Student Achievement Spreadsheets

Nancy and I created a spreadsheet that looks at Student data. The purpose of the activity was to convert scores for students so that they could be labeled in four different categories: above grade level, at grade level, below grade level (bubble) or significantly below grade level.

We worked on the spreadsheet for quite some time, adding lookup tables, IF statements, charts and hyperlinks. The spreadsheet works like a computer document, which was the goal. I struggled with creating lookup tables, but I finally figured out how to make one. Navigating around the spreadsheet became fun for me as I added more and more features.

The spreadsheet is designed to help anyone looking at the sheet to look at the data in different categories. The auto filters are designed to help the reader to look at the data in different catefories. You can look at one data set or all of the data. The one disadvantage of working with data sets this large is the amount of work it takes to convert everything to numbers. The spreadsheet does not recognize text when writing a formula.

The purpose of doing this assignment is working with a spreadsheet in a different way. This was an exciting project for me. Now I just need to figure out how to upload a picture into my document.

Student Information Systems

The latest module our class worked on is Student Information Systems. It was interesting to read about the different systems that other districs are using. It was also interesting to hear about systems being used in the business community. One of my classmates, Karen, works in the business field and had some different operating systems that were geared more toward employees than students. They were:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NetWeaver - This link gives the definistion of NetWeaver, which she discribes as a tool used for training employees.

http://www.pedagogue.com/ - This link goes to Pedagogue, which is used to train employees.

These would be worth exploring for professional development purposes for shool districts.

At Ball State we use Blackboard for course work and various other information.

Moodle - http://moodle.org - is a course management system - a free Open Source software package designed using pedagogical principles to help educators create effective online learing communities. This site is definitely something districts need to explore.