Significance

For a long time I have had a tremendous amount of curiosity about the use of technology in the P.E. classroom. Technology is ever changing and I believe that is our responsibility as teachers to not only provide students with the tools to achieve lifelong fitness, but also to use technological tools to continually improve student’s experiences. In theory this appears to be an obvious practice, but the fear that often arises is whether incorporating technology in the P.E. classroom will create a disconnect between students and their peers. Due to the rapid progression of technology, there are a wide variety of examples available to instructors, yet due to the freshness of these devices and technologies, the effect they may have on students learning may not yet be fully understood. With the emergence of the video game culture came a generation of children who would prefer to stay indoors and immerse themselves in an artificial reality rather than head outdoors and participate in games with their friends. As a physical education instructor, this could become problematic in that some students may not show the same level of enthusiasm for traditional sports or games as students might have in the past. It appears then that the solutions is simple; incorporate the technology that the students use regularly into the classroom to help peak students interests once more, and get them back on the path to lifelong physical health and wellness. But does this work? The simple answer right now is that it could, but that was or is not always the case. An example of this would the obesity discourse in the United States of America and that theory that exergaming would be a method of instruction to engage those individuals who are disinterested in traditional physical fitness regimes and games (Vander-Schee & Boyles, 2010). This particular study focused on the hidden agenda of corporations, but through the research and use of a particular piece of technology ( Dance Dance Revolution in this particular instance), it was evident that although the students were participating in the classroom activity, there would certainly be a drop in meaningful connection between students due to the fact that each student interacted individually with the dance platform and a screen. The key then becomes the method in which we incorporate technology in the classroom to engage an ever growing population of technologically savvy students, whilst maintaining an acceptable level of constructive peer to peer interaction. This research is significant to me in that I believe that technology can be a tremendously useful tool to improve the physical education experience for a broad range of learners. Through this research, I hope to provide valuable insight to the positive influences application based technology can have on a physical education classroom.

 

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