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Excel In the Classroom

What's Bad About It?

1. Many students have little prior Excel experience and for that matter, any application similar to Excel. We think it is essential to include Excel into a K-12 program in such a way that no one grade level/ subject area is solely responsible for introducing students to Excel. It would be good to start using the basic functions of this program with kids, as early as third grade (or earlier depending on a child's cognitive ability).
2. Excel makes data analysis so easy that some students may think that they came to their conclusions too quickly without taking enough time to thoroughly check everything fpr accuracy and reliablitiy.
3. Students find it easier to crunch numbers in Excel. This can lead to students just thinking that their job is complete when they haven't even scratched the surface of what needs to be done.
4. As any math teacher will tell you, there are multiple ways to do just about any problem. The same holds true with Excel, there are many ways to do just about everything. This can be overwhelming for students who need less choices when making decisions on how to represent data.
5. The function formulas are hidden when using Excel, and it may make it difficult to check student work.

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