Surprisingly, it was Eric Cartman who put Bart up to such a lewd ploy.
I am fully aware of how boring this topic likely is to everyone who is emotionally capable of feeling joy (Ted Bundy, if you are a reader… you’re welcome). Yet onward I write. Excel or any spreadsheet program really, is an enormously pliable and useful tool for anyone, not just desk jockeys like me. Knowing how to use a spreadsheet program competently will facilitate a multitude of activities, just like being literate or knowing math (so Jessica Simpson is excused from this one). I’m serious; I think being competent in spreadsheets is that important. That’s why it should be taught to high school students.
Training us to be Systematic and Logical
Beyond helping people create and balance budgets, figure out complicated math-based problems, share information and generally just be productive in the areas of life American’s pretend doesn’t exist, the actual act of creating a spreadsheet trains our brains to think logically, in steps, and to consider how variables interact with one another to create a final conclusion or product. The end result is a person who can break problems down into their parts quickly and productively, and derive conclusions. In short a person who is more employable and analytical than average. Isn’t this what you would want your teenager to be?
What I am Proposing
I am not proposing an entire year long course or even semester long course on spreadsheets. I am proposing it be implemented into the curriculum as a mandatory class every student must take in order to graduate; a non-grade, pass fail class that perhaps encompasses no more than a handful of lessons. The focus would be on basic formulas, spreadsheet design, and linkage with other programs (like Word or PowerPoint). Perhaps this could be combined with another mandatory class I think should be part of every high school curriculum: personal finance.
A Little Background…
I have a little history here to share: I graduated high school not knowing the first thing about spreadsheets and on the rare occasion I clicked on the wrong icon on my computer’s desktop revealing a seemingly endless canvas of tiny boxes I hadn’t a clue what to do as my anxiety grew exponentially like this sentence has. I also don’t remember having to use spreadsheets at all in college, and for the one project that required it I paid a kid to come over to my dorm and make one for me, with my input of course. That is ridiculous. How is it possible for my peers and me to be business majors and never have to use or learn spreadsheets? That is the definition of text book learning, a signal we should all listen to.
I learned spreadsheets because I lied on my resume in a job interview for an internship in San Diego, saying I was “proficient”. I was as proficient at spreadsheets as Casey Anthony is at babysitting. Somehow I was offered the job. I went out and purchased ‘Excel for Dummy’s’, and went about learning the basics. Repeat this process for the two months between hiring and start date for my first finance job, three years later. If this all strikes you as a little odd it’s because it should. It shouldn’t strike you as completely uncommon; most people learn spreadsheets on the job. So then, wouldn’t knowing how to create and utilize them prior to accepting a job be a boon to any young candidate?
As Always, It’s on You, Parents
It’s unlikely that high schools across the country and even colleges are going to suddenly realize the antiquity of their educational offerings and begin teaching spreadsheets (which can be involved in essentially any class and subject, if the teacher wishes). So it falls upon the parents to teach their children spreadsheets and in the process teach them the enormously advantageous systematic and analytical thinking that comes with it. If you’re a parent and are as in the dark as your children are, learn together somehow. In this case it will be helpful to everyone (look at adult education courses offered in your area).
Throughout this site there are several exercises which require a spreadsheet program if done on a computer, and I hope that for those of you who are strangers to these programs will use them as an opportunity to not only increase your personal financial knowledge and well being, but to become adequate at spreadsheets as well. The two go hand in hand.
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I’m not sure which country you’re from, but we learn the basics of excel at my high school in Canada.
Well good for you Canada! Here is the U.S of EH, we don’t learn squat diddly-do about Excel in high school.
That’s too bad, we didn’t learn a lot, just the basics, but definitely good to know.
I would say some schools in the US have basic Excel instruction.
Some do, but since nearly 100% of students could benefit from excel competency (or will need it professionally) it should be 100% required. Some schools are just cooler than others, I suppose.
