Push Technology in Practice - Part 2

The second item I created was an Audioboo channel. I haven’t tested this out with students yet but will be getting them to also create accounts and subscribe to my channel and vice versa. This will allow me to upload audio clips and they will then receive notifications when I upload a file, allowing me to send them clips as a whole group easily and also receive clips from them. This will be very useful as it will allow them to send me audio clips as well as I them. I can give them verbal instruction and guidance on tasks from a distance to give added clarity and depth to topics covered in lessons, such as this one I created on the Sliding Filament Theory of muscle contraction, which students usually struggle to grasp.

listen to ‘Sliding Filament Theory’ on Audioboo

Push Technology in Practice - Part 1

The first thing I created using push technology was a YouTube channel for our Basketball Academy. The boys are always asking for their games to be filmed so they can watch back their performances and do some game analysis and see which elements of their game they need to work on. As these files are usually quite large it is impossible to send them via email or is very time consuming to put a copy on each players USB device. So I set up this channel on YouTube and made all the players subscribe. They can now access the videos at any time at their own convenience. It’s also nice as it is a way of putting up all the photos that were taking throughout the year and highlight reels from the different events and tournaments they played in, including their Basketball Tour to Spain. The images I put together on the channel from the tour were taken on my iPhone and then uploaded to the channel.

What is Push Technology??

Push Technology is something quite common that most people will use on a day to day basis without realising it. If you were to subscribe or sign up to an information server, when new content is published, the subscriber will receive notifications. Examples of this can been seen in places such as; social networking sites i.e. Facebook, Twitter who send notifications when you are tagged in posts/tweets/photos; YouTube can send a notification if a channel you subscribe posts any new videos; news applications on smart phones send updates news stories; sports applications for smart phones will send updates on scores and game results; and even Email can use push technology if it is sync’d with a smartphone.

Video and Mutlimedia Technology in the Classroom - Review

There are many great benefits to using video in lessons. One of these benefits is definitley that my learners are very visual and respond far better to watching video clips than reading an article or listening to me talk. The other benefit, particularly for my subject area is that as a lot of the content involves looking at structures or movement, or the way things work, and have video clips gives greater understanding to the learners of these technical concepts. It is also a more interactive visual representation that learners find more interesting than plain images in books.

Multimedia use is a great way of ensuring inclusivity in lessons. By carefully selecting the tools you use you enable learners to work at their own rate, and easily allows you to stretch and support learners as needed, therefore supporting progress for all learners. It is also easily accessible so learners who are absent from the session can easily catch up via distance learning. The only issue with this might be if they do not have computer or internet access at home as this may then highlight this learners social circumstances to other members of the class which may be uncomfortable for them. The great thing is that they can access the information at any time, and unlike a simple PowerPoint or worksheet exercise, the context of the video and intended message it relays will be the same whether they access it in class with the teacher there or at home on their own. They will get the same level of information regardless. For those without computer/internet access, they will be able to access the information on either computers in the college, or in a local library, as the resources will not be on protected drives linked to a specific internet server.

The only other negative i have encountered with using multimedia resources is that it can be difficult to manage in a lesson with a lot of students - ensuring students are staying focused on tasks and not getting distracted by irrelevant video clips for example. I do however think it works well with my particular learner who has a short attention span as it grabs their attention far more effectively and results in increased participation in sessions.

Data Protection

There are lots of things we need to consider in terms of data protection as teachers as we are often dealing with a lot of confidential information such as students personal details, students disclosing sensitive information, grades, disciplinary records etc.These are generic data protection considerations when working with young adults and as teachers we need to make sure all of the records we have containing details about students are kept secure. All of our information is kept under password protection or in locked filing cabinets and cupboards. We also maintain records of student disciplinaries and grades/progress, and student/group profiles on the restricted access drive not the open access one. Specific to the sports department, as we use a lot of video and photographic evidence for assessment purposes we have to ensure we get the student and parents permission for them to be photographed and for us to use these images. We also do this as we use a lot of photographs of our academy players, and games for marketing, reporting of results, and media coverage.

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Webquest