel, 2005, p. 50). Teachers and students can use spreadsheets to organize and track data collected for a variety of projects including research and various Mathematical calculations. Spreadsheet software has evolved over the past few years and has spread from the office to the home and school. Teachers can take advantage of the software in order to catalog classroom books, grades, attendance charts and a variety of other important information. Spreadsheets can be used by students for activities such as keeping track of homework and important information. Students use a variety of technologies in their everyday lives. Spreadsheets are a wonderful tool that can provide real life experiences with software that will be used in real life situations Spires et. al, 2008.

Important Findings on Student Outcomes
Spreadsheet software has been around for quite a long while. It is especially useful in the classroom when used as a teaching tool. Using spreadsheets can help "Increase the sophistication of student projects" (Siegel, 2005, p. 50). Students are able to add value to their projects through demonstrating their understanding and synthesis of the information through the use of spreadsheets. Information can be displayed for the readers attention by inserting a spreadsheet into the project. Information is at the students fingers tips and can be sorted and analyzed easily. "Charts created in spreadsheets can be copied and pasted into other programs, such as word processing and other presentation programs, where students are documenting their projects" (Siegel, 2005, p.51)

"MATLAB is just one type of spreadsheet software that can be purchased as a student version, this software provides add-ins that can be added to enhance Microsoft Excel" (Hamilton, 2004, p. 1). MATLAB has specific ‘toolboxes’ devoted to programs in statistics, mathematics, genetics, and various engineering areas among many more. A professor teaching an introductory statistics class can easily run into the need for a more advanced function than in provided in Excel".(Hamilton, 2004, p.2) MATLAB would be a useful tool in the high school economics class as well as in the college setting.

Microsoft excel comes standard with the Microsoft Office suite. Excel is used in many schools across the U.S. for a wide variety of applications. "Microsoft Excel has a user friendly Graphical User Interface (GUI), so that its beginner user can easily master its usage within a few hours" (Singh & Siddiqui, 2009, p. 407) Students can organize and display data collected through research, create presentations, charts, and other graphical displays in order to enrich school projects. Students want to use the programs in the classroom that will take them into their chosen career fields. Students see the importance of technology use in the professional world around them (Spires, et al.2008).

Teachers are currently being trained to use technology in the classroom in many colleges around the world. "Many teacher education programs require students to take a foundational level course in technology education" (Summerville & Reid-Griffin, 2008). We must be able and ready to use the technologies available to us in order to demonstrate the use of spreadsheets not only in science but also in math, language and all of the content areas. Spreadsheet software is versatile and can be adapted to meet many needs.

Emerging Trends and Open Issues
==== Spreadsheet software is becoming more widely used in the classroom today. "In physics students learn hoe to employ software systems such as Excel 2007/2003 to simulate the basic concept of projectile motion under the action of constant gravitational acceleration with no air resistance" (Siddiqui and Singh, 2009, p. 416). Spreadsheet software is gaining ground in the classroom arena, we see these items being used in more and more content areas as time progresses. ==== ====Dogan Ibraham points to the expense of physical laboratory kits stating that often they are too expensive for many schools to purchase whereas the spreadsheet software can generally be purchased through educational license for a much cheaper cost. This can allow for use on multiple computers by multiple users. Simulations do not require maintenance to be used whereas physical kits must be have a certain amount of upkeep in order to maintain them.==== ====According to Jones and Bissell spreadsheets began as a tool used for financial planning and analysis. The further addition of mathematical functions has brought the use of spreadsheet software into the classroom on a larger scale. Historically these have been used in simple solving of equations.==== "One important disadvantage of simulation compared to real physical is that the simulation can sometimes hide the reality from the users..." (Ibrahim, 2009). Data can be manipulated through the use of the spreadsheet software in order to meet the needs of the research it is being used for. This is an issue that teachers need to be aware of when using such software in the classroom.