Using iPads in PE and Sports Education

 

In 2013, several University of Greenwich lecturers from the Primary and Secondary Education departments participated in a project called “Development of the use of ICT in PE and Sport: iPad”.  The project team consisted of Dr. Jackie Farr, Andrew Flynn, Andy Freeman, Alex Gibson, and Roz Hornsby.  They were given iPads to use within their teaching to assist with giving formative feedback.  The group identified five project aims:

1. To develop students knowledge and understanding of the use of ICT in PE across key stages 1-4 (Primary and Secondary Education).
2. To enable students to become more confident and effective users of technology and PE in sport.
3. To research, build and test a portfolio of apps that could be important in the development of course assessment and for use with pupils in schools.
4. To develop students’ ability to observe, analyse, fault find and correct in a range of sports and physical activities.
5. To use the iPad in Physical Education taught sessions.

For each of those aims benefits, challenges, and specific tools were highlighted.  Following are two of the main benefits described.  The first reflects an advantage of using iPads in teaching for learners and the second reflects an advantage for lecturers.

Benefits

1. Provides immediate feedback (either peer to peer or lecturer to student).
   1. Example: Students can use videos taken on the iPad to refer back to what they had just done and make corrective changes.  This is applicable to dance sequences, swimming strokes, etc.  Additionally students can compare videos of themselves to those of professionals or more experienced people in their field.

Why this matters: The students have developed confidence and the visual feedback has acted as a catalyst to their level and rate of improvement. 

2. Provides ease and flexibility in assessing students and aids in facilitating overall communication between staff members.
   1. Example: iPads were effective in communicating information to all parties responsible in the process of using and recording completed observation reports.  Additionally, have videos of student performance allows moderation to occur at a time convenient for all members of staff.  Plus, the technicalities of performance can be thoroughly assessed due to the ability to replay the video multiple times.

Why this matters: The lecturers can use their time more efficiently and assessments can be scheduled easier since moderation can be done at a later date.  Further, students who are absent on the day of the exam can have their performance videoed and emailed to the moderator increasing the speed of summative feedback.  Additionally, staff can continue to communicate and share ideas while off-site.  They’re able to make notes about students or keep registers and email them to other members of staff who are teaching on the same day, etc.

 Challenges

As with most technologies, there are both pros and cons of using them.  The project leaders mentioned four main challenges with using the iPads in their teaching.

1. Internet connections – if the venue or area where the performance is taking place doesn’t have a strong Internet signal, some functions of the iPad may be unavailable.
2. Weather conditions – due to the nature of the screen, glare from the sun and adverse conditions such as rain or extreme heat make using the iPad outdoors a bit challenging.
3. iPad size – while outdoors the iPad needs to be held with one hand while typing is done with the other.  This slows the typing process.  Further, viewing A4 sized reports is difficult because the onscreen keyboard takes up half of the screen and requires regular scrolling.
4. One iPad is unsuitable for large groups – groups couldn’t always see the work they were producing when there was just one iPad for the entire class.

Tools

One of the aims of this project was to develop a portfolio of iPad apps that could be used.  Find a list of some of their favourites below.  Many of the apps were chosen because of their unique coaching features.

• Coach My video* – records a video of match play using and analyses performance by reviewing the video using frame by frame control, uses annotation in video analysis and frame capture to highlight strengths and weaknesses
• Coach’s Eye* – compares shot production technique with pre-loaded examples of basic strokes
• 10 second Telestrator – allows analysis of sports video clips and 10 second segments can be played in slow motion, paused and reversed.  Motion analysis sessions can be recorded including markup and voice-over.
• iMovie –  allows creation and production of videos taken on the iPad.
• iAnalyze – allows for video analysis, frame by frame viewing, a drawing tool for animation, a stopwatch, and a protractor for measuring angles
• iNSTA-PRO Track & Field Analyzer – provides easy integration of video during practice and instant visual feedback
• SwimPosition – provides instant access to graphics which explain correct stroke technique
• Dartfish East Tag – allows students to analyse successful and unsuccessful shots
• BGA Pro – the only app that allowed students to track rallies without using video analysis
• Pages – lecturers used pages to create ‘in situ’ observation reports
• Drop Box – used to store and retrieve observation reports
• Outlook – used to send completed reports to students, mentors and university administrative staff

* These have been the most used apps amongst the students because they can email their performances to themselves to be used at home.

Conclusion

Dr Jackie Farr concluded that,

“rather than focus on how practice has changed, perhaps one of the outcomes of the project will be that we develop practice after the outcomes of the project are known.  One example relates to the ability for iPad users to share practical footage with other staff… Such a process could provide evidence of parity, or otherwise, between different practical activity areas and, if gained in an unobtrusive manner, could ensure equity and be used in feedback in the external moderation process.”

If you would like to talk to someone about how you and your students might make good use of iPads or other mobile devices in your courses, get in touch with the Greenwich Connect team. We’ll be glad to discuss this with you.