Computer Tools

Brainstorming Activity Make a list of the things that teachers do.

Teacher Tasks

Categorize Divide your list into those things where technology can be of help and those things where it is probably not of help.

Match with Applications Now, for those tasks where technology can help, identify appropriate applications. Preparing Instructional Materials Word Processor ? ? ? ?

A teacher productivity example of using a spreadsheet Computer Tools A teacher productivity example of using a spreadsheet

Computer Tools Student Uses

Our Example Our in-class project involves the use of two tools that can be used to graphically represent information: Inspiration, a concept mapping tool, and Excel, a spreadsheet with built-in charting/graphing functions.

Task 1 Use Inspiration to create a concept map showing applications of productivity software for teaching and learning.

Task 2 Enter into Excel data concerning the color distribution of your bag of M&Ms. Make a chart showing your data in comparison to the class averages. Using the following student to Internet connected computer ratio data, and graph the trend line in Excel. Use the FORECAST function to predict what the ratio is expected to be in 2006 if the trend continues.

Ratio of Students to Internet Equipped Computers in Schools Trend Data Year Ratio of Students to Internet Equipped Computers in Schools 1998 12.1 1999 9.1 2000 6.6 2001 5.4 2002 4.8 2003 4.4

Task 3 Paste the outputs of the two previous activities* into a Word document, and print it. Turn in the printed document, and email the original Inspiration and Excel documents to the instructor as attachments. * Hint: you’ll need to export the Inspiration document