Quality Physical Education and the Use of Digital Technology to Provide an Inclusive Learning Environment

Quality Physical Education and the Use of Digital Technology to Provide an Inclusive Learning Environment

My Experience of the Topic

From my experience on school placement I found that quality PE for the students was a class where the students were happy to engage with the content and found what they learned was beneficial to their lives outside of the classroom. The aim of physical education is to provide students with the skills knowledge and dispositions to be physically active for a lifetime and I found that quality PE is a classroom where that is achieved.  The school where I was on placement had very little equipment and even less technology available for use in the PE class. I did take every opportunity I had to introduce technology to the classroom, for example I found it very useful to show the students videos of dances on laptops before they performed them so they could gain an appreciation of what the dance would look like when they all performed it together as a group. I found giving the students a common goal to reach made them more likely to communicate and work co-cooperatively and created a more inclusive learning environment.

What the Experts Say

The literature seems to state that quality and inclusive PE stems from a learning environment that is enjoyable and inclusive for all students. Tripp (2007) states that “Changing the physical education culture in order to create an inclusive environment for all students involves rethinking takenfor-granted ideas about how physical education is organized, how students are grouped, how resources are utilized, how decisions are made, and what constitutes appropriate or meaningful physical education”, (p. 36). Changing our ideas with regards to how we approach the teaching of physical education could include the introduction of more technology within the physical education class. Juniu (2011) states that teachers are expected to know how computers and other technological devices can contribute to data collection for the analysis of sport skills, to the assessment of student learning, and to the evaluation of health-related physical fitness. She also suggests a variety of ways that technology can be used to create a more inclusive learning environment, such as accelerometers and pedometers for assessment of physical activity, skin fold callipers for body composition and apps such as TriFit for recording and analysing fitness levels and nutritional habits.

What I Have Learned

After an analysis of the literature and my teaching experience, I will take available technology into consideration when planning any future lessons. Technology can be used to enhance student learning in the area of physical education and can provide students with new learning experiences they otherwise would not get in school. I believe that technology is a great method of helping students to work with each other and creates a more inclusive learning environment as the introduction of technology to the gym creates a wider range of skills that are valued in the class and therefore more students can find their skills valued and appreciated in the class.

References

Tripp, A., Rizzo, T, & Webbert, b (2007). Inclusion in physical education: Changing the culture. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, 78(2), 32-38.

 Juniu, S., (2011) Pedagogical Uses of Technology in Physical Education. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance (JOPERD). [Online] 82 (9), 41–49.