Apps & Technology in PSPE

Integrating technology into Physical Education

One of the biggest problems educators in PE face is how to use technology in their lessons whilst keeping the students active? It is easy to be bamboozled by all the new applications and constant advances in technology which we feel we should be using, but how can we implement it without it taking up too much activity time?

At KIS, we have been integrating technology steadily, making sure that it doesn't eat into the students' physical activity and trying to ensure that when it is used, it is purposeful and will helping the pupils' understanding. We are also helped by having a good relationship with homeroom teachers who use spare time in class to use their ipads and go over the content they have learned in PE. With the older grades, this can be done as homework tasks.

Here are some of the technology platforms that we find useful using at KIS.

Seesaw

Seesaw is the main technology platform which we use and is linked to all the other subjects through the homeroom teacher. For PE, this is a great tool as students can comment on each others performances (as in the uploaded videos, left) and peer assess their work. With Seesaw, you can also give them formative or summative grades with the traffic light grading system and also can leave audio recordings or written comments for improvement.

GoPro

Linking in with Seesaw, we have been experimenting with GoPro's over the past year and have found their use to be very effective. As with the swimming video (right), you can see how clear the video is and this allows for great self and peer reflection. This is also great to use with all activities, especially dance, gymnastics and team games. We find however, that it is best to use the videos sparingly to add to their effectiveness and value. We also ask the homeroom teachers to let students reflect and comment on these in homeroom time so as to not eat into the practical time within PE.

Google Drive

This needs no explanation - if you're not using this, what are you doing?! From creating files, sharing documents, creating presentations - just about everything! In PE, this is great to link our GoPro videos to Seesaw so that it doesn't take too much time and memory to process.

Office Lens

This is a great app to use, not only in PE but for everyday work and life. The camera app is basically a scanner - it takes photos and then trims it down to look like a scanned document or photocopy. I use this a lot for the self reflections at the end of the unit or any other pieces of written work, which can then be tidied up.

Quik app

This is a fantastic app. I often use Quik to really 'big up' what the students are doing, especially to showcase a sports event in an assembly or for the school website/social media feed. The great thing about this app is that it takes no time at all to make the video - all the editing and music is done by the app itself. All you have to do is take some quick videos on your ipad/phone and the app will do the rest!

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