Of course when I learn about a new tech tool I always think, "how can I use this in P.E.?"
The first thing that came to mind with podcasts was commentating an athletic contest. This would allow students to better understand the concepts that we are trying to teach such as defensive strategy, passing to teammates, and moving to open space. By commentating, students would show their understanding of these concepts, and have fun as well!

Digital Video in P.E.

This topic intrigues me because physical education is an ideal setting to use digital video in. Students benefit from seeing how they perform (whether it be in a fitness or sport-specific setting). We place a large focus on form and execution in P.E. In order to achieve optimal results from strength training and flexibility activities it is important that they are done properly. The other exciting thing about using digital video to record students' performance is that middle schoolers (the age group that I teach) LOVE to use this type of technology. They are eager to record their classmates and often know exactly how to use the equipment. At the end of the assignment, they are able to take ownership over their learning AND work well with others.

So, I was trying to think of other ways to use wikis in the subject areas that I teach. Last week I posted an idea for P.E. use, so today I got to thinking about utilizing wikis in health. I read Carl Mackey's idea for collecting nutrition information and meal plans, which I thought was a great idea! Luckily, health is a subject area (like many others) that has a LOT of information in our curriculum. Another way wikis would be helpful in building collective knowledge is drug and alcohol information. There are SO many side effects that go along with various drugs that it is hard to keep track of them. If students could post this information (along with some drug nicknames and legal consequences) that would be an excellent reference (and organizational tool) for this information. I could check it daily to make sure the information is valid.

Wiki's and P.E??

So, of course when we started discussing/working on wiki's I immediately wondered how they could be applied to middle school P.E. and health. At first I thought, "well, maybe only in my health classes." But after a bit more thought I realized that utilizing wiki's would be a great way to bring together collective knowledge and rules about various sports and even fitness concepts. Although one student may not know EVERYTHING about a particular sport or activity, chances are that he/she knows a couple of facts. Therefore, if my students were to use wiki's (as we are now in the ITS program), I think they could possibly have a sense of ownership over something that they helped produce. In turn, it could be a reference that all students could use to understand various activities that we participate in throughout the school year. What are your thoughts on this??

Looking for Input!

I am starting my 2nd week of blogging. As I am learning more about it, I love the idea of having my students blog (particularly for the health portion of class). A lot of my eighth grade students are active users of online programs such as MySpace and FaceBook. Therefore, this seems interactive and ideal. Also, as pointed out by Richardson, a format like this allows the less outgoing students to participate comfortably. It would also be neat to see students responding to others who they do not normally socialize with.
The challenge that keeps entering my mind is; how do I keep the "social activity" out of the educational blogging without suddenly bringing down the students interest level? I would love to hear any suggestions that you may have!

Here we go...

In this blog, I would like to combine new knowledge of the Web and how it can be incorporated into physical education, and teaching in general. This is the first blog that I have created, and my only previous experience with them has been as a reader. In all honesty, I have only seen "social" blogs and I viewed them as a bit pretentious and "silly." After beginning to read Richardson's book, I see that blogs can be a great educational tool. I also really like the tools that can used on them, such as polling and comment posting.