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This secondary issue features an article by Richard Rairigh and
Kym Kirby. Rich is a graduate assistant at the University
of South Carolina and Kym is a full time physical education teacher
at A.C. Moore Elementary School. Both Rich and Kym have worked
very work hard to try to find ways to get students to become efficient,
purposeful movers, while simultaneously attempting to meet the South
Carolina state standards. They have integrated technology
as a means to assist students in attaining these qualities.
The message in this issue is not just the potential that technology
can offer physical education, but it is so much more. Rich
and Kym, over the years, have developed an eye for what quality
movement looks like. They can identify the critical elements
of a movement form or sequence and assist students, by providing
feedback, to recognize these elements in their own movement.
We would never suggest that technology replace the teacher or the
active practice for the student. Technology is a tool that
could help the teachers better develop their own eye for recognizing
quality movement, provide feedback to students, to take students'
learning to a new level and the monitoring of progress.
Attached are links to the complete article by Rich and Kym, a video
of a proficient kindergarten cartwheel
and a link to a digital assessment completed by Kym, for her students.
Let your mind wonder have digital images (still or video) could
contribute to your secondary physical education program.
Darla Castelli
Coaching Section Editor
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| If you have ideas, comments, letters to share, or questions
about particular topics, please email one of the following Secondary
Section Editors: |
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words:
Providing Feedback through Digital Image Technology
By Richard Rairigh & Kym Kirby
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As the educational community moves into a new century in which
technology is of a growing interest, teachers need to be able to
develop the skills necessary to implement that technology within
their classrooms. Within the area of physical education, it
is sometimes hard to implement new technology into an already complex
environment while having very little time to experiment with new
ideas. In many cases funding is available for the purchase
of technology within the schools or it may already exist.
Technology in all cases is becoming more accessible and readily
available, more cost beneficial, and more user friendly. With
these things in mind, the use of technology within the gymnasium
is worth a little experimentation. The purpose of this article
is to talk specifically about the use of digital imaging technology,
also known as digital cameras, and how it can be used to enhance
the quality and impact of instructional feedback.
Technological Resources
Before you can begin to implement digital images into the feedback
process you must first gain access to a digital camera. The
first suggestion for gaining this access would be to ask the school
principal and/or technology coordinator if this technology already
exists within the school. If it does and you can gain access
to it, you are ready to get started. If not, you must acquire
it through other means which may include: (a) having your principal
or technology coordinator purchase it; (b) purchase it on your own
with the financial support of the school; (c) inquire about community
support (PTA or PTO); (d) writing a technology grant (numerous ones
are available); or (e) purchase your own personal digital camera.
In all of these cases you must first research and become familiar
with the different brands, specifications, and prices of the technology
that is available. This can be done using a Web search engine
such as Google (www.google.com), talking with technology specialists
(school or business), or comparing brands using the World Wide Web,
computer magazines, or consumer reports. While searching for
a digital camera, make sure the features and price meet your personal
and instructional needs. Things to look for when selecting a
digital camera may include (a) pixel count (quality or resolution
of the picture), the higher the pixel count, the better the quality
but the higher the price; (b) removable memory (how many pictures
you can take and store); (c) LCD monitors or view screens (lets you
instantly view the picture you have taken). This is essential for
using digital image technology within the gymnasium for instant feedback;
(d) battery power (looking for a better quality battery will give
you more time to take and view pictures without recharging); and (e)
special features (these may include clip motion, takes several quick
pictures in a sequence, and MPEG movie mode, which lets you take limited
size movies). With these suggestions and helpful hints in obtaining
the most appropriate digital camera for your needs you are begin to
use this digital technology to enhance instruction through feedback.
Feedback
There are many areas and issues related to instructional feedback
but we will only be concerned with a few. Feedback is defined
as information the learner receives on performance (Rink, 2002).
Feedback can be positive or negative, evaluative or corrective, specific
or general, class, group, or individual, and congruent or incongruent.
When using digital images to provide feedback the intent is that the
feedback will be specific in nature, focusing on and conveying specific
information to the learner on performance. The feedback should
also focus on giving the learner information on what to do or what
not to do in future performances (corrective feedback) and/or placing
a value judgment concerning how well or poorly a task was performed
(evaluative feedback). In any case, whatever type of feedback
you provide or have the students focus on should be congruent, giving
the learner information on their performance or results that are directly
related to what the learner was asked to focus on.
Using digital images to provide feedback
When using your digital camera within the physical education environment,
the teachers have some basic responsibilities that include (a) providing
the instructional tasks for the students to be engaged in; (b) providing
an understanding and knowledge base for the use of this form of technology
in physical education; (c) providing access and instructions to students
for the handling and use of this technology; and (d) providing instruction
and guidelines for using this technology to provide feedback or just
providing feedback in general.
Cont'd in next column |
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| High Performing Secondary
Physical Education Programs Already Use Digital Images to Enhance
Student Learning |
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Sixty-two different high schools in South Carolina were required
to submit evidence to the Department of Education that their physical
education program was producing students that m et the state physical
education standards. The state mandated program assessment,
the South Carolina Physical Education Assessment Program (SCPEAP),
required schools to submit videotape, cognitive tests, exercise
contracts, and fitness scores for a sampling of students, across
the teachers. Each school submitted evidence that the teacher(s)
had assessed their students using the SCPEAP materials. These
materials were evaluated by a committee and either accepted as reliable,
or reject ed. A weighted score was created to represent a
schools performance.
As part of my dissertation I visited five high and five low performing
secondary physical education programs. I compared several
school and department characteristics. A finding related to
this issue of the PELINKS4U newsletter was that high performing
physical education programs use a wider variety of teaching methods
in an attempt to help their students. One of those strategies
was to use digital images. Teachers, in high performing schools,
used this strategy more often then those in low performing schools.
This is only a small piece of what we are learning about the practices
at high and low performing schools.
For more information about the SCPEAP
read the JOPERD article, entitled High Stakes Assessment
in South Carolina or visit the SCAHPERD web site.
Rink, J., Mitchell, M., Templet on, J., Barton, G., Hewitt, P.,
Taylor, M., Dawkins, M. & Hohn, R. (2002). High stakes assessment
in South Carolina, Journal of Physical Education, Recreation
and Dance, 73(3).
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Questions to Ask, or
Thoughts to Share?
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The students also have some responsibilities when using digital
technology within the gymnasium that include (a) knowing what critical
elements to look for; (b) knowing and understanding different types
and forms of feedback; (c) demonstrating knowledge of performance
from digital images; (d) providing self and peer feedback responsibility;
(e) being able to determine changes in performance or results; and
(e) using and caring for the technology appropriately.
How do we actually use the digital camera to provide this feedback?
(Sample assessment using digital images).
Once student are active, the teacher moves around the learning environment
and positions themselves so they may obtain a picture (digital image)
that shows specifics of the students movements. This may take
some practice to develop an understanding and an “eye” for where
to look and at what specific time to take the picture so you can
capture these specific elements. This is a major strength
of digital technology in that if the pictures are of poor quality
they can instantly be deleted to free up space for more useful images.
Once you have captured a digital image you will need to make it
visible on the LCD view screen so that students can visually interpret
their movements. A Picture
is Worth a Thousand Words continued... |
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