Evaluating GAME Progress

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This week I finished reviewing my last 5 free online spreadsheets. EXpressoCorp was no longer available for new accounts as it will soon be integrated into Lotus Live, which will be a subscription service. InputWebWizard is not free, Peepel looks promising, but will not open. Sheetster was very buggy, the graph window appeared, but did not contain the graph. SimpleSpreadsheet only offered source code. Now I have reached my 20th spreadsheet to evaluate: ThinkFree. Despite its name, ThinkFree is not free. It is still in beta and may be one to watch as it has many of the features I am looking for based on my free 30 day trial evaluation.

My conclusion, at present there is no free online spreadsheet that can rival Excel or the Texas Instruments Graphing Calculator for data analysis.

I am not giving up. It appears there are many online applications in beta like MashUp and Microsoft Fuse Labs which is designed to share Docs on Facebook

http://docs.com/

that may be available soon.

For my refocused GAME plan:

1) Locate a web based graphing program or calculator that can print professional looking full page graphs. I researched all graphing tools at Cool Tools for Schools

http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/Graphing+Tools

and found two can make nice xyscatter: ChartTool and ChartGizmo, but they only have auto scaling and will not connect the ordered pairs.






2) Locate a web based site that will calculate the 5 types of regression equation my students are expected to perform. The best one I have found so far is at:

http://people.hofstra.edu/Stefan_Waner/RealWorld/newgraph/regressionframes.html

Still searching…..In the “Looking for a Needle in the Haystack” division, I also searched and downloaded multiple freeware and shareware products: MATHGV4, SPR, Kalkulator, Statiscope, SHAZAM, Graph-Free Graph Plotting Software, Sagata Regression Pro 1, and ZGrapher 1.4

and located more (unusable) online options:

http://www.mathcracker.com/scatter_plot.php
http://www.socr.ucla.edu/htmls/SOCR_Charts.html
http://www.statcrunch.com/5.0/googlemap.php
http://www.swivel.com/
http://www.wessa.net/slr.wasp
http://web2.0calc.com/

I did find www.calculator.com has a statistics view coming soon – another technology to watch.

Late to this entry, I have discovered Google Just announced new tools new Chart tools which I will investigate next week.

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2010/10/new-visualization-charts-in-google-docs.html

Monitoring the GAME Plan

I use a Texas Instruments Graphing Calculator and Excel in my classroom. In my game plan, I want to find a comparative free data analysis tool for my students to use at home for 5 types of regression. I have finished compiling a list of 20 free online spreadsheets and began to evaluate the features my students would need.




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For each, I created a free account and copied in 5 data sets. I used the help features to learn how to create an xyscatter graph for each and then looked for the 5 corresponding trendlines. If there was no trendline option, I looked for built in functions. Then I looked at the quality of the graph and how it would look printed. Could it be enlarged and printed on its own page or did it have to be on top of the data within the sheet? I finally looked for export options.

After evaluating 15 online spreadsheets I have found 8 were not going to be useful. They were either no longer available or only offered the source code to be downloaded. The user would have to compile it and this is far too complicated for my target audience. The other 7 sites had varying useful features (see matrix below), but none that exactly duplicated the abilities of the tools we use in class.

Here is my evaluation matrix so far:


I was most disappointed with Office Live. It does not have any of the Trendline features that Excel does, lagging far behind even Open Office which can at least do linear and exponential trendlines. I did learn Microsoft is going to be releasing a based web application called Microsoft Cloud Office 365, but was again disappointed that will be subscription based.

I still have 5 more to evaluate, but I fear the more obscure they are, the less likely they will have multiple features. They are eXpressoCorp, InputWebWizard, Peepel, Sheetster, SimpleSpreadsheet and ThinkFree.

I do not feel I am finding the information and resources I need.

I do feel I need to modify my GAME plan.

My new focus will be a two part search:

1) To locate a web based graphing programs or calculators that can print professional looking full page graphs. I have found a good starting point for researching graphing tools:

http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/Graphing+Tools

2) To locate a web based site that will calculate the 5 types of regression equation my students are expected to perform. I have found two so far:

http://people.hofstra.edu/Stefan_Waner/RealWorld/newgraph/regressionframes.html

http://www.xuru.org/rt/TOC.asp
and will continue searching site from:

http://statpages.org/#Calculators

Carrying Out the Game Plan

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My research first revealed that spreadsheets were usually a component of an Office Suite as opposed to a standalone application. I organized this information into a hierarchy. Next I began by classifying the different types of spreadsheets that students could use and made the following Concept Map.



