AAHPERD 2005 Convention Reflections continued...

To me, what’s most important is that we recognize that pedometers, like any other piece of technology are just tools. Top quality PE programs don’t depend on special technology. They are the result of quality teaching by motivated educators. And as you already know quality teaching is quite possible without special equipment. Certainly a sufficient amount of the appropriate equipment helps us to teach better, but noticeably our best teachers refuse to let an absence of equipment inhibit their effectiveness.

In my mind it’s curriculum that is the key to a quality PE program. It’s not a very glamorous discussion topic but it’s at the core of good programs. So, with that in mind I was interested to hear what Luke Kelly and Vincent Melograno had to say about curriculum and a new form of technology.

Kelly and Melograno are the authors of the recently released Developing the Physical Education Curriculum. Although Kelly is better known for his work in the area of Adapted Physical Education, he has for many years tried to point out that assessment should be at the core of all PE teaching. Long before “assessment” became a trendy topic in most of our minds, Kelly helped to develop a PE curriculum planning process that encouraged teachers to begin with the end in mind. Assessment, he argued, allowed teachers to discover what their students could already do, rather than guessing what to teach and hoping some kind of learning would occur. He observed that most teachers planned lessons without much idea of student needs. And in response to protests about not having enough time to teach in PE let alone assess, he questioned how if we aren’t assessing we can be sure that we are actually teaching anything?!

Kelly and Melograno’s conference session wasn’t plugging their book but rather suggesting that we consider a new tool for assessment. Ten or more years ago, the release of Apple’s handheld PDA called the Newton, transformed our thinking about assessment. The Newton not only recognized handwriting but also allowed the electronic collection of data that could be carried around the gym then uploaded onto a personal computer. The Palm PDA followed and today we have a multitude of handheld devices that can serve as computers, phones, cameras, and more. For physical educators, faced with collecting assessment data on hundreds of students, the PDA has become the recording tool of choice. In contrast to paper and pencil, once data has been recorded electronically it can easily be manipulated and shared and avoid tedious and time-consuming copying.

However, as Kelly and Melograno pointed out PDAs have limitations. Because they are small they are difficult to read – especially for us older folks whose vision is failing! Data input requires multiple clicks and because of the small screen size only a limited amount of data can be displayed. According to Kelly and Molograno, once the novelty wears off, PDAs are often not used by PE teachers.

A possible alternative they suggested was a relatively new device called the Tablet PC. These are sized similar to a small laptop computer. Being larger and heavier is arguably their main disadvantage. But because they have a larger screen they are much easier to view and use, and enjoy the benefit of being fully functional computers. There is no uploading because data recorded on the Tablet PC goes immediately into a Windows based computer program. They can run any Windows program and also will recognize your handwriting (with a bit of practice). As both the price and weight of these devices drops you might want to investigate them as an alternative to a PDA.

The final session I’m going to report on was George Graham’s and Stephen Yang’s presentation on video games, entitled “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” Already popular in many schools, movement-oriented video games offer an alternative way to get students moving. As Graham rightly lamented, the days are gone when kids walk home from school only to immediately run outside and become absorbed in neighborhood play. Like it or not, video game-playing fascinates today’s youth. Until recently this was a disturbingly sedentary activity but now there are many games designed to get players moving. They can be played anywhere and don’t depend on teammates.

Graham and Yang observed that many avid video fitness games players are not youngsters who enjoy traditional physical activities. Also, while we can make changes to our PE programs we can’t change children’s homes. The popularity of game playing at home provides us with an opportunity to promote physical activity outside of our classes.

If you’ve not seen or played one of these games, now would be a good time to learn more. They can be played on all of the popular systems – X Box, Nintendo, and Play Station – and the equipment is not expensive. Players can set their own level of challenge and thereby control their success rate. Feedback is instant and it appears that both boys and girls enjoy the various challenges. Some teachers are now trying to make these games available to students outside of PE, before school, during recess, and after school. They can also be used in regular classrooms for activity breaks. All students can follow along while watching a large TV screen.

While I haven’t changed my unease about how easily technology can distract us from what’s really important in quality PE programs – the curriculum and the teachers – visiting this final session did at least relieve my stress of worrying about a convention take-home gift for my son. A video fitness pad now sits in front of our home TV. Just as was the case when I learned how to ride a unicycle, my new goal is to become fitness-video-game-playing-proficient-enough so I can show up to class soon with my mat and try to impress our PE majors with my newly learned fancy footwork.

Stephen C. Jefferies, Publisher
PELINKS4U