Chapter 3: Using Tools: Word Processors, Databases, Spreadsheets, and Data Probes
This chapter covers traditional computer tool - word processing, spreadsheet, and database applications. Tools can increase student productivity, help them become more active learners, and allow them to acquire knowledge and develop skills in unique ways.
This chapter will address the following questions:
- Where are three different levels on which students benefit from applying tool applications in content-area tasks?
- Why are the capabilities of word processing applications especially well sutied to teaching writing using the writing process approach?
- What are some classroom word processing, database, and spreadsheet activities that lead to more active processing of course content?
- How might the use of data loggers contribute to authentic research projects?
- What are the general characteristics of tool activities that increase the probability of meaningful learning.
A tool, by definition, is an object that allows the user to perform tasks with greater efficiency or quality.
Teachers now being employed typically are proficient tool users. However, the proficiency of teachers is not our focus. We are most interested in what students do with technology and it appears new teachers often fail to engage students with the same tools the teachers evidently find so useful. Some of the reasons are understandable - new teachers are stressed by many expectations and the technology experiences of students may not be a top priority. In this chapter, we attempt to demonstrate that tool use is one of easiest ways to integrate technology in classroom experiences.
It appears that educational experiences with computer tools result in students’:
- learning to use the computer tools
- performing certain academic tasks more effectively and efficiently because of the tools
- learning domain skills and content-area knowledge through the application of tools to content-appropriate tasks
I. Word Processing (pp. 81-94)
I.A Level of Use
Word processing is the single most popular use of computer technology in schools. However, the level of use is not as high as you might expect. Ravitz(1999) asked teachers if their students had used word processing to complete at least three lessons during the past year - 69% of elementary school teachers said yes. The level of use varied greatly in middle and secondary classrooms - 60% of English teachers at each level met this criterion while only 15% of math teachers used word processing this frequently.
1.B Word Processing and Writing Quality
The questions of whether or not access to a computer helps students write more effectively or learn to write more effectively are complex.
At a theoretical level, Perkins (1985) proposes that powerful tools may result in learners acquiring greater skill because of “opportunities get taken.” The logic of this hypothesis works like this:
- word processing software reduces the burden of many fundamental writing tasks - editing, rewriting
- writers can take risks and push their skills when revision is easy
- attempting more challenging tasks with greater frequency will result in better writing skills
The research on word processing in the learning process is ambiguous. It appears that students do make more revisions, write longer documents, and make fewer low level errors when working with a word processing program. Some do not regard such indicators as signficant and suggest that skills such as clarity and organization are uneffected.
One counter argument is that writers will bring old habits to the word processor and deep skills are unlikely to develop unless the instructional environment shifts to take advantage of what word processing can offer. In other words, unless students frequently receive feedback and rewrite the potential of word processing may not be realized. More recent studies (e.g., Owston and Wideman, 1997) that have examined the benefits of word processing over longer periods of time are more optimistic.
I.C The Writing Process Approach
Features of word processing are particularly well suited to what is often called the writing process approach. As the phrase suggests, the writing process approach recognizes that writing involves a number of tasks:
- planning
- drafting
- editing/revising
- publishing
The process approach is often implemented within a writing community in which participants write, rewrite, read what others have written, offer feedback and discuss the process of writing. Technology can facilitate many of these activities.
Recent research (Goldberg, Bebell, O'Dwyer, Russell & Seeley, 2003) demonstrates a positive relationship between frequent writing assignments involving editing and improvement.
Focus - Using Inspiration
Focus - CMAP - free concept mapping software
I.D Keyboarding
Opinions of keyboarding instruction differ dramatically and have important implications for how and when computers are used.
Those advocating that students receive keyboarding instruction make two points:
- students must achieve an acceptable level of keyboarding proficiency before writing at the keyboard will be practical
- students spending a lot of time keyboarding without proper instruction will develop bad habits
How much training is necessary? Here is one analysis -
- students at the upper elementary level can write by hand at about 10 words per minute
- to equal this speed at the computer would take 20-30 hours of keyboard training
Should student use of computers be limited until they have met established keyboarding standards? The answer here is based on values.
