2. It does its own calculations

It would probably be an exaggeration to say that spreadsheets are the mathematics teaching parallel to the word processing application. The areas to which it can be applied are, after all, far more restricted.

But even though it must be supplemented with other mathematically oriented applications, for example, applications for models and simulation and statistical calculations, the spreadsheet is still the most general program for teaching arithmetic and mathematics.

Used properly in mathematics teaching, the spreadsheet has the potential to be one of the tools that can make it possible to use the investigative and experimental approach to mathematics throughout the entire school curriculum. With a spreadsheet you can have students develop simple budgets or dynamic and highly complex models.

In addition, a spreadsheet can be used in most situations where you need to do calculations, to handle data material gathered by the students, and for the presentation of results in the form of diagrams.

In this module you will also see examples of how to work with spreadsheets in various situations.

In the exercises of this module you are introduced to the basic functions of a spreadsheet tool.

You will make diagrams based on the data in the spreadsheet, and you will learn how to carry out small studies where the spreadsheet can be used for survey and analysis of the results.

Moreover, you will learn to set up budgets in the spreadsheet and to transfer tables and diagrams from the spreadsheet to a word processor document.