Social Learning Tools in the Physical Education Classroom
Collaborative Project
Working alongside two of my classmates, we created a ‘Best Practices’ guide to support the integration of Web 2.0 tools into a face-to-face physical education (P.E.) classroom
Target audience: High School P.E. Teachers in a face-to-face instruction role
Tools used: Adobe Spark, Google Drive
Year: 2020
Overview
I worked alongside two of my classmates, Renae Hall and Lena Schorr, to create a ‘Best Practices’ guide to support the integration of Web 2.0 tools into a face-to-face P.E. classroom. The information we compiled needed to be engaging and easy to access which led us to the Adobe Spark platform. Adobe Spark was not conducive to synchronous collaboration; only one user could edit the presentation at a time. However, the benefits of the tool outweighed any hindrances we encountered.
EMDT Program Learning Goal(s):
Students will evaluate and create instructional media and technology to support teaching and learning.
Students will participate in and contribute to communities of practice and professional networks.
Students will effectively communicate educational technology trends to stakeholders, grounding their findings in research.
Instructional Goal of the Artifact: Introduce Web 2.0 tools to high school P.E. teachers and encourage incorporation of those tools into their classroom.
Process
Adobe Spark offered a visually pleasing platform to share bite-sized information. Part of the visual appeal included the ‘Glideshow’ feature. Instead of a normal deck of slides, each topic was displayed in a dynamic, parallax format. We wanted this project to be a helpful resource for any physical education instructor looking to integrate Web 2.0 tools into their classroom. This format enables users to scroll through the information at their own pace and engage with each topic in a different manner.
O’Reilly (2007) characterizes Web 2.0 tools “as web-based platforms with simple-to-use interfaces that enable users to collectively contribute and share large amounts of information.” It was only fitting to use a Web 2.0 tool to share the benefits of other social technology. As instructors, it is important for us to experiment and use tools that we are not familiar with.
Revision
After revisiting this project for revision, I reviewed the instructional design principles discussed in other courses. For example, in Clark’s (2012) video about e-learning and media, he suggests that instructors not silo themselves with certain tools. As an educator, we need to be interdisciplinary and choose the tools that best fits the message we are trying to convey. This collaborative project incorporated multiple Web 2.0 tools and encourages educators to share their preferences in hopes of diversifying the average instructor’s tool belt.
Final Collaborative Presentation
Results and Takeaways
The final product was fun to produce and hopefully, informative for any high school physical educator. We concluded with a call to action: share this with your own professional network and follow us on Twitter! We created a hashtag, #PEtechtools, to allow easy interaction on social media. This call to action directly references our growing professional network which aligns with the EMDT program’s goal of contributing to communities of practice and professional networks. Whitaker et al. (2015) mention that connected educators share their professional practice on their personal blogs or social media accounts to highlight the strategies that work and share the mistakes they have made. We hope the success in our project gives other instructors the tools needed to confidently integrate more technology into their classroom.
References
Clark, R. (2012, January 4). Technology can help learning when inspired by pedagogy and sound instructional design principles. [Fajara E-Learning and Media]. AECT legends and legacies: Dr. Richard Clark [Video file]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPKccnvjL20
O’Reilly, T. (2007). What is Web 2.0—design patterns and business models for the next generation of software. Communications and Strategies, 65, 1, 17–37.
Whitaker, T., Zoul, J., & Casas, J. (2015). What connected educators do differently. New York, NY: Routledge