The keyboarding controversy has existed for some time. The issue receives some attention in the formal literature, but it is also an issue that is raised and discussed in individual schools. The basic question is if and when to formally teach keyboarding. Should all students receive keyboarding instruction before they are expected to write on the computer? This issue is about making decisions within the real limits imposed by the school environment; time and resources have to be allocated to achieve a less than ideal solution. Should productive computer experiences be put on hold until students have reached a certain level of keyboarding proficiency or should we risk students learning bad keyboarding habits so students can have a wider variety of computer experiences at an earlier point? There are also the issues of what level of proficiency is good enough and what training is necessary to help students achieve this level of proficiency.
Examine these issues from a personal perspective. Did you take a typing course? Do you use an unorthodox typing style? What do you think about waiting to do word processing until elementary school students can have formal training in keyboarding?
While many educators may be unfamiliar with spreadsheet applications, the development of spreadsheet software was a factor in the rapid growth of microcomputers. The value of storing and manipulating data (mostly numbers) was recognized in business settings prompting the purchase of hardware and software.
A spreadsheet porogram allows:
- the organization of data
- performing calculations using stored data
- display of numerical data in the form of charts and graphs
- hypothetical manipulation of data sets
A spreadsheet is a grid of columns (designated by letters) and rows (designated by numbers). The intersection of a column and a row is a cell (designated by a letter-number combination - A1). (see example below)
Each cell can hold:
- a data item
- a formula explaining how data are to be manipulated
Spreadsheet programs can be applied in academic settings which require the manipulation of numerical data. The following example from the book demonstrates how an algebraic equation can be solved using a spreadsheet. The point of this illustration was that many students learn how to solve algebraic equations without really understanding what it is they have accomplished. This spreadsheet example demonstrates that the solution represents the value of the "unknown" when the lines representing each side of the equation intersect.
Access to functional on-line spreadsheet applet (learn how a spreadsheet works).
III. Databases (pp. 101-106)
Databases programs are used to organize, store, and search for information. A particular database file consists of multiple records each made up of multiple fields.
Each field holds a user-designated category of information - e.g., last names, phone numbers, pictures of flowers.
A record is a user-defined collection of fields - e.g., items of information about a student
Figure: Template for a Wildflower Database - note the designated fields. See textbook for a completed record.
IV. Data Collection Devices (pp. 106-114)
Here we emphasize the use of tools that allow students to record data related to various characteristics of their physical world. The design, implementation, and presentation of research using these data provide an authentic way to investigate a number of content-area topics and to apply higher-order thinking skills within the context of such investigations.
IV.A Grabbing Data
Date collection devices consist of at least two components. The first is a sensor that is sensitive to a specific characeristic of the physical environment and the other is an interface that allows the user to tell the sensor what to do, stores the data, and transfers data to a computer or calculator for analysis.
There are at least three types of devices:
- Microcomputer-based laboratory (MBL) - different sensors can be linked to the same interface which is manipulated by programs running on a computer
- Calculator-based laboratory (CBL) - data from sensors are fed into a calculator. Data stored by the calculator can sometimes be uploaded to a computer.
- Data logger - freestanding device containing a sensory, battery, and interface. Data loggers can be connected to a computer for programming and to upload data.
The HOBO light intensity data logger.
Data collection is only one component of an authentic project. The other activities that provide the context for data collection are as important in encouraging meaningful learning and the development of higher-order thinking.
- Establishing or activating background knowledge relevant to the research topic is important.
- Thinking about the research methodology is an important opportunity for developing higher-order thinking. Most methods have weaknesses and decisions have to be made to develop the strongest test of the hypothesis (critical thinking).
- Scientists typically manipulate data to create meaning. Such processes may involve statistical procedures or creating a visual system of representation such as a chart or graph.
- The research process is not complete until scientists communicate what they have discovered. Communication requires interpretation and students learn what they know and perhaps do not understand as they attempt to explain the research process and the meaning of the data they have collected.
Testing water quality with probes (a classroom example)