As physical educators we need to be able to create a classroom atmosphere where students are able to use technology as a tool to become better movers, better doers, and better citizens.  My hope is to get students interested in using technology as a productive tool that will keep them engaged with what is going on in the classroom and carrying it on into the real world as a way of staying involved in physical activity through life.

Assessment

The ability to record video on mobile devices allows educators to assess and analyze student movements at an individual level for skill breakdown, and for breakdown of sport concepts on a group level.  Through video breakdown, educators can then show students their own movements so that formative assessments can be given allowing students to correct their own movements for future improvement in a skill or concept.  Applications like Coach’s Eye provide educators the opportunity to break down a movement and then send it to students so they are able to break down their own movements.  This allows students to take time at home to break down a movement themselves, giving them the opportunity to better learn and understand a skill/concept on their own time.

Class / Team Management

Mobile devices allow us to manage classes and teams in an efficient and organized manner.  Attendance sheets are now available for teachers in electronic form and can be easily accessed on devices such as tablets.  In terms of team management, an application such as Team Snap allows coaches to input schedules (games and practices) so that athletes are able to post their availability in advance.  Through Team Snap, coaches are able to send out messages to the team, as well communicate with athletes individually.  Another application, Tiny Scanner, allows for users to take a picture of a hard copy document and then converts the document into a pdf so that it can be sent electronically.

Mobile devices can also act as an extra teacher in the room.  Let’s say we were instructing a Zumba dance unit.  Using a mobile device, along with a projector, we could project a Zumba dance class onto the wall for the students to follow.  By having the students learn from a projected image, the teacher would then become available to walk through the class, being able to help any students that might require individual instruction.

Team Shake is an application that allows for the quick making of teams/groups.  Within the Team Shake application, educators are able to input class lists and save them for future use.  Through the touch of a finger, the app separates students into however teams/groups you would need, or how many students you would like in each group.  Through this application, educators are easily able to customize each students profile so that they have a specific gender, skill level, and other members they can or cannot work with.  The application is then able to make balanced teams/groups based on the data that has been inputted.  Students that are absent can easily be removed from the shake.

By continuing to find other applications of this nature and applying them through a trial and error approach, I will be able to create a resource section of the most effective ways to incorporate mobile devices as a tool that helps me manage my teams and classes.

Teacher Growth

As educators, we are able to use technology as a tool for personal growth.  Twitter is an application that allows us to connect with other educators from around the world.  Here in British Columbia, we can sign into twitter on Sunday nights at 7:00pm and connect with other educators that decide to tune in to the #BCED hashtag.  Each week a new topic is presented and educators are invited to engage in conversation through 140 character tweets.  As there are no requirements to post, educators are more than welcome to tune in and observe what other educators have to say.