TPCK Chapter 10 Reflections

Margaret Nerney
EDU 583- Cohort 1
Chapter 10: The role of TPCK in physical education
Due: March 25, 2009
At first glance, I would have missed the need for technology in the physical education classroom. I was of the mindset that the kids were mostly hands-on and real world. I believe that this is one of my areas for improvement. I need to broaden my definition of technology and its variety of uses. I limit myself and the tools available by keeping that narrow view of technology as a laptop.
This chapter certainly spent a great deal of time reflecting on the importance of technology for data collection. This felt so foreign to me. The only “data” I collect is in the form of grades that I enter into PowerSchool. I see that the physical education teacher would certainly need more data than that. The idea of utilizing pdas to ease the burden of data collection made perfect sense, but I agree that the cost of those materials would not be easily justified. It made me wonder how many other teachers could benefit from their use and why we don’t have more sharing of these devices. If we were all trying to use the same tools, we would have more grounds for justifying the cost.
When I first read that there is a great deal of technology used in the gym, I could only imagine “Dance, Dance Revolution.” Again, I limited myself to a video game and its minimal benefits. It never occurred to me to view bikes, stair steppers, and other such machines as technology. These are certainly expensive, but it would seem that with the rising obesity rates that the needs for health and wellbeing would out-way the financial burden. I know that our physical education teacher at the high school certainly promotes individual programs and technologies that meet each students comfort level. “Dance, Dance Revolution” seemed to be the hit that got everyone off of the benches and into action. This is what we need. In a world of Nintendo Wii where kids can throw their own bowling balls and participate in action packed softball games from the comfort of their own homes, we need to meet them half way, if not all the way there.
I know that my classroom will never be as mobile and hands-on as physical education, but I can still learn to be more open minded about the uses of technology and what constitutes it. I was just thinking about all of the supplemental aids that I could be utilizing to meet some of these kids part way. I could try to include more use of the smartboard to allow them the opportunity to get hands-on and feel more engaging. The important thing for me is to keep my eyes and mind open while navigating this wide-open technology sea.