Using Technology in Physical Education Class

Note: I chose this plan because it represents a complete mind shift for traditional gym classes which are typically instruction heavy because in most cases only one teacher is present.  Incorporating technology to help students teach themselves and others while constantly self assessing adds a new and challenging dimension to this subject.  In addition, the opportunity to collaborate with intermediate students and utilize their skills and talents to teach primary, and possibly junior, students is truly amazing and a great example of what 21st century learning is all about.

Using Technology in Physical Education

This is will be an interesting challenge for me because of two reasons.  The first is that I teach health to four classes, all of which use technology on a regular basis so any change would not be significant.  Second, the other subject I teach is physical education which is typically not a subject that utilizes technology.  The challenge then would be to try and incorporate technology into a phys-ed lesson so it is both effective and has a purpose.

In a recent phys-ed class with my grade twos we worked on some basic floor hockey skills prior to playing as our school purchased some new equipment.  Before they could play I told them we needed to learn some basics so I had set up four stations where they had to practice passing, stick handling, shooting and of course how to celebrate a goal i.e. doing a dance after scoring.

Prior to the lesson, I quickly went over each station and showed what to do.  While the activities were taking place, I visited each station to ensure the proper skills were being worked on.  It would have been easier to focus on one skill at a time but since I only see this group once per week I wanted them to be able to play as soon as possible.

Incorporating technology into this lesson was not as difficult as I thought it would be.  I made it a little easy on myself by choosing the grade twos because they are reasonably proficient with technology and I know they would be able to carry out the task(s).  I decided to use four iPads because I know they would be available and anymore in the gym would not be a wise choice.  Here is how my new lesson plan would look with technology.

·         Prior to the lesson, I would ask a group of grade 8s to make a video where they are individually performing the basic skills (passing, shooting, stick handling and the dance) which the grade twos will perform at each centre.

·         Before taking the iPads down to the gym I would log them all into a program called Seesaw which we use in health classes.  It can capture pictures and save notes on individual student accounts in addition to allowing views and comments by other students.

·         Once in the gym, one iPad will be placed on a chair at each station.

·         Students will still be given general instructions on what the skills are but will be told to view the video at least once at the station as a review.

·         As the students are performing the skill they will be told to take a video of each other performing the specific task then save the video to their Seesaw account.  The students would take turns videoing each other.

·         Once all students have completed the tasks they will be divided into teams and play a game.

The video on the skill will provide additional instruction for the students that can be watched more then once if needed.  Having the students video themselves will serve two purposes. It will provide me with a great opportunity to assess if they are performing the skill properly.  In addition, each student will be able to do a self and peer assessment while comparing their video to the instructional one.

It’s a great win/win situation and I’m surprised that I have never thought of it before especially since I have been involved in coaching elite hockey where we used video constantly.  It will be interesting to try and deliver this lesson live because I’m sure that it will need to be refined but I do like the idea and will give it a try.