How I use technology to keep PE relevant in the 21st century
The days of rolling the ball out and playing sports in PE are changing. With the advancement of technology and shift towards collaborative work in the classroom, physical education teachers are finding more and more ways to keep PE relevant in the collaborative and technology-filled 21st century.
Project-based learning
Project-based learning is a type of instruction that emphasizes collaborative work, real world connections and a deeper understanding of content. Students are placed in groups and given a goal or project to complete. In their teams they assign roles, and divide work. Students are expected to research their project, plan out their learning, deal with any issues that arise, and present their findings.
Project-based learning places the majority of the responsibility of learning on the students. Within the physical education classroom, combining project-based learning with technology will ensure that students become 21st-century learners. Physical education teachers can implement project-based learning to encourage the use of different technologies, practicing collaboration, and problem solving.
Wearable technology
As technology has advanced, the opportunities to utilize new gadgets in the classroom has increased. These days, there are many different tools that gauge heart rate, steps, running pace, type of exercise, calories burned, and much more. Physical education teachers can use wearable technology in the classroom to give students an immediate and accurate look at their own activity stats in connection with their physical fitness lessons.
Wearable technology has gone beyond the traditional pedometer. Newer technology allows students to track their exercise intensity, calories burned, oxygen levels, etc. These gadgets connect to applications on phones and tablets to store and display data. Students are able to go back and look at their overall stats in order to analyze and find a deeper understanding of their own physical fitness and the effects different types of movement and activity have on their body.
Gloss