Introduction
In Physical education (PE) it is understood that there is the opportunity to develop the physical, cognitive, social and affective domains through a range of different teaching styles and learning theories (Bailey et al, 2009; Winnick, 2011). The lesson evaluated for this assignment aims for the students to develop their ability to socialise and progress their skills with the use of an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) resource with support from keywords provided on the board (Appendix 3 – Lesson Plan). This process is linked in with the National Curriculum for Physical Education (NCPE) as it states that Pupils should be taught to analyse their performances compared to previous ones and demonstrate improvement to achieve their personal best while being encouraged to work together to solve problems individually and as a group (DfE, 2013). Pupils’ progress would be evaluated through engagement, resilience and performance levels of the students during the lesson.
Furthermore, the lesson also aimed to develop an aspect in which was linked with the scheme of work used. This aim was ‘to use peer/self-analysis to develop performance in front of others’ (Appendix 4) and to develop aspects of the wider curriculum, which in this case were ICT, literacy and social skills. These areas were planned into the lesson by the AT carefully to increase the chance of overall pupil progress (Appendix 3). The AT wanted the students to be able to use an iPad to record their sequence, assess their performance, and then socialise using the keywords to progress their skills and gymnastic performance to a higher level. Groups were carefully formed by the AT in order to maximise performance and have minimal disturbance as being able to socialise is extremely important as small group interactions in PE can increase the level of achievement within lessons (Metzler, 2011) with an aim being for students to recognise and develop their ability within Gymnastics through interaction (Appendix 3). ICT in PE is of relevance within professional practice as the integration of ICT resources into PE and what effect it has on students’ progress has been a topic discussed within literature. Benefits and drawbacks of its uses will be highlighted.
The class involved was a year seven girl’s class within placement A. Within the school in which the teaching took place the proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is well below average, and very few speak English as an Additional Language (EAL). The percentage of students with Pupil Premium (PP) is above average, and the number of pupils with disabilities and Special Educational Needs (SEN) is well above average (Appendix 1) In this class, there are 20 year seven girls who range from a level W3 to a 3 (Appendix 2). Within the lesson, three students are K-SEN registered and five pupils who are Pupil Premium.
Literature review
Technology can support teaching, learning and assessment in PE (O’loughlin et al, 2013). The inclusion of ICT in PE has excellent potential, with classroom teachers understanding that effective teaching in the modern era demands the integration of technology into their teaching (Gubacs, 2004) as the last two decades have shown rapid advancement in technology providing a platform to enhance teaching and learning in schools (Green, 2002; Davis and Loveless, 2011). Koekoek et al (2018) elaborates on this by suggesting that many PE teachers are desperate to include technology in their teaching practice and that the use of smartphones, tablets, and video feedback can influence how students acquire, assess and develop movement skills linking to one of the main aims of the NCPE of ‘developing competencies’ (DfE,2013). Not only does the use of technology in teacher’s pedagogical approach develop the movement skills of pupils, but technology can also help teachers to control student’s progress towards motor skill goals; provide feedback opportunities and assessing students learning (Finkenberg et al, 2005).
Weir and Connor (2009) suggest that technology and more specifically video technology, when incorporated into the classroom setting, has created a common theme of altitudinal motivational benefits. Other benefits are highlighted as student engagement, collaboration and active learning (Wieder, 2011). Additional to these benefits, its emphasized that the use of video can facilitate students with dissimilar learning styles (Burn et al, 2001) such as Visual, Auditory and Kinaesthetic learners as promoting effective teaching and learning can aid visual learners, facilitate individual development and be useful for assessment purposes (Weird and Connor, 2009). This statement shows that all learners under the right supervision can use ICT to their advantage and have the opportunity to progress. Stressing that If educators do not manage to supervise correctly then students learning will be unsuccessful as teachers are not catering for all students (Capel and Whitehead, 2015), which is why it is vital that technology is effectively implemented and integrated into the classroom in order to have a positive effect (O’Loughlin et al, 2013).
