Overview
Spreadsheets are where most of the world's data actually lives. This session pairs basic data literacy (rows, columns, averages, and what a chart should honestly show) with the AI features built into Excel and Google Sheets, then uses AI assistants to analyze real datasets and generate charts.
Learning objectives
- Use AI features in Excel/Google Sheets to build formulas and clean data.
- Ask an AI assistant to analyze a dataset and summarize what it finds.
- Generate charts with AI and evaluate whether they are honest and clear.
- Spot the limits: when AI misreads data or invents patterns that are not there.
Session agenda
- 0:00 – 0:10Warm-up
Deepfake stories from homework, quick share.
- 0:10 – 1:15Lecture: AI in Excel & Google Sheets
Data literacy essentials; Copilot in Excel and Gemini in Sheets; formula generation; what makes a chart honest.
- 1:15 – 1:25Break
- 1:25 – 3:00Lab: Analyze a real dataset
Load a real dataset (e.g. student enrollment or a city budget), have AI clean it, answer questions about it, and generate charts, then verify the answers by hand.
- 3:00 – 3:10Wrap-up
One chart per group on screen; preview research and hallucinations.
Materials
- A free Google account (Sheets), or any copy of Excel you already have access to.
- Practice datasets provided with the module (enrollment, budgets), or any open dataset from your own town.
- A calculator or your phone, for checking the AI's arithmetic.
Homework
Find a small dataset about something you care about (sports, music, local data) and use AI to produce one chart and a three-sentence summary. Note anything you had to correct.
Detailed slides, lab worksheets, and demos for this module are in progress and will be posted here as they are written.