d.
Developing Your Own Knowledge of the Resources
Having
made decisions about using some of the resources and opportunities
in tandem, it is important for the teacher in the case study to
get to know the resources well enough to feel confident about
using them in the classroom. It is also important that the students
feel comfortable about using the resources.
The
use of spreadsheets to test students numeracy skills will also
aide the development of their IT capability. Students at Level
2 will already have completed some introductory work in the use
of spreadsheets at Level 1, and they would be able to carry out
simple calculations and produce graphs from tables of data.
The
IT department would like students to learn the correct use of
more advanced formulae and recognises that the Maths department
would be the best place for this to work. The teacher recognises
that in order to use formulae, students would need to be confident
first with algebra.
The
teacher believes that if students got used to seeing formulae
and creating formulae on the computer, it would increase their
understanding of written formulae in the classroom. When using
the computer, they could try out their formulae and check whether
they did what was intended, rather than wait for the teacher to
check whether they got the answer correct. Download the Excel
spreadsheet below and attempt to solve the problems:
How
do I download Word documents and other files?
Before
attempting the exercises the students need to be comfortable with
algebraic conventions such as BODMAS (Brackets Of Divide Multiplication
Addition Subtraction) and the operators used in spreadsheets.
Students need to be aware of the symbol ^ (to the power of) and
understand the notations such as 3^2 as the square of 3 and 4^(1/2)
as the square root of 4.
The
use of cell references when constructing formulae allows the teacher
to develop the students' competence by gradually adding to the
difficulty of the shapes that are used. In the above example the
teacher could have altered the dimensions of the rectangle to
test students understanding and their ability to construct the
formula. In the second example the teacher could have developed
students' competence by making the task gradually more difficult.
Answer the following questions:
- Are
you able to use the drawing tools in a spreadsheet to construct
the shapes?
- Are
you able to use logical equations =if() to create the necessary
templates?
- Do
you know how to protect your files against accidental deletion
or alteration?
- Do
you know how to insert these files into your own worksheets
or other resources?
When
you have written some templates of your own, you should discuss
with your mentor what to do with the resource in the classroom.
This can be done in a mentor visit, over the telephone or by e-mail,
and should serve merely to satisfy you that you are on the right
track with your use of materials.
 e.
Planning the Work of Learners
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