There’s something very powerful about being observed when teaching. It puts you in a vulnerable position that Brené Brown would say opens you up to uncertainty, risk and emotional exposure. And yet, stepping out of our comfort zone and loosening control opens us up to growth and reward, and in terms of teaching that can mean transforming our pedagogy into something much better than before.

Future professionals know the power of being observed and the effect of feedback from others but when the pandemic kicked in, the opportunity to invite observers into the classroom evaporated.  For some this would prove to be quite an obstacle, but to Dr. Seth Jenny, the author not only of this weeks guest blog but also the lead author of Technology for Physical Educators, Health Educators, & Coaches, this was an opportunity to take a different approach, harnessing the power of technology.

Student Video Samples from Online Health Education, Physical Education, and Sport Coaching Courses

by Seth E. Jenny, Ph.D., CHES, ACSM-EP

Department of Exercise and Rehabilitative Sciences

Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania

Like many other teachers, in March 2020, I was forced to transition a face-to-face class to 100% online. In this case, the undergraduate course was “Introduction to Health Education” (HLTH 301) at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania. The course centers on students demonstrating mastery of several areas of responsibility of a Health Education Specialist (National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, https://www.nchec.org/responsibilities-and-competencies).

Originally, students were to plan, implement (with 1 to 2 partners), and assess a short health education lesson with their classmates face-to-face in a traditional classroom. Then, the classmates were to provide anonymous constructive feedback on their peers’ lessons via a pen and paper feedback form.

To allow for the transition to the 100% online modality, the health education teaching demonstrations were converted to an audio narration screen recording assignment that could be done alone (utilizing PowerPoint narration or Screencast-o-matic – https://screencast-o-matic.com), or with 1 or 2 partners (i.e., 3 classmates maximum) utilizing the online videoconferencing platform ZOOM (https://zoom.us). The learning management system (D2L) provided specific directions and more details, but I also created this video for the students to enhance their understanding of the assignment:

 

For the pen and paper peer reviews of the teaching demonstrations, I converted that aspect to an online discussion assignment where students are to “peer review” ten of their classmates’ submitted health education teaching demonstration videos via online discussion board responses (again, D2L provided more information).

I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the first submitted video for the team-teaching health education teaching demonstration assignment utilizing Zoom. View it here:

Coronavirus (Health Education Teaching Demonstration, HLTH 301)

by Ireland O’Brien, Ava Krapanza, & Lexy Snell

 

From past online technology courses I have taught, here is a student submission from a graduate course I taught titled “Technology for Coaches and Physical Educators” where students completed a “PE/Coaching Technology Topic Screencast Presentation Project (with Peer Discussion)”. This video has more than 14k views on YouTube:

Synergy Sports Tutorial

by Carlotta Kloppenburg

 

Here is an undergraduate student submission from my past course “Technology in Physical Education” where students completed a “Digital Video Project (with Peer Discussion)” focused on teaching the critical elements of a sport skill:

How do you Dribble a Soccer Ball?

By Mikel Rider

 

Finally, this student asked to create a video relating to how to play a sport instead of teaching a sport skill. The main purpose of the assignment was to learn how to record and edit video with a wireless microphone so I allowed this deviation (the video has over 2,600 views):

How to Play Racquetball

By Luke Bagwell

 

Beyond typical online pedagogy such as providing clear assignment directions and transparent grading procedures that note how the assignment aligns with course and program objectives, other things to consider are:

· Attain written permission prior to posting any videos online.

· Consider creating screen recording videos to clarify assignments (don’t only create lecture videos to cover course content)

· When appropriate, provide student autonomy through choice/options (e.g., working alone or with a partner; choice of topic, etc.)

· When possible, give students flexibility (permitting assignments to be completed with varying computer programs, don’t require a web-cam for screen recording videos, etc.)

**More about online instruction and a plethora of examples within the web resource (with accompanying Instructor Guide for adopting instructors) are found in our new book:

“Technology for Physical Educators, Health Educators, & Coaches: Enhancing Instruction, Assessment, Management, Professional Development & Advocacy”

More info (Human Kinetics): https://us.humankinetics.com/collections/health-education/products/technology-for-physical-educators-health-educators-and-coaches-with-web-resource

Author bio:

Dr. Seth Jenny is an assistant professor within the Department of Exercise and Rehabilitative Sciences at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania. When he’s not teaching or conducting technology-related research, he is a volunteer club coach for elementary cross country and track and field athletes with a non-profit organization he founded – the Grove City Athletics Club (http://grovecityac.org). Dr. Jenny has taught a variety of 100% online courses since 2014 and has created several different technology courses for undergraduate and graduate students majoring in health and physical education, sport coaching, and sport management. He is the lead author of the Human Kinetics book: “Technology for Physical Educators, Health Educators, & Coaches”.

You can access the complete video playlist from Dr. Jenny’s You Tube channel here.