Technology in PE? I find it to be an interesting question because most of the people asking me the question are wearing some type of fitness tracker, whether it is a Fitbit or Garmin watch. I must say my staff and I have been beyond lucky that our administration is extremely supportive of our introduction and use of technology in our P.E. classes! The types of technology that we utilize is nowhere near what we would like to get to, but we recognize our budget constraints and work with what we can get our hands on! We use technology for skill development, tracking activity and grading.
Coach’s Eye for Skill Analysis and Mentoring Opportunities
We use iPods and iPads during class to do skill check and evaluations with students using an app called Coach’s Eye. It is a great tool because it allows teachers the opportunity to video students performing a skill and then the ability to sit with the student and slowly look at the skill to show both the good things they are doing and also the things they need to correct! It is great for sports analysis, and I even use it with my track and field team! We also have had students create short workout video clips that we then take to our elementary PE teachers who use the clips as stations during their classes. This can be as simple as having a high school student demonstrating how to properly do a squat or an elephant walk! Younger kids love to learn from older kids and with schedules being hard to match up utilizing video clips makes it work!
Track Participation with Pedometers
The biggest piece of technology we use in our classes is our FitStep Pro Uploadable Pedometers! These things are an excellent way to track student participation in class and create a rubric for scoring. The software that comes with the pedometers allows my staff to create spreadsheets for individual students to show progress to both the student and parent and to help explain the grading system we have created. It also allows us to create whole class or whole school spreadsheets as well. This data is very helpful for us as a staff to evaluate what we are doing and determine if it is meeting the goals we have set for our students.
Year-Round Grading Portal
Along with the pedometers, our school has grading software that is online and gives students and parents 24/7 access to grades, rubrics, assignments, calendars and any message we need to relay to our students throughout the year. I know most schools are going to online grading software and I encourage you to take full advantage of all that your software offers! The more contact with parents you can have the better! It keeps everyone in the loop and reduces any confusion throughout the school year!
What Technology do You Use?
Now comes my questions for all of you! First, do any of you use Geocaching GPS devices? I have been looking to add Geocaching to our curriculum and would love to hear what everyone uses for this activity. So please share your thoughts on this one!
My last question is, what else does everyone use? I know there are tons of great ideas out there and would love for everyone to share several of their top technology tips, units, or activities! I love learning new ideas! And blog posts like these are a great way to add to all of our knowledge, which we can then share with our students.
