"Get Your Students Moving"

 I read the article, “Get Your Students Moving”. This article looked at how to incorporate physical education and technology in order to enrich student learning. This is something that I have been interested in looking into since the class began.  I have learned a number of ways to incorporate technology into the classroom but always wondered where physical education and technology crossed paths.

                The article really provided a number of great ways that you can incorporate technology, physical education, and classroom material. The article states, “Often by the time students enter the gym, they have been sitting at their desks for a long time. Allowing them to move and interact with their classmates in a different manner can refocus them and enable them to see classroom material in a new way” (pg 34). I think that this statement is really important to the success of students. For many of them sitting in a desk for 6+ hours is tough, and physical education gives them a chance to release some of that energy as well as reaffirm what they have been learning.

                One of the examples given in the article explains how a school taught their students about the 2010 Winter Olympics and used Skype to meet someone who worked on the logistics team for the Olympics. I thought this was a great way to incorporate technology while gaining the interest of students. 

                The article ends saying, “While it takes time to think of the new ideas to connect PE to technology and the academic classroom, ultimately the students are enriched. So start collaborating with your colleagues, be creative, and take some risks. Every discipline needs to teach digital age skills, creativity, problem solving, and global awareness (pg 35). I think as a future educator this statement is important to remember, especially when it comes to taking risks and working together with other educators.

                I think that this article appeals to all of the NETS standards in some way. However I am choosing to focus on NETS standard 2. This standard states, “2. Communications and Collaboration: Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.” I think the use of Skype is a perfect example of fulfilling this standard. It says that many of the students asked to continue Skyping with the person that they meet from the Olympics which shows that this tool peeked their interest.

Fisher, Betty Ann. (2011). Get Your Students Moving. Learning and Leading with Technology. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading.aspx.