To test each spreadsheet, I generated 5 sets of data to import into each one to test the 5 types of Trend line regressions I usually ask my students to do: Linear, Quadratic, Polynomial, Exponential with an integer base and Exponential with e (2.718) base. In class we usually use Excel or a Texas Instruments (TI) calculator (which does not have a print feature). I made a list of what features students would need if they were working from home: make and print a graph, print data chart and export to Excel. I organized this information into a matrix to compare to our classroom based options. There will be an additional column for each site I locate. Currently the list is: Google Docs, Open Office – Calc, Zoho, EditGrid, Microsoft Cloud, KOffice, ZCubes and Google Wave.



I have already eliminated Gnome as an option as it was open source and geared more toward developers. I have two more sites to research that could add to the list I have found so far

http://www.editgrid.com/user/siulung/Web-based_Spreadsheets_Comparison_Matrix

and

http://mashable.com/2008/02/06/forget-excel-14-online-spreadsheet-applications/

By now I realized my research was going in 3 directions

1) Classifying spreadsheets: web based, downloadable or cost which I also want to further subcategorize by real time/collaborative. (1st Concept Map)

2) Site Research sites, make accounts at each and test 5 data sets by trendline. (I am concerned I am getting too many)

3) If a spreadsheet did not have trendline feature, researching if there were built-in functions to build the trendline by graph quality or if you had to manually enter each formula:



I was starting to get overwhelmed, so I started a journal to organize my progress each day and prioritize my time. Although I would like to know 100% of everything, I think I need to limit my direction in two areas.

If I continue to add new sites, like the ones from the above 2 web sites, I would have 24 sites to test. I guess I only need to research until I find the one that meets my students’ needs. My students at this point only need to know if the Trendline option if available, so although it is useful for me to know about built in functions and manual calculations, I will limit my time in this area, possible organizing it into a different comparative matrix.

My goals for this week are to finish compiling my list of spreadsheets, classifying them on the 1st concept map as I go in and make an account for each. Then begin testing my data sets.

Accessing Trendline Option:


Trendline Choices:

EDUC 6713: Personal Game Plan

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With so much technolgoy to explore which could enhance my content, breaking it down in a GAME plan will make it more manageable.

A GAME Plan is a four step process:
G = Set Goals
A = Take Action
M = Monitor Progress
E = Evaluate and Extend (Cennamo, 2009)

The International Society for Technology Education has compiled a list of both Student and Teacher Standards. All of them are important, but for this GAME plan, I will concentrate on my students being able to do NETS - S

2.Communication and Collaboration
Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.
Students:
a. interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media.
d. contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems.

4.Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making
Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources.
Students:
c.collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions.

So I need to set goals with NETS - T:

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments.
Teachers:
b.engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources.
d.model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments.

2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessment incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS•S.
Teachers:
a.design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.
c.customize and personalize learning activities to address students' diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources.

Goal: To analyze how my students could best use spreadsheets as a mindtool. I want my students to be able to organize, manipulate, represent, reflect and build knowledge by seeing data in all forms as the NCTM recommends in both individual and collaborative environments.






To achieve this, I will brainstorm sites from colleagues and from online research and evaluate each viable tool.







I will monitor my progress by completing a descriptive matrix of important qualities for each of the courses I teach.






I will evaluate and extend my learning by designing lessons and asking students to
experiment with the tool to see if it meets their needs.


References:
Cennamo, K. R. (2009). Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use: A Standards-Based Approach (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth: Cengage Learning.

International Society for Technology Education. (2010). Retrieved November 2, 2010, from Student NETS: http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-students.aspx
Laureate Education, Inc. (2009). Integrating Technology Across the Curriculum: Enriching Content Area with Technology, Parts 1 and 2.

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). (2010) Retrieved November 7, 2010, from http://www.nctm.org