Grounded Technology Integration: Physical Education

Physical education teachers today are expected to have a deep understanding of how educational technologies can assist students in linking specific physical fitness knowledge and concepts to measuring,interpreting, and prescribing appropriate fitness activities. Using digital tools, such as pedometers, heart rate monitors, and exercise games, in physical education classes can provide creative and motivating ways to engage in and monitor physical activity. But how can we best choose and integrate these tools into physical education teaching

The Impact of Immigration Leisure Experience In the Lives of South American Immigrants

Though leisure researchers have, in recent years, show a growing interest in the Hispanic 1 community, most of the research conducted has focused almost exclusively on the leisure experiences among Mexican Americans or Hispanics from Central America. The purpose of the investigation was to explore the impact of immigration on the leisure experiences of a selected group of South American immigrants living in the United States. This investigation was based on a qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews of 9 females and 8 males. Analysis of the interview data revealed changes in the immigrants\u27 lifestyles after migrating to the United States. Some of these behavioral changes were observed in the participants\u27 socialization patterns, in their views about work, and in their perception of time. These changes had an impact on the individuals\u27 leisure experiences, and recreation participation. The findings strongly suggest that during the informants\u27 adjustment process, social class was a more important indicator for behavioral changes than ethnicity. These results reinforce past findings in that social class plays an important role in individuals leisure behavior (Floyd & Gramman, 1993; Floyd, McGuire, Noe, & Shinew, 1994)

COMPUTER MEDIATED PARENT-TEACHER COMMUNICATION

Parent-teacher communication is crucial to children's education. The literature reveals that parents' involvement in their children's education improves outcomes in areas such as learning, attendance, behavior, and graduation rates. Increased and meaningful communication between home and school is likely to enhance parent involvement and may consequently support students' learning. Schools are using various forms of technology to increase school/home communication, including voice mail, e-mail, school and classroom websites, and web access to individual student information such as attendance, grades, and student portfolios; however, this use is not consistent or widespread. This paper examines the most prevalent parent-teacher communication in a K-12 educational setting and explores various communication options to improve parent-teacher communication. The focus is to examine the communication needs between teacher and parents and the benefits of combining traditional synchronous and asynchronous communication with newer communication technologies to meet these needs

Computer mediated parent-teacher communication / La comunicación entre padre-maestro mediada por computadora

Parent-teacher communication is crucial to children’s education. The literature reveals that parents’ involvement in their children’s education improves outcomes in areas such as learning, attendance, behavior, and graduation rates. Increased and meaningful communication between home and school is likely to enhance parent involvement and may consequently support students’ learning. Schools are using various forms of technology to increase school/home communication, including voice mail, e-mail, school and classroom websites, and web access to individual student information such as attendance, grades, and student portfolios; however, this use is not consistent or widespread. This paper examines the most prevalent parent-teacher communication in a K-12 educational setting and explores various communication options to improve parent-teacher communication. The focus is to examine the communication needs between teacher and parents and the benefits of combining traditional synchronous and asynchronous communication with newer communication technologies to meet these needs.   La comunicación entre padres y maestros es crucial para la educación de los niños. La literatura revela que la participación de los padres en la educación de sus hijos mejora los resultados en áreas como el aprendizaje, asistencia, conducta, y en las tasas de graduación. Una comunicación efectiva entre la familia y la escuela aumenta la participación de los padres en la educación de sus niños y consecuentemente mejora el aprendizaje de los estudiantes. Las instituciones educativas están utilizando diversas formas de tecnología para incrementar la comunicación familia-escuela, entre ellas están el buzón de voz, el correo electrónico, páginas Web de las escuelas con acceso a la información personal de cada estudiante (asistencia, calificaciones, y actividades escolares). No obstante, este uso no es consistente o masivo. Este ensayo examina las necesidades de comunicación entre los maestros y los padres y los beneficios de combinar comunicación tradicional, sincrónica (tiempo real) y asincrónica (con retraso), utilizando nuevas tecnologías de comunicación para satisfacer estas necesidades

Perception of Leisure In Latino Women Immigrants

Social class, class awareness, and cultural differences have been recognized as critical factors in the description of leisure behavior among different ethnic groups. