Final Reflection for 6711

When looking back at my Week 1 Application, it was hard to believe that I wrote that piece in this course.  Just six weeks ago I had a much more narrow-minded approach to student learning.  While my Personal Theory on Learning has not over gone a radical alteration since that time, it has definitely become more detailed and included more strategies.

It is still my belief that particularly in Physical Educaton that practice and repetition are the foundation by which content becomes instilled in the mind of a learner.  Learning also occurs when the learner makes an emotional connection with the content (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011).  In addition to these prior beliefs, though, the importance of a social component can not be ignored.

Throughout this course, concepts such as social constructionism and Connectivism were introduced and stressed the importance of cooperative learning.  Cooperative Learning is a cornerstone in Physical Education because of the many activities and games that are practiced using partners or teams.  While this is quite beneficial, technology allows for further collaboration.

The ability to incorporate video, either through a collaborative suite or a Virtual Field Trip is a great tool to have at my disposal.  Virtual Field Trips are a great way to provide more accurate and detailed information to the student then ever could be achieved within the confines of the classroom.  At first, I struggled to grasp what VFT could fit for Phys. Ed., but once I realized that exercise workout routines, yoga workouts and other expert-led lessons were possible, I could grasp a wealth of potential trips to plan.

In addition to incorporating more video into my lessons, another immediate adjustment to be made has to do with incorporating of VoiceThread.  I really liked this interface and felt that having students collaborate on videos would be an ideal homework for my content area.  This leads into my long-term adjustments that have come from this course.  Homework has always been tricky for me to implement because so much of what is taught needs activity.  The VoiceThread allows for collaboration and a better understand of how to perform the activities themselves and therefore sometime that I want to maintain for a long time going forward.  By utilizing web video, students can stay active in class but collaborate on concepts when activity is not possible.

The other technological tool that I would like to instill in my FitnessGram and Weight Training units is a spreadsheet.  The data that is available from these units is massive and if I can focus on getting this information back to the student, it can benefit them.  Additionally, if I can uncover the areas where students are lacking, it will help me better construct my lessons to improve on such areas.  Just the other day I found out that FitnessGram has a smart phone Application, and I plan on looking in to how I can utilize that.

In Physical Education, having the students get enjoyment out of an active environment is the best way that they will maintain a healthy lifestyle, but by incorporating the technology discovered in this course, I can further aid these students for memory, cooperation and fitness.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Program two: Brain research and learning [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1