Two classes of PE student teachers from the National Institute of Education (NIE) discovered how to use technology to enhance the teaching of health and fitness.
Adding physical movement to the health and fitness materials is the first step to improve students’ knowledge and engagement. Showing students that any teaching materials could be turned in to a physically active learning session contributes to the students’ long term health and fitness.
Adding movement to teaching materials to improve health and fitness
The student teachers used the Mangostin platform with its electronic checkpoints displaying information (pictures, words, numbers), tag keys and challenge cards. They needed to visit and tap the checkpoints to form answers. Mangostin then checks students’ answers, offers hints and creates reports for teachers.
The students teachers started by setting up the checkpoints in the sports hall. They observed that the checkpoints could be set in many types of spaces: corridor, school garden, playground and even in a classroom. In essence, converting a common space into an active learning space.
They experienced 7 activities covering from lower to higher primary content.
Testing health and fitness knowledge in movement
The student teachers also took a physically active version of the Primary 6 health and fitness quiz. Each student had a unique sequence of questions (quiz sheets are automatically generated) and needed to tap for each question on one of the checkpoints (A, or B, or C or D).
They also realized that physically active quizzes could be applied to many academic subjects.
How to go from a pen-and-paper to a physically active quiz in 5 minutes