PE Today?

What kind of technology do you think of when you think of Physical Education? Do you picture wiki's and blogs being a part of it? Do you still imagine PE being about a lifetime of bad memories and demeaning experiences?

Physical Education, today, incorporates different types of technology than most academic classroom settings. I am not saying we can't incorporate blogs, wiki's, and internet searches in PE, but it demands a different type of technology at this point. PE is a performance class. In a PE class students have to physically perform skills, exert physical effort, sweat, and be an active participant during the class period, everyday. Students can not sit and hide behind a desk. Assessment involves movement and if they are not moving, it is very easy for their grade to drop, and drop quickly. We as PE educators need to make classes motivating and challenging in a different way than classroom teachers. If we could bring in some of the latest PE technology, it would help motivate students to incorporate movement and wellness into their daily lives.

So, what kind of technology are we talking about? Well, if you have been to a "gym", YMCA, or fitness center recently you have probably seen or utilized this technology. Items such as treadmills, ellipticals, heart-rate monitors and fitness-testing systems, which measure flexibility, blood pressure, body composition, upper-body strength, and cardiovascular health, to name a few. These items and many others are in the facilities mentioned above. They are also in many of our spare rooms and basements collecting dust or being used as clothing trees. The point I am trying to make is if we can start to build our PE repertoire of technology "toys", teach our students how to utilize these pieces of technology and make them a part of their daily lives, it will enhance their quality of life.

PE classes, today, need to be about developing a healthy lifestyle, and not focus on how to throw a baseball or make a jump shot. By teaching our students how to improve cardiovascular health through the use of the available technology we can help them develop healthy lifestyle habits.