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A computer would be meaningless without software. Software is what brings the computer to life. Software is the name given to computer programs that are written to instruct the computer how to do something. Computer hardware alone is not useful to the average person. Even the operating system (e.g., Windows, Mac OS, Linux) is considered to be software, so the most basic of computers that can be bought will be a package of hardware and software.
This main software that every computer uses is called the operating system. The operating system controls the computer and allows the user to perform actions, such as opening various software programs (e.g., MS Word) and helping the computer communicate with hardware attached to the computer (e.g., printers, scanners, monitors). This chapter focuses on software that can be found in a typical school setting.
You may have heard of the term productivity software. Productivity software includes some of the most common office-type applications, and is designed to support people—including teachers and students — as they work to become more productive. Some of the main productivity applications include word processing software, spreadsheet software, presentation software, and database software.
The most widely used software application is the word processor. Word processing software is used to work primarily with text to create documents (e.g., letters, reports, newsletters). The most commonly used word processor is Microsoft Word, but many other titles exist (e.g., AppleWorks, Wordperfect, Microsoft Works). Figure A shows part of a page of text produced using a word processor.
Teachers can use a word processor to create many documents for the classroom, such as lesson plans, worksheets, or to develop tests. The possibilities are numerous. In fact, many of the documents an average person encounters each day can be created using word processing software. This does not mean that word processors are ideal for all documents, but word processors can produce most of what a classroom teacher will need.
Word processing software is often used for desktop publishing. Desktop publishing is the use of software to create documents that are to be shared. The major difference between word processing software and desktop publishing software is that the final results using desktop publishing software tend to look more polished and professional. Some teachers use an application such as Microsoft Word to do their desktop publishing (e.g., newsletters for parents), while others use a higher end application that is specifically designed for desktop publishing (but is more difficult to learn). The most common desktop publishing application is Microsoft Publisher, but other titles include Adobe InDesign and QuarkXPress. One of the greatest benefits of word processing software is it ability to improve many aspects of students’ writing across the curriculum. A page produced using a word processor has many advantages over the handwritten page, but the biggest is that handwriting issues disappear when the student uses a word processor. Some students who have learning disabilities may have difficulty, and spend much energy, trying to manipulate a pen or pencil to create letters. The word processor can benefit the student by removing the barriers to writing, thus allowing the student to focus on the content of the paper.
The writing process is typically considered to be a5-step process: 1. Prewriting (brainstorming)
2. Writing
3. Revising (reading through your paper and deciding how to improve the writing)
Figure A Word Processor in Action
4. Editing (checking for spelling, grammar, punctuation, word usage)
5. Publishing (printing the document, saving to the Web)
Figure A
Research indicates that student writing does improve when using a word processor over using a pen and paper. Further, while each step of the writing process is easier using a word processor, the editing and revising stages are particularly more efficient. As a teacher, you can help your students use the writing process in any curricular area when using word processors. You will likely find a better-quality written product from your students if you do.
A student should understand the basics of operating a computer to best succeed using a word processor (e.g., using a mouse, opening and saving files), and can benefit greatly by learning what the various keys can do (e.g., space bar, return, delete, arrow keys). As their hands get larger, students should learn how to type. When typing becomes more natural, students are able to focus less on the process of finding the correct keys and more on the process of writing, which should be the goal while using word processors. Young students should learn how to type, format and edit text. Elementary school students can also learn how to use the various pull-down menus (File, Edit, View, Insert, etc.), and they can learn how to use the Help features built into most word processing software. As students become more proficient at using word processing software, they can be introduced to more advanced options.
One way to extend the capabilities of many word processing software applications is to use features already built in to the software. For example, Microsoft Word has many toolbars available in the View menu that can be turned on to add functionality to the word processor (see Figure B).
Figure B
The first spreadsheet, VisiCalc, was developed in the late1970s. VisiCalc quickly turned personal computers from machines performing computer-related functions to machines that could revolutionize the business world. VisiCalc (short for Visual Calculator) did the same basic function back in the1970s that many people use spreadsheets for today: organize and manipulate numbers. Spreadsheets have matured from their earliest days, and Microsoft Excel has become the most widely used spreadsheet today.
Most interfaces for spreadsheet applications look very similar despite the actual software package being used. Most look like an array of boxes, or a grid, that fills much of the screen (see Figure C). These boxes are called cells. The cells stretching from left to right in a line across the screen make up the rows, and the cells from top to bottom are the columns. Each individual cell has a unique address. For example, the selected cell in Figure C is labeled as B3. The columns are named according to the alphabet (A, B, C, . . . AA, AB, . . . ) and the rows are labeled with numbers that start with1. Unlike early spreadsheets, the software now allows the user to place many other variables beyond numbers in a cell (e.g., text, formulas, dates and times, etc.).
Figure C
Teachers are discovering many uses for spreadsheets in how they manage their classrooms. Most teachers who rely on using a paper grade book will quickly see the benefits of using a spreadsheet on the computer instead. Spreadsheets can also be used to easily figure student grades and class averages. Likewise teachers can quickly create charts, giving data a visual display (e.g., pie chart, bar chart) for analysis (see Figure D).
