After I watched the Ted Talk video on how schools in the united states were using technology to really narrow down target heart rates, calories burned during exercise, and just how long they were actually getting physical activity throughout the day, I thought to myself how great is that.
The school's obviously have a large amount of money to be able to afford such things, but still, the fact that they use heart rate monitors and track their rate heart while they are playing physical activity is a unique idea. The presenter opens the presentation up with a statement about how we have a childhood obesity problem in United States, well that can be said for Canada as well.
As a P.E major, I always come across students that are much larger than ever I was as a child, no offence but it is reality. As educators in the Physical Education world, we have to be aware of this. WE have to become more knowledgable about the whole nature of the epidimic, and try and make a difference. If technology will allow us to pin point specific critieria that will allow us to make changes in children's life then we better start using it.
It's important as P.E teachers to really make the importance of Physical Education known to students, right from a young age. However, we could tell them till were blue in the face about how important it is, and they still might not care.
WHAT DO WE DO? We as P.E teachers, make physical activity fun, this comes with alot of unique and diverse strategies. I know personally when I grew up P.E was based on competition and who could be the best. Now P.E is definitely turn around and we are making small changes, for instance- students do not get singled out regardless of athletic ability or skill level. Everyone is treated the same, for example if we were playing volleyball in the gym, you would not be able to pick out the best volleyball player, because drills and games that are set-up by a knowledgable P.E teacher would make skill and ability not a priority, their prioritiy is to make sure every student is engaged, even for that student that "hates" P.E, they will all be engaged and having FUN. Thats what it comes down to, P.E is almost like a life time skill, they have to informed and engaged at a early age to really care on with a healthy lifestyle in order to be healthy!
Just some thoughts to note.
Nate
Interesting video and post! The PE classes shown in the video incorporating heart rate monitors, gym equipment, and games such as Dance Dance Revolution, looked engaging and provided students with plenty of opportunity to learn.
ReplyDeleteTechnology can help students learn in PE class, just as in other classes, and perhaps even help to interest those students in PE who would really rather not be there. An interesting Blog I came across about technology in PE is Mr. Robbo-The PE Geek @http://thepegeek.com/ His last blog post discussed the possibility of incorporating his iPhone into PE class by using an app called the Instant Heart Rate, which allows you to accurately measure your heart rate by holding your finger over the phone's camera.
The use of technology in PE class holds some great potential, however I think one of the greatest ways to get the importance of PE and physical activity across to students is to demonstrate it. We as PE teachers need to not only tell students about the importance of getting enough daily physical activity, but more importantly we need to demonstrate this to students. We need to demonstrate being active in class and discuss with students the activities we participate in outside of school to help us stay active. And to get PE to appeal to more students and to keep them engaged we most certainly need to be incorporating a large variety of diverse activities into class, and I think incorporate activities that really emphasis healthy living and individual activity, like demonstrated in the video. Team sports are not for everyone, and it is our job as PE teachers to provide students with the skills they need to be able to remain active outside of school and to remain active into their adult lives. Maybe easier said than done, but I think it is something we need to strive towards, and to do by incorporating different technologies, different activities, and through demonstrating the importance.
I guess I'll weigh in here, and say that I love seeing tech being used everywhere. I went ahead a bought a garmin running watch--really awesome tool, I can definitely see how this sort of info could be useful to PE students and teachers.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure but is nutrition a part of the PE curriculum? They used to do a unit on it in Biology 30S, I think they've put it in PE too right? Definitely might help some students make informed decisions when it comes to their health.
I like the idea of using technology in the gym to help aid students in their understanding of physical activity. I think that gym teachers have a hard job of getting kids physically active these days and anything to spike their interest in physical activity it great.
ReplyDelete