Making the Shift

At Western Michigan University, David learned a skills based approach to Physical Education and that approach was used in his internship in a high school setting. Here's a "skill's based" example - if the topic is basketball, students memorize the rules, are taught a skill like shooting the basketball, practice in class, and are assessed in their the improvement in scoring baskets. If they scored 1 out of ten times at the beginning of the unit and improved to 6 out of ten by the end of the unit they performed vary well. He started teaching at IMSA where the expectation was an inquiry approach. Students understand the elements of the shot, are provided a variety of experiences with the skill, can recognize a good shot, and can integrate shooting with other skills. We saw a piece is that last night as students analyzed Portia's technique to help everyone's understanding of the underhand serve. That was a major shift for David. But he has embraced the approach and continues to develop his classes in that direction.

His presentation made me think about the shift we are asking teachers to make to use technology in an effective way. We hope that they can move from making a special effort to integrate technology to treating technology as just part of their professional life. The McREL lesson plan is organized to force a teacher to include technology standards and technology tools. They day will come so that teachers include those elements as technology becomes as natural as a textbook or a chalkboard.
Dennis