OER4Schools/ICT/Introduction to spreadsheets
Whole class dialogue (5 min) on ICT use.
To use ICT in an investigative way requires that both teachers and learners are sufficiently familiar with the technology and software, or the teacher spends the whole time troubleshooting problems of using the technology and software instead of addressing the more important enquiry skills and learning objectives. Developing this familiarity through progressively more complex use of ICT needs careful thought. It is important to develop good strategies for using ICT in the classroom. For instance, addressing the whole class to demonstrate features/procedures of using ICT can be most efficient rather than speaking to groups in turn. However, where groups have got specific problems, it can be useful to support that group first, so that they can later help other groups. Take a few minutes to discuss what issues have arisen so far.
Different-tasks group work (15 min) on spreadsheets. In this session, we suggest that you familiarise yourself with the use of the spreadsheet function in OpenOffice and/or with GeoGebra. It is likely that you may need to continue with this as homework.
You may want to limit the time spent on these tasks spent within the workshop. You could interrupt, say after 15 minutes, to discuss the homework. However, if there is time after the workshops, participants could always return to these activities. It is essential to allow time to introduce the homework before the session ends.
1. Basic Calculations
You can print this content on a separate sheet here: OER4Schools/Spreadsheet exercises/1.
As with the other applications, we will return to spreadsheets in a later session. If you find the activities very easy, because you have used spreadsheets before, then help others! As you are doing the exercises yourself, consider for which grade and for which lessons they might be useful. For instance, in the Zambian context, would these exercises be suitable for Grade 5 upwards?