The ICT resource will create a different environment for the students in comparison to what they are used to which can enhance interaction, in turn developing student’s ability to socialise (Garn et al, 2011). Students being able to socialise and discuss each other’s performances will provide students the opportunity to become owners of their learning through social situations (Kelly and Melograno, 2015). Not only can the students become owners of their learning, but the development of these social skills can be significant as they can be considered to be a key aspect in a student’s intelligence as well as influencing later life (Merrell and Gimpel, 2013). Disruptions to the development of these social skills can contribute to psychological distress, social isolation and reduced self-esteem (Beauchamp and Anderson, 2010) which will affect students’ progress, hence why it is so important to attend to social skills through collaborative and constructive learning. In this case, using ICT as a facilitator to socialise and improve learning outcomes as it provides the opportunity to engage in different behaviours such as comparing and contrasting ideas (Lam and Muldner, 2017) and becoming owners of their learning (Kelly and Melograno, 2015). In addition to this, students are empowered to take more responsibility for their own and their peers learning, especially when trained and taught to use ICT (Chow et al, 2014) as students can utilise the iPad to the highest level as it is appealing for them, encouraging active problem-based learning (Pellett et al, 2009) and higher -order thinking skills (Fu, 2013). Ghaznavi et al (2011) conclude this by proposing relevant areas that the use of ICT has been active on such as motivation, question making skills and increase in curricular scores.
There have been a few disadvantages of integrating ICT into PE lessons concerning pupil progress, but the main concern is that it is challenging for educators to do so due to a selection of reasons. Firstly, a primary concern is the availability and support of technology in schools having an effect on the technology integration efforts made by teachers (Fu, 2013) which is displeasing because with adequate and reliable access to hardware, software and sufficient technical support, teachers can be more productive in planning to enhance pupils’ progression (Chen, 2010). This issue is mainly due to the culture of the school as integrating technology into education for teachers very much depends on the perception and vision of the school rather than the teacher (Plomp et al, 2007) implying that educators do not get support. The majority of PE departments report a lack of training in; using ICT, dealing with technical problems and the challenges that arise which obligates many teachers to take a more traditional approach of verbal explanations and demonstrations (Legrain et al, .2015). Furthermore, educators perceive that they are unable to integrate technology into their teaching due to funding so do not consider the idea (Eberline and Richards, 2013). It also confines teachers from applying ICT into their education due to the lack of training, comfort levels, availability of equipment and time constraints resulting in technology not becoming a commonplace in PE (Martin, 2003 cited in Gibbone et al, 2010).
Additionally, teachers have evaded the idea due to an absence of motivation, the pressure to advance test results (Liu and Szabo, 2009) and inadequate knowledge of how to integrate ICT into the curriculum (Honan, 2008). This ‘inadequate knowledge’ displays that students are not always getting the full benefits of ICT in education even though it has been recognised to influence students learning (Finkenberg et al, 2005) and affect the development and progression of students regarding their holistic growth. The iPad can act as a facilitator towards developing the different domains if integrated correctly, if not then the central area being affected can be the Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning within the (SEAL) programme. The SEAL Programme advocates that for schools that want to engage fully in the application of plans designed to promote and develop social and emotional learning, they recommend that resources and time are made accessible to the staff to permit them to do so (DfE, 2010). The application of the SEAL programme would then be reliant on the culture of the school as the incorporating of technology into education depends on the perception and vision of the school rather than the teacher (Plomp et al, 2007). The students’ progress will be impacted as it is down to the availability and support of technology in schools have an effect on the technology integration efforts made by teachers (Fu, 2013) which is a drawback as if teachers are provided with adequate and reliable access to hardware/software and sufficient technical support, they can be more productive (Chen, 2010).
