A Great Analogy Regarding the Use of Technology in Our Instruction

Firstly, I would like to say that I love finding cool wordles on the internet, but if I use them, I must give due credit. The one you see in this blog post came from Sunil Mantri from the Norsee Manji School of Commerce and Economics in Mumbai. To me the wordle sums up technology and education so well and kind of sets the tone for this blog post.

What should come first, the pedagogy or the technology? This is a great question to reflect on, especially for those #physed teachers signed up for the Innovation and Technology learning theme in the new PEPLC project. For those of you that have been keeping up to date with the latest info related to PEPLC, you will know that the Asia-Pacific learning teams are now in place and will begin to formulate a plan as to when to start their google hangout meetings for this professional development journey.

I am so lucky to have had some great discussions regarding the direction of PEPLC with Dr. Ash Casey, senior lecturer from the University of Bedfordshire in the UK. He is personable, well-informed, and passionate about how to properly deliver quality PE (he blogs regularly here). Ashley will be introducing the Innovation and Technology learning theme by video over the next couple of weeks. The plan is for all Innovation and Technology groups to use Ashley’s introductory video as an initial resource and reference point to begin their learning journey together.  In the video, Ashley will touch upon major considerations that each group must reflect on when evaluating their current stance on innovation and technology in regards to their teaching practice. 

In no way is the introductory video meant to prescribe a specific journey or direction that the innovation and technology learning teams should take. It is meant more to get each team critically thinking about the use of technology as it relates to the pedagogical needs of our students. 

Ashley was asked to present a similar theme at an educational conference in Turkey last year. He sent me through the keynote that he had used for his presentation. I took a lot of time to go through it and I must say that my views on innovation and technology were immediately challenged for the better. Although I felt I had a decent grasp on the the importance of innovation and the use of technology when most appropriate in our instruction, Ashley’s keynote made me reflect on a much deeper level about the topic. 

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A fantastic analogy from Fletcher, 2006 that Ash used in his keynote regarding the use of technology in our instruction. I would like to ask what we, as PE teachers, can take away from this quote? 

When you go to the hardware store to buy a drill, you don't actually want a drill, you want a hole, they don't sell holes at the hardware store, but they do sell drills, which are the technology used to make holes. We must not lose sight that technology for the most part is a tool and it should be used in applications which address educational concerns. 

As the PEPLC innovation and technology teams push forward with their important discussions and learning, it becomes even more critical to evaluate and reflect on our current use of technology within our instruction in order to determine the effectiveness of our approach.

 In no way am I saying that we are not using it properly at the moment. I have read and stayed on top of some great innovators in PE on Twitter (Joey Feith, Nathan Horne, Brendan Jones, Kelly Ann Parry, Jarrod Robonson, Mel Hamada and Ken Forde to name just a few).


 I only ask that you consider, with a critical eye, how the use of technology can be enhanced in our PE programs in order to improve student learning. Thanks to Ashly Casey for his excellent keynote on the use of technology and its implications, both positive and negative on instructional practices in PE. 

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