THE POSSIBILITIES OF ICT IN PE Ciaran McGettigan

IMPORTANCE OF ICT IN PE Information and communication technologies, (ICT's) are becoming more and more prominent in the life of a secondary school student. Most students will have smart phones or tablets which can be a hindrance to many teachers. However, the improvements made in technology over the years can be used positively in the PE classroom, if used correctly.

ICT AND ITS LINK TO SEDENTARY BEHAVIOUR Due to the improvements made in technology, post-primary students spend "a large portion of their day being sedentary, accumulating, on average, seven hours of screen time each day, (Leatherdale & Ahmed, 2011)". Other forms of technology such as video games can increase sedentary behaviour in adolescents. One of our roles as physical educators is to decrease sedentary behaviour both inside and outside the school.

USING ICT TO IMPROVE PHYSICAL FITNESS There are various ways to involve all students to be active for the recommended 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity each day. There are many applications that can be downloaded onto these smart phones which can improve the physical fitness of the students and help them engage with new sports. Using ICT is one such way to encourage students to be more conscious of their health and also improve and monitor their physical fitness. There are video games such as Zumba and Just Dance for the Wii which require the player to be active and to complete the moves as seen on the screen. Wii Fit is another game that can improve and monitor physical fitness and fun challenges specific to balance and co-ordination are involved to engage the students. These games allow the students to learn the various components of physical fitness in a fun manner and they also give the students their recommended levels of physical activity per day.

USING ICT AS PART OF THE PE LESSON Inside the classroom, many applications on smart phones can be used to monitor physical fitness and skill development. For skill development purposes, introductory videos can be used at the start of the lesson to highlight the importance of a skill, when it is used and how to perform the skill. Using an iPad and a tripod, with the consent of the parents of the students, the teacher can video individual students performing basic skills and where each student could improve.

PHYSICAL FITNESS APPLICATIONS THAT CAN BE USED IN PE An audio version of the Bleep Test can be downloaded also and this gives the VO2 max of the students at each level also. At home, students can download a fitness app, which measures how far the student ran, their average speed during the run and how many calories were burned in the session. These can act as useful resources for both teachers and students as the teacher can perform health-related fitness sessions incorporating cardiovascular fitness in the school setting.

CONCLUSION Martin et al., 2015, state that "modern technology can easily be incorporated into the health and physical education curriculum” and this is true especially in the case of physical education. Although the improvements made in technology can act as a nuisance to teachers, it is our responsibility to use this technology in a positive manner to improve student learning.

REFERENCES Martin, N.J., Ameluxen-Coleman, E.J., & Heinrichs, D.M. (2015). Innovative Ways to Use Modern Technology to Enhance, Rather than Hinder, Physical Activity among Youth, Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 86:4, 46-53, DOI: / Leatherdale, S. T., & Ahmed, R. (2011). Screen-based sedentary behaviors among a nationally representative sample of youth: Are Canadian kids couch potatoes? Chronic Disease and Injury, 31, 141–146.