Supplementary to this, there is a rhetoric of how ICT can be used and how it is used within education and that promises/expectations of widening participation, increased motivation and better levels of attainment is exaggerated (Selwyn, 2014). There is substantial research which suggests that technology in education can increase pupil motivation (Zach et al, 2016). Nonetheless, this conflicts with the view of Henderson and Yeow (2012) who identify the issue of the iPad creating distractions as students are so used to accessing social media on phones or computers that when faced with an iPad they can become inevitably distracted and find themselves on applications and websites they should not be accessing.
Lesson Evaluation and reflection
The lesson was conducted over two weeks as time was a constraint when using the iPad as the lessons within placement A are relatively short, so these lessons will be discussed as a whole. At the start of the lesson, students were sat down and given a routine of the lesson and what it would involve. The observing teacher stated on the observation sheet that she liked how the AT sat the students down and were given a ‘’clear routine” of the lesson (Appendix 6). The AT insured that the lesson was carefully planned and that a competent knowledge was showcased when it came to integrating the iPad to avoid issues such as ‘lack of time’ highlighted previously by Pyle and Esslinger (2013). As this limited knowledge and experience of ICT in education can be seen as a barrier to learning for students (Honan, 2008; Kiridis et al, 2006). Which in turn will affect students’ progress. The idea of giving a ‘clear routine’ was to ensure the students knew behaviour expectations for the AT to keep control of the class as the iPad could disrupt learning (Henderson and Yeow, 2012) hindering progress.
During the lesson, students were asked to create a gymnastic sequence while linking in other parts of the curriculum. They looked at three keywords taken from the SOW on the board of Tension, extension and precision (Appendix 2) and had to craft a sequence. At this point, it was clear to see that the students were excited about using the iPad as the observing teacher mentioned in a professional discussion that students were ‘’Optimistic and engaged compared to previous lessons”. The students were engaged straight away, with the theme occurring throughout the lesson. Students knew they would be recording their performances and assessing themselves based on the keywords, focusing them on what constitutes success and supports them in assessing their own learning and progress (Bartlett, 2015) which meant the students were excited about the new learning environment and being involved in their Assessment for Learning.
These AfL methods paired with the use of the iPad can increase the level of motivation and engagement for students in the lesson as ICT influences learning and performance directly and indirectly, through the impact of motivation on performance (Legrain et al, 2015). The progress concerning the engagement of students was clear to see as when the AT mentioned using the iPad to assist with their learning, most of the students gave a positive and enthusiastic reaction. A few of the students who usually get easily embarrassed and didn’t want to attempt the skills in previous weeks fully engaged and asked questions like ‘’why can’t we use the iPad every week”. This comment proposes that they relished the use of the iPad and that engagement had improved in comparison to previous weeks. Again, this highlights how this change in environment (Garn et al, 2011) can have a different effect on the student’s motivation and engagement in lessons. Regarding the Teachers Standards, the engagement was excellent and graded one by the observing teacher (Appendix 7).
Although the climate was a motivational one, it was important that For the students to benefit from the iPad, they needed to be able to construct their learning socially. Resulting in the AT placing the students into specific groups as they were given a chance to construct knowledge through their interactions and engagements with others (Henderson and Yeow, 2012) and utilise the iPad to the highest level as student-produced digital video encourages active problem-based learning (Pellett et al, 2009) and higher -order thinking skills (Fu, 2013) creating challenge (Appendix 11) . The iPad was used to help students develop their skills through AfL (Appendix 11). The observing teacher wrote down on the observation sheet that ‘the iPad focuses the pupils on assessing their routine and making improvements’. The observing teacher then went on to say in a professional discussion that ‘’it was the best approach for the learning environment the students were in” and that it ‘’was clear to see that students had made progress due to being able to construct and assess learning in groups”. These comments highlight how well the iPad and the learning environment it created worked concerning pupil progress. It was evident to see the student’s social skills were developing as discussions between students were very informative with a clear aim of students wanting to develop their sequences which link back to the objectives of the lesson (Appendix 3) and the progress teaching standard(Appendix 11).
