Lit Review #1

Article: Resources: Integrate technology and physical education through blogs and Web 2.0
Journal: Children's Technology and Engineering, March 2012 - Pages 8 - 9
Arthur: Kevin J. Kaluf


Resources integrate technology and physical education through blogs and Web 2.0 was written by an Australian PE teacher named, Jerrod Robinson. The author starts off by explaining what a blog is, which is a type of website that can easily be updated by anyone. A blog is often used by a  student, teacher, athlete or anyone looking to share their thoughts and opinion about a particular topic or topics. Web 2.0 s also clarified, explaining this is a set of internet tools and an ongoing philosophy on how to accurately use these tools. By incorporating Web 2.0 into blogs, many people are able to comment and interact on blogs, helping create a more interactive and global community on the internet. 


The article focuses on how PE and technology can be used within the classroom. An Australian PE Teacher is highlighted, due to his blog "The PE Geek". On his blog, he highlights valuable resources for teachers who are looking to integrate technology and physical education. On his blog he showcases apps, programs and resource books that can be useful for different types of integration. This teacher focuses heavily on the use of applications in his classroom. Often showing applications such as a heart rate app to help further link classroom lessons to real life activities and uses. 


This teacher also uses a technology posting tool to create a SMS mailing list with students. This type of blog allows students to comment up to 160 characters, and can create a discussion about a classroom topic. This type of discussion helps students create rapid responses and instant interaction.


Overall, this article was useful because it allowed be to see how other Unified Arts teachers, especially Physical Education, could use technology. I find this article very interesting because my Unified Arts team is currently trying to create digital portfolio requirements for each Unified Arts areas. The digital portfolio is a computer based portfolio, therefore, finding ways to integrate Physical Education into the technology classroom would be beneficial for my students portfolios. This also created great opportunities for co-learning opportunities between the Physical Education and Technology classrooms at my school.