Google Spreadsheets CEP 810 We all know that Spreadsheets are an invaluable tool for teachers and can be used to many good ends. What people miss out on is that Spreadsheets can be of equal usefulness to students, especially Google Spreadsheets, which teachers can share with their students for a variety of educational purposes. Here’s an example.
Let’s say students are grouped in threes and have to research the population growth over a 10year-period in three different countries and then compare them while citing the reasons behind that growth. Student A finds out how the population growth changed in France and describes possible reasons for such a change. Student B does the same for Germany and Student C for India. Now the three students have to share the information they found in order to complete their assignment. They can do so easily with Google Spreadsheets. They can each place the document they worked on in the Share folder. This way they can interpret the results in all three countries without having to be physically together. They can also have a synchronous chat while viewing their results to discuss any details regarding the assignment, such as who will write the final report, or how they will organize their oral presentation in front of the class. They can add charts and images to the Spreadsheet to enhance its appearance. They can practically manipulate the Spreadsheet in any way they like to obtain the results they want, and they can do that while each in a different place!
Created by: Jean-Claude Aura
Date: April 2009
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