The opportunity for valuable technology integration in physical education is extensive.
Luke Kelly's Chapter 10 points out several areas that technology integration could prove beneficial.
First, it can be motivating for students to use technology that gives them useful and timely feedback about a physical fitness component or skill. This could be a heart monitor to measure their cardiorespiratory endurance or a video of an expert performing a technique that they can compare to a video of themselves doing the same technique.
Individual monitors are expensive and may not be realistic for most large schools to invest in to have students individually measure their performance. I would anticipate smaller cheaper monitors that integrated with cell phones or Radio Frequency Identification tags (RFID) found currently in books, clothing and even used by organizers of large marathons to become useful in a gym class environment.
If the RFID tags or monitors powered by personal electronic devices could integrate with the schools wireless network it could assist a gym teacher in evaluating the performance, effort and fitness trends of many students over time. This data management assistance for teachers of physical education is another area Kelly mentioned as a valuable benefit of technology integration.
Some resources cited by Kelly:
http://pesoftware.com/: a provider of software, online courses and consulting services
http://www.pelinks4u.org/: a compilation of many resources for the PE teacher, not all links are up to date but there are many extensive lists.
http://pecentral.org/: A bit more cluttered with ads than the first two but I did find a link to a RFID lap counter system on the internal site search function.
There are many opportunities for technology to enhance physical education in high schools.
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Amity,
ReplyDeleteI really liked your elementary how-to video link. I could see spending some time with my boys investigating magic, science, dance and the other many active topics. The Girls Health link looks like a great resource is a great resource for teen girls. It should be required reading and springboard for discussion! -Your embedded time line app on you student sample wiki looked like a great tool.
Kurt,
I would like to learn more about geocaching. I have not done it myself or with students. This is a creative PE technology integration. Have you ever done this with your students?
Thanks for the feedback on my wiki stuff. I want to make the wiki better all the time but imposed time limits prevent "perfection" something I am learning to live with.
ReplyDeleteWInterKids is something I wanted to link on there, it is a program for Maine families to ski at reduced rates...as long as you have a child enrolled the whole family enjoys the benefits.
I had a friend who was heavy into geocaching. Apparently it's wicked addicting. I'd like to try virtual geocaching, sort of like a webquest only with a prize. I think it would be a fun way to discover geography,
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