My students used to come into college knowing Excel, but the no child left behind generation doesn’t seem to have those skills anymore.
No child was left behind in basic office-skills in-competencies.
I was the generation right before NCLB, and we had a semester long course on Microsoft Word, but not Excel. I still knew how to use it. I think it’s just something we all picked up. But maybe a semester or whole year of the entire Microsoft Office package would be appropriate. What are you guys talking about? Knowing how to fill bubbles out on a sheet is a much more applicable life skill…. :p
I use excel each and every day and know advanced vb coding for excel. I never learned any of it in high school, but took it upon myself to learn. I think it is valuable and many people can’t do it. Right on with your assertion.
Why thank you. I know no advanced coding or other such, but I am a wiz with the regular stuff. +1 for you, fancy pants.
A couple of years ago, my friend’s sister who was in the fifth grade asked us to proofread her Power Point presentation, so maybe they’re starting to teach the Word, Excel, etc. in schools? Or maybe she just went to an advanced one. I think it’s tragic when I hear some of my high school teacher friends say they don’t assign reading homework because the students won’t complete it, so they just read in class. Yikes.
Indeed. Politicians constantly talk about how they are going to fix America’s education system, but I think the system is only a portion of the problem–another part is motivation.
Boring topic, yes, but I agree!
I love spreadsheets but didn’t really discover them until long after my high school years. Now I find them rather useful for all kinds of things. It would have been helpful to learn how to use Excel in school
I would have been much better at math had I had Excel skills in school; the program allows me to break math into steps. It has truly brought my math skills up to speed. Glad you find them useful, and I like to think I made a boring topic entertaining. You calling me boring, Holly?
Could not agree more! It is amazing how much of a “bedrock” excel is in the business world, and for that matter life in general. People pick it up too late, and don’t become fully competent in it quick enough. Well done.
In my daughter’s high school they must take a computer class. They teach MS Office, Excel, etc. That said, my 6th grader has been doing PowerPoints since 3rd grade.
I think it is more important for them to be given a good use for the tool, then just learning it. My 11 year old just finished a 24 slide PowerPoint on why we should buy her a dog. It included charts and graphs on the height/weight of the dogs, which ones were hypo-allergenic, health issues, etc. I’ve been giving her executive presentation tips on it so she can get to the point better and use some of it as back-up, etc. That has her motivated.
Maybe our school is different, or our kids are used to me doing a big spreadsheet to budget justify buying a new boat, etc, but this isn’t a worry in our house. Hopefully this is spreading elsewhere, because I couldn’t do my job at all without excel.
Parent of the year? Showoff. I am literally afraid of your daughter, Doug. She is going to run the world soon.
Hi Mitchell,
I am not sure my oldest son was taught excel in high school but I am sure my younger son and my oldest daughter have been introduced to it. I have been asked for help several times. Some of the stuff my son was doing as part of his class was pretty complex database manipulation. I do have to say though the focus in order in the schools has been PowerPoint, Publisher, Word, and then Excel. Pretty much the reverse order of the frequency I have used them at work. I use Excel everyday and PowerPoint. Word is only used for formal external correspondence. Our email program does the heavy lifting for most communication. I have managed the interruptions from instant messages down to the point where it is tolerable. I seldom us Publisher.
That is the order I use as well. It appears, given the feedback I have received that excel is in fact beginning to be taught in schools. This is great, but I wonder if this is the case in a wider sense (do schools in poor areas do this?). I also wonder if, in high school, this trend holds. The curriculum in high schools seems to still be largely report-based.
Thank you for this post, Mitchell. I too agree there is value to learning spreadsheets in high school (and perhaps even in middle school). As such, I recently created a free blog and video tutorial resource called Spreadsheet Solving (www.spreadsheetsolving.com) to teach students problem-solving skills with spreadsheets.
Cool work.
Not only should Excel be taught, but basic personal finance should be included as well so we are all at some basic level on competence when the real world arrives!
Totally agreed.
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