I think online physical education defeats the purpose of physical education. I believe that in a physical education class students are able to develop many skills that are needed in life. Students are able to encounter social interactions, build relationships between one another, compete at a healthy level, develop critical thinking under pressure and actually participate in an activity. Without actually meeting as a class I do not see what the point of online physical education really is.
I think that the online grading would be ridiculous. Since the teacher can online do things online how can a student actually get feedback worth anything. There are no immediate results. If I am doing a skill completely wrong but I have no one to correct my technique, then it is worthless for me to even be wasting my time. Students can not learn a skill through a video or voice recording. A student needs a teacher if they are going to learn a skill.
To be a real physical education class there needs to be a teacher and students in the same area at the same time actually doing something physical. Meeting online does not count. The best option for children is to be participating in physical education class with other children developing skills needed to progress in life.
I agree with a lot of the claims stated above concerning the life skills developed in a physical education setting and the difficulty of providing feedback for students. I do however think that with more advanced technology in the future, accurate feedback may be possible through video analysis or something along those lines. However, I assume that these technologies will not be available or affordable to schools any time in the near future and frankly I do not think that spending this money would really be worth it since traditional physical education is a system that has been working for years and, as stated in the blog posting, the best option for children to participate in physical activity.
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