Google Sheets

In this Class' GAIN Section we were asked to use Google Sheets and to compare it to Microsoft Excel, as well as creating a sample Grade book. I have used Excel before, but not to the extent that I have used other Microsoft applications, I have mainly used it for creating lists and organizing them. this is the first time I have used one of these apps in a more full capacity.

I enjoyed the technical capabilities of sheets, it created a space that allows for several possibilities in the school environment to streamline processes, such as grading. I liked the different options available for formatting numbers throughout the document. There are several useful ways of connecting data throughout the document so that it is easy to read and it could automatically update itself throughout the year if it was setup at the beginning of the semester. I think that the easiest part of the program that I found was telling it what information to display, simply by putting an equals sign you are prompted with different options as to what you are able to put. I do not think that there is anything that is unclear to me, all of the features that I used seemed straightforward. I have by no means used all of the features available in sheets, but the ones I have used seem clear.

Through our textbook I was able to see various uses that Sheets has within the classroom. two of which stood out to me: Collecting Data, and creating images based off of the data within a spreadsheet. For the collection of data there are educational standards ranging from lower years to higher years that require the ability to collect, interpret and display data. Sheets has the functionality to do all three of these easily, almost any student would be able to learn these functions quickly. The second important feature I saw was the ability to create different types of charts and graphs depending on the data in a sheet. This is an invaluable tool especially on designing maths lessons. A teacher could use this tool to create and manipulate graphs and charts to the exact specifications that they desire to go hand in hand with the lessons that they are teaching. and of course as with all google apps Sheets has the benefits of cloud storage and accessibility that google designed for them.