Moreover, it was evident that students were being challenged and the pitch of the lesson was right (Appendix 11) as, during students’ discussions, most of the students were thoroughly conversating to a high level. During this point, the AT and the observing teacher discussed the situation with each other where the observing teacher highlighted that ‘the use of the iPad was developing their cognitive and social skills at this point because they were figuring out how to improve their physical ability through social situations. In Contrary, the observing teacher specified in the same the lesson ‘’students have more of an understanding of the keywords and what they needed to improve, resulting in them showcasing higher level thinking skills, asking more questions and socialising to improve”. This evidence shows that the iPad can have an extraordinary impact on pupils’ progress as a whole. This is further backed up by the questionnaire where a student wrote ‘it makes us more confident” and ‘’I saw what I could improve” (Appendix 8) implying that the iPad has helped her become more confident and help her realise she can progress.
After close evaluation of this progress, the AT thought that the use of the iPad in the lesson had a positive effect as the majority of the students developed their gymnastic sequences. The AT noticed that most students thrived and were able to develop their gymnastic sequences and that the quality of the sequences was at a higher level. At the start of the lessons, the student’s sequences were graded at an average of 1. After the evaluation and improvement of their sequence, students were graded at an average of 3 (Appendix 9) based on the school’s key stage assessments as they could now perform showing control and fluency (Appendix 2). This is supported by a comment made from the observing teacher on the observation sheet that ‘’students made progress in their routine due to the iPad” (Appendix 6).
It was certain that the students had efficiently progressed within the lesson, but some issues did arise along the way. The iPad was not beneficial for all students. This is reinforced by answers and actions such as ‘I was bored because I have an iPad’, ‘I felt nervous because people watch you do it’ (Appendix 8) and disparity to this, a student that was excited by the iPad becoming distracted. This proposes to the AT that these students did not get the full benefits of the iPad, but an interesting point arose which was that all three of these students were SEN students; asking the question whether this impacted their ability to access the iPad? Frederick et al, (2006) suggested, special needs and anxiety can cause challenges when using ICT which can be seen in this observation. Due to the lack of experience of the AT, this was a problem unattended to as although the AT had a good understanding of the specific ICT software and the class dimension itself. It was a struggle for them to integrate the iPad to support all students in becoming successful and progressing them holistically.
Future Recommendations
Overall the gymnastics lessons went well as most of the students used the iPad and their social skills to progress their abilities in gymnastics. Although this is the case, it was evident that the use of the iPad to develop students’ abilities could have been enhanced further if the AT had more knowledge on how to implement the iPad into the curriculum. This implementation has been seen as a key issue and had effects mentioned by the observing teachers such as the ATs ability to ‘’stretch abler students” and ‘’differentiate the class and tasks” (Appendix 6). These observations highlight the importance of educators being able to implement the ICT resource efficiently into their pedagogy. As the more that teachers see the connection between technology and the content of the subject they teach, the more likely they are to develop a technology supported pedagogy (Hutchison and Reinking, 2011) through direct experience of how to handle technology in the classroom (Kiridis et al, 2006). The AT would reiterate Chens (2010) suggestion of encouraging educators to learn, then model how technology can be incorporated into teaching and learning to effectively teach and allow students to progress at a quicker rate avoiding any of the issues that arise as stated above. The AT would also recommend from experience that teachers gain a mutual understanding with the students of what is expected of them to avoid any distractions or behavioural issues, as the observing teacher suggested in a discussion that if the lesson were to be done again that it would be ‘’imperative” to stay on top of the behaviour and ensure all students were focused otherwise the objective of the lesson would not be achieved. Another way of overcoming this is ensuring there are progressions tasks in place for the more/less able as these tasks can allow students to be engaged, allowing for further learning (Lewin and Shoemaker, 2011).
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