Teaching with Technology Philosophy Statement

Technology can be beneficial to the teaching environment in a physical education classroom. Equipment such as heart rate monitors will help students to learn what their body feels like when working out at their target heart rate rather than having them guess, and never achieve this ideal zone for cardiovascular and physical health. Fitness videos can also be a helpful use of technology for this setting. While teachers may lead cardio workouts, videos provide even more variety. Further, these can allow the teacher to circulate the classroom to make sure that the students are executing the moves correctly, which they could not do from the front of the class.

Another benefit of technology in P.E. is in administrative tasks, such as preparing the lessons or taking attendance. It is easy to create lesson plans on a computer, and search the web for supplemental material to include as well. Further, computers can be used to assess improvement of students, track their progress and help determine goals.

However, I don’t think that teachers should rely only on technology for teaching physical education. It is important that they teacher be able to demonstrate tasks and explain well how to play various sports and activities rather than use video clips or film. This makes it more hands on and easy to learn for students when teachers perform live task presentations. This is because they can be viewed from multiple angles, slowed down, etc. as needed.

When used appropriately, technology can greatly add to teaching physical education. It can make it more fun and interesting for students in addition to helping them learn about the equipment that they may want to continue using later in life, such as heart rate monitors. However, it is important to keep in mind that using technology should supplement the lessons, and teachers should not primarily rely on it. Ultimately, if it helps the students to learn and increase their physical activity in and out of the classroom, then technology should remain an aid in teaching P.E.