Portfolio Item 5 Microsoft Excel & Week 8 Reflective Post

Week 8 was an interesting week in regards to ICT. As we were required to explore the use and functions of Microsoft Excel, I soon realised to my dismay how little knowledge of Microsoft I had. Despite having used a computer for every aspect of my life, not once was I required to use Excel. Due to my prior inexperience and lack of exposure to Excel, it hindered my progress in the initial stages of creating a mock grade book. After much pestering to my fellow peers, I created my very first mock grade book. This spread sheet includes eight student marks in Year 12 Art. An average, percentage and rank were also provided. This I believe is beneficial in my future teaching career as it is a systematic, clear and concise method of organising results. However, the most interesting aspect of Excel and its advantages is the formulas. Excel provides formula’s, as presented in the grade book, to allow me to calculate percentage grade’s from assessment tasks as well as the average grade of the whole class through a few steps. Moreover, this would be a significant time saver and energy resuscitator as it a quick means of structuring student results. A graph has also been provided as to display all results comparatively. I am please to have acquired such knowledge in the field of Microsoft Excel as I do believe I will utilise this resource in my future profession.

portfolio-5.xls