Physical Education | teaching meets technology

Practically overnight virtual reality (VR) technology has become our reality, and more and more educational applications are becoming available. Using a $9 viewer and a smartphone you can enhance student learning by using VR technology in your classroom. Here’s one way to get started using this technology in the physical education classroom.

VR Basics

As used in our classroom, there are 3 basic components that provide the VR experience:

the smartphone
the viewer (we use a cardboard version)
the phone app, website, or file that displays media in VR format

The smartphone provides the media (what is seen, heard, or interacted with) by accessing an app, website, or file. The viewer is the mechanism that holds the phone and makes what appears on the the phone screen appear realistic when looked into. Viewers come in different forms from cardboard designs that costs as little as $9 to more elaborate models that vary in price depending on functionality.

How We Used VR Technology In Our Phys Ed Class

The traverse climbing wall is a major component of our climbing unit, and I was excited to show students how the skills developed while climbing this wall compared to those needed to climb in a natural setting. As I explored the internet and Google Earth looking for 360° views of rock climbers I happily came across Google Treks. Google Treks is an in-depth VR experience that as explained by Google explores “some of the most interesting places in the world”, including our classroom’s journey up the vertical rock formation known as El Capitan in Yosemite National Park.

Starting at the base of the base of the the rock climb and moving all the way to the top students learn about the equipment, technique, basic needs, and history of the climbers featured in El Capitan 360° VR climb. The website provides a wealth of information about different parts of the climb, while the 360° view opened in the Google Street View App shows the setting. We used stations during our climbing unit, and while at the VR station students saw the 360° VR climb using the viewer and then read about what they saw by looking at the visual fact sheet I created using the facts from the website.

At any given time, students were talking about the climbers, the scenery, and the rocks that were being climbed. Students were pointing up as they discussed what they were seeing, and one student even commented that she, “Really felt like she was sitting in the dirt looking at the climber!” After viewing the scene students connected what they saw in VR to what they do while climbing the wall by answering a quick reflection question.

Procedure

The smartphone, VR viewer, internet, and Google Street View app were all that was needed to complete this virtual climb. I bookmarked the El Capitan Climb on my smartphone’s internet browser for easy access, and opened the specific part of the climb I wanted students to view that day by clicking “Explore”.

Once opened, the scene has various interactive options. First, by moving the phone in space you can view 360° of the scene. Second, there are small white circles that when clicked share facts about the climbing scene being viewed (this is where I got the facts for our scene fact sheet). Third, there are options to share the scene on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook. Finally, the 360° VR climb can be opened using Google Maps, which will open up automatically in the Street View app. In our classroom I did the latter by clicking on “Google Maps”.

Once opened in the Google Street View App, all you need to look for is the mini VR viewer icon to start the 360° VR climb.

You will know that the phone is ready to be placed in the viewer when the view appears to look like it is being seen through a big pair of goggles. Turn the phone so that the image appears upright and place in viewer to begin the 360° view of different parts of the El Capitan climb.

Final Considerations

Although some preparation was needed initially, I was able to put the phone to sleep and turn it back on with the VR view screen opening right up. This meant that I only had to use the internet bookmark and open the VR view for the first class of the day and could just unlock my smartphone to access the VR climb from thereon. Next, with safety as the first priority, students used the viewer while seated. As you download and use the VR capability of Google Street View, additional considerations are presented.

I would love to hear how you are using VR in your classroom. I am extremely curious about Google Excursions if you can share how you have applied it into your lessons.

*All virtual reality image screenshots obtained from: https://www.google.com/maps/about/behind-the-scenes/streetview/treks/yosemite/

It is a very exciting time in education. New technology is allowing us to create blended learning experiences that enhance student learning. Best of all, students are motivated and become more involved in their own learning process as they synthesize information to construct knowledge. Nearpod is a website and app that allows teachers to share real-time presentations that include a variety of media and interactivity. Whats more, student interactions and submissions are available as a report for teachers to view. Below, the use of Nearpod in Sport Education units is discussed.

In addition to being an effective tool for teaching important concepts and cues of an activity or sport, Nearpod is a great way to engage and motivate students in their sport education unit. The presentation format makes it possible to incorporate many different types of media including images and video while the interactive assessment and activities are excellent for checking for understanding and developing sport education materials.

Let’s examine the use of Nearpod in my 6th grade physical education class where students used nearpod to learn about offensive strategies, develop team plays for playbooks, and to create team flags . Each student in my class accesses Nearpod from their iPad using the session code- no need to create accounts which is one of my favorite parts of this program. After entering their first name, the teacher paced presentation asked a few pre-assessment questions.

Student offensive play created using Nearpod

The following slides taught students about offensive strategies: what they are, their purpose, and 4 strategies they can use in class (give and go, moving to open space, running routes, and creating plays). After learning about each, student’s saw a demonstration of each strategy from videos imported into Nearpod from PowerPoint . Following the last strategy, which was creating a play, students used the drawing feature to create and name a play of their own. This play was later printed and added to their team’s playbook, which was used during gameplay.

Students planning their running routes for a play in their playbook.

The final activity of creating the team flag was planned by the entire team, and only submitted by the team’s coach. Students always get REALLY into this part, it’s great! The flag was displayed underneath the team name on the scoreboard.

Team flags created by students using Nearpod. Flays were displayed on scoreboard with team points.

In all the Nearpod presentation took about 20 minutes. Within this time students were pre-assessed, taught a concept, created team plays, and made team flags. The use of Nearpod alleviated the need for passing out pencils and papers, drawing/showing demonstrations, and multiple transitions. Besides creating the presentation, all that was required was accessing the submission report and printing the team flags and plays.

In what ways have you used Nearpod in Physical Education?
More About Nearpod:

Using nearpod in the classroom provides information to both students and teachers. As students view the presentation, they are shown slides that can include videos, images, text, websites, pdf files, and audio- thus allowing teachers to present content in multiple ways. Slides can also include interactive features like open ended questions, fill in the blank, multiple choice, and drawing. As the teacher you are not only sharing lesson content with students, but also learning from their submissions via a visual report displays student participation, answers, and reflections.This data helps drive instruction and expose student understanding.

Student using the interactive drawing feature of Nearpod to respond to a question

teaching meets technology

@michellereiser

Tag Physical Education

Virtual Reality in PE to Rock Climb Yosemite

Nearpod to Enhance Sport Ed in Phys Ed

The final activity of creating the team flag was planned by the entire team, and only submitted by the team’s coach. Students always get REALLY into this part, it’s great! The flag was displayed underneath the team name on the scoreboard.

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The final activity of creating the team flag was planned by the entire team, and only submitted by the team’s coach. Students always get REALLY into this part, it’s great! The flag was displayed underneath the team name on the scoreboard.

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