Technology in #SportEd – Documenting Student Learning & Achievement

In my previous post Reflecting on a #SportEd Season: The Mustang Cup I shared with you how I recently implemented a SEPEP unit with my Grade 4 classes and what a huge success it was. In my reflection I mentioned that technology played a huge role in documenting student learning & achievement throughout this unit and in this post I will aim to share with you the tools that the students and I used and how we used them.

The meaningful integration of technology into the #SportEd project started right at the inception with the use of a Google Form on which the students could sign up for a job for our Mustang Cup (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/17SP3b-pVQTQImCi1iZ1x_qKqEk9QbVddw7oUVp2czlw/viewform). I asked the students to select two possible jobs and give me reasons as to why they were qualified to do that job, filling in the form using our class set of 4 iPad Minis.
Once I had the responses I read through their applications and assigned the jobs, posting them on our school PE blog (http://issphysed.weebly.com/mustang-cup.html).
We also used Google Forms at the conclusion of our Mustang Cup project to have the students feedback to me on their experience over the course of the unit as well as self and peer assess their own and classmates performances. Below you can see some examples of the data which was pulled from the feedback form.

 

I use Twitter a lot already as a way of documenting & celebrating learning within my #PhysEd program using our school PE twitter account (@issphysed). For our Mustang Cup project I used the hashtag #issmustangcup to document all the action. I know a lot of people who use Evernote love the ability to tag their posts to help them organise things. I think using hashtags in Twitter as a way of microblogging can serve a similar purpose in organising and making learning visible.
Just this week Twitter announced the ability to Create Your Own Custom Twitter Timeline through the use of TweetDeck. Below you can see a Twitter widget that I created using all of the tweets from the #issmustangcup hashtag. I love the way that it shows our whole project from start to finish in small bite size chunks.

Video tools played a huge part in documenting all the action of the Mustang Cup and were the technological tool that the students used and took control of the most. We used a variety of video tools for a variety of purposes all with the aim of uploading them to our ISS PE Youtube Account.
Once this was done I was able to create a playlist of all of the videos relating to the Mustang Cup which you can see below.

TouchCast
The tool we used the most to document the action on video was a fantastic app called TouchCast. TouchCast’s unique authoring environment allows you to add anything from the web, images and other interactive features like an ESPN ticker or Twitter feed to your video in real time. Our Mustang Cup Media Crew used this app very successfully to film interviews with different members of the project as well as make updates on the practice sessions. You can check out a quick how to video below.

Vyclone
Vyclone is a social video platform that lets you co-create, sync and edit multiple views of a shared moment. This app is perfect for creating “live multi camera” style coverage of a game taking place in your #PhysEd lesson. We used it during the Mustang Cup practices to capture some footage with the idea of maybe using it during our final match. I had 4 students who were members of the Mustang Cup Media Crew go to different parts of our playing court and begin recording at the same time.
Using the iPad’s built in Location Services the app is able to mix all the 4 videos into one highlight style package. It is super simple to use and worked really well. The only reason we didn’t use it for our final match was that you are limited to 4 minutes per video and considering we were having 10 minute halves it wasn’t going to be the right tool for our needs.

So now we had all these videos what were we to do with them? One of our students who applied to be our Website creator suggested that he set up a Google Site for our Mustang Cup where he would embed all of the videos that were loaded onto our Youtube Channel. He chose Google Sites as he was already comfortable using the platform due to the fact that our students use Google Sites for their e-portfolios so away he went. Not only did he post all of the 42 videos uploaded to the website but he created short updates and even a two theme songs for the teams using GarageBand. Overall an epic job and one that led to him being peer voted as the Mustang Cup MVP (Most Valuable Person). Well done Ken!

The last piece of technology that I used in this #SportEd unit was something I have known about for a little while due to the work of @Physed_pomeroy, @adamphowell, @naomihartl & @melhamada and  have only just begun using. Google Scripts are awesome! I used the incredible Autocrat Script by Andrew Stillman to create personalised certificate for the students at a click of a button. All I needed to do was set up a certificate template in my Google Drive using tags like <<name>> and <<job>> in the template. Once I had connected Autocrat to my original sign up spreadsheet with student jobs on it I was able to run the script and with the click of a button I had personalised PDF certificates for each students showing their name and job.

The role that technology played in the success of this #SportEd unit can not be underestimated. It built excitement and allowed for parents and other community members to become involved in the project and follow the process as well as made jobs easier and more meaningful for both students and myself as a teacher.
As a teacher it was really cool to be able to collaborate with the students on trialling and experimenting new apps which allowed us to document & celebrate the learning taking place.
As I mentioned in my previous post, I took a big risk in running this unit and it more than paid off. The way we used technology was a big reason why and I look forward to even more amazing things which will be possible our next #SportEd unit.

The role that technology played in the success of this #SportEd unit can not be underestimated. It built excitement and allowed for parents and other community members to become involved in the project and follow the process as well as made jobs easier and more meaningful for both students and myself as a teacher.

As a teacher it was really cool to be able to collaborate with the students on trialling and experimenting new apps which allowed us to document & celebrate the learning taking place.
As I mentioned in my previous post, I took a big risk in running this unit and it more than paid off. The way we used technology was a big reason why and I look forward to even more amazing things which will be possible our next #SportEd unit.