Figure D
Spreadsheet software can be used in a variety of ways in all kinds of classrooms. In early elementary classes, the emphasis can be less on the numbers and more on text. For example, Figure E shows a spreadsheet comparing two countries, with individual cells being used to display and organize the results.
Figure E
Teachers could also create a weekly spreadsheet that displays the homework for each student to take home to parents. Figure F provides one example of how this might look.
Figure F
A teacher could use a spreadsheet with students to track daily temperatures or to help keep the accounting for a school or classroom business. A math teacher could use a spreadsheet to have students do “what if” scenarios. For example, students could use a spreadsheet to compare total purchase price of a new car, depending on years of the loan and various interest rates.
As students become more advanced, they can learn to use formulas in a spreadsheet (e.g., average, sum, standard deviation). Formulas can help students perform complex calculations quickly and effortlessly. A spreadsheet could be set up to use a formula to calculate what a student’s weight would be on the moon or on another planet. A physical education teacher could use a function in a spreadsheet to compare daily calorie intake with weight gain/loss and how the two are positively related.
Some people who are not proficient in math may find a spreadsheet a bit intimidating, but spreadsheets have so many uses beyond manipulating numbers. Any teacher should be able to find ways to supplement a curriculum using spreadsheet software.
While word processing software and spreadsheet software tend to get the most use from teachers and in schools, there are other productivity applications, including: presentation software and database software.
Presentation software allows teachers to use a computer and projector much like they would transparency sheets with an overhead projector; however presentation software offers many more features. Two examples of presentation software applications are Microsoft’s PowerPoint™, and Apple’s Keynote. Figure G provides a glimpse at Apple’s Keynote application and a presentation being edited.
Figure G
Microsoft’s PowerPoint™ is a full-fledged presentation application, but it has also become a rudimentary multimedia development tool. Teachers can create slides for presentations or student applications that are interactive. Presentations can offer multimedia elements (e.g., audio clips, video clips, photographs, charts) that a regular paper worksheet or textbook cannot. A wonderful benefit to this software is that a teacher can provide the presentation file to students, eliminating the need for them to take notes, and thus allowing them to pay better attention to the content being discussed. This is an accommodation that can benefit many students.
Students can also use presentation software in many different ways. Some teachers will have students create a presentation rather than write a paper, which can benefit those students who have strengths other than writing. Students can create slides full of text, images, or other media that can far exceed what a normal word-processed document could provide in regard to multimedia. The main limitation of presentation software is that each page or slide displayed is limited in size. The result is that, while students are limited in depth of information provided, they are not limited in the number of slides they can develop.
Another less commonly used productivity application is database software. This software is used to store and organize information. The database application provides users with a tool to manipulate data and information and output it into reports. A teacher might use a database to store information about each student, including name, address, parents/guardians, and so on. Another database could be created to store lesson plans. A teacher could use keywords to identify a specific lesson plan (e.g., frogs, dissecting, biology) when storing and retrieving the data. Most school libraries use a computer database to store card catalog data, and that database allows users to search using various search criteria (e.g., author’s last name, date of publication, title, call number). All students should understand how to use a database. In fact, the Internet is actually the largest database on Earth.
Most teachers will never design their own database; however, many teachers might use a spreadsheet to solve problems that would be better suited for a database. A database differs from a spreadsheet in that a database is typically harder to set up and has a larger learning curve to get started. The database can be easier to manage once it is created and can be easier to share information, reports, and the like. The spreadsheet is most often thought of as a tool to manipulate data— specifically, numerical data—but a spreadsheet can handle other variables as well, which is why many people choose a spreadsheet to perform functions that a database is designed to do. While a spreadsheet is used and updated by one user at a time, multiple people can use a database at a time and the database can have various levels of security implemented. The bottom line is that most people will choose a tool they are comfortable with over a tool that is unknown, and few teachers know how to plan and configure a database.
There are many other productivity-type applications that serve a number of purposes. For example, some software give users the ability to easily create flowchart diagrams and outlines (e.g., Inspiration, OmniOutliner and OmniGraffle). Teachers and students can use the software to brainstorm, plan, organize, outline, and diagram a paper or project. Many possibilities exist for this type of software, with so many potential applications related to productivity and the curriculum.
Educational software is a broad category that encompasses many different softwaretitles. This category includes software designed for teachers and software that iscreated to be used by students. Both of these categories are examined in this sectionand both teachers and students use many of the software titles discussed.
Classroom management software is gaining much popularity in the classroom. This is software that is created to help a teacher run the classroom more efficiently. For example, many schools are now recording attendance on the computer. Your future classroom might have software for you to use that makes the attendance process more efficient. You might also have a website to enter daily attendance results. Using technology helps provide feedback to parents more quickly when problems with attendance arise.
A teacher might also use software to manage student grades. In the past, most teachers used grade books with graph paper, but grade books are rapidly being replaced in many schools with electronic solutions. Some teachers will use a spreadsheet to keep grades organized. Some schools will provide grade-recording software or a website where teachers can enter and store grades (see Figure H). The nice thing about entering grades electronically is that parents can receive such information more effectively than they could before. Many systems allow parents to check attendance and grades as needed, which helps to get parents more involved in the educational process.
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