I will admit that I take technology for granted. I grew up during the “Information Age,” where new things were being created all of the time. When I was in college, the internet was starting to catch on. There is no doubt that having daily access to the internet has changed my life. I can access news, weather, email, and shop all in a click of a button.
This shift in technology has also changed teaching. For me, I can easily go to the internet and access lesson plans or ideas for PE websites. If there’s a good and relative video online, I can access it and show my students. Communication is a lot better with internet access. Most of my students’ parents have email accounts and check them frequently. I can easily communicate with them whenever needed. If my students are out, they can email me to see what they missed. They can also submit assignments via email.
Grades are posted online, and parents and students have access to them. This, though, can cause problems. If I am late posted an assignment, I will sometimes hear from an upset parent. If a child receives a bad grade, the parent instantly knows and might call complaining.
In my class I do not use Smart Boards, but my school does have access to them. This is essentially an interactive white board. I have used Power Point with some presentations, but I do not use it that much in my Health classes.
As a coach, my cell phone has come in very handy. Not only do I have it on me at all times, but I can reach a parent, coach, or player whenever I need to. I often text my players to let them know about important information. Years ago, I would have had to call each player on a land line phone.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Coach Miles,
ReplyDeleteI am trying to put myself in your shoes (sports shoes right?)on how to integrate technology into your program. I do have a question. Do you teach health classes or strictly physical education. Health classes would be easier to implement technology. For P.E. classes, could you create a power-point presentation for your students on the activity you are about teach? For example if you are teaching the students to play volleyball then you could have a power point showing the rules and object of the game as well as students in game position. Just a thought.
It will be interesting to see what advice others come up with. Good Luck!
Coach,
ReplyDeleteWe have an instant alert system in place (mostly used for snow day notification) but is able to be set up for individual classrooms to inform parents of upcoming events. It contacts all the parents on the list at once with a message recorded by the teacher. What a time saver (and it limits parents changing the subject). Technology offers so many opportunities to utilize in new ways.
I also use an electronic grade book at school and will hear from parents if postings aren't right up to the moment. Even with it's down side, I'd rather accept that than having to hand compute grades for each student. My daughter played soccer and texting was how the coaches and girls communicated. Have you ever had any privacy issues with the students having your cell phone #? We get system wide text alerts for snow closings by text too.
ReplyDelete