Basic Productivity Software
Productivity tools are fundamentally different than instructional software. While instructional software is concerned with the content, productivity tools are used to create a product which can be used in instruction. Roblyer and Doering state that there are three basic types of productivity tools: word processing, presentation, and spreadsheets. These tools often come in suites, where they are sold together as a package. There are many examples of these tools. Microsoft Office is a suite that contains the basic productivity tools. Microsoft Word is a word processing software, Microsoft Powerpoint is a presentation software, and Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet software. These productivity tools can make any classroom more efficient.
Basic productivity tools have a unique impact on education. These tools can be used directly in instruction, behind the scenes to allow teachers more time to focus on preparing strong lesson plans, or as a tool for students to showcase the materials that they have covered. For example, a teacher may use Powerpoint to deliver information to children, Excel to keep track of received forms or allergies, and Word to create handouts and instructions for students. Students could use these same tools in an entirely different way. They could use Powerpoint as a visual aid for a speech or book report, Excel to show trends in weather patterns, or Word to write a paper over content that they have covered in class. By modeling proper uses of basic productivity tools and then placing it in the hands of the student, teachers help prepare students assume adult and professional roles that will be required of them in the future.
Basic productivity tools have a unique impact on education. These tools can be used directly in instruction, behind the scenes to allow teachers more time to focus on preparing strong lesson plans, or as a tool for students to showcase the materials that they have covered. For example, a teacher may use Powerpoint to deliver information to children, Excel to keep track of received forms or allergies, and Word to create handouts and instructions for students. Students could use these same tools in an entirely different way. They could use Powerpoint as a visual aid for a speech or book report, Excel to show trends in weather patterns, or Word to write a paper over content that they have covered in class. By modeling proper uses of basic productivity tools and then placing it in the hands of the student, teachers help prepare students assume adult and professional roles that will be required of them in the future.
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Below I have featured a lesson idea for first grade science that uses a program called Graph Club. Graph Club is a fun way for children to learn about and use graphs and charts to compare data. In this lesson students will use Graph Club to analyze the weather that their growing plants have received over a two week period. The graph will be used as a spring board to talk about what is necessary for plant growth while also giving students the opportunity to integrate mathematics into their science material. Students will be able to explore and communicate about the data when they have a visual representation in front of them. Please feel free to review the lesson idea below as well as a sample graph. The graph can be downloaded as a Graph Club file (.gcl) or as a portable document format (.pdf) for those that do not have the Graph Club software.
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basic_productivity_software.pdf | |
File Size: | 356 kb |
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basic_productivity_software.gcl | |
File Size: | 43 kb |
File Type: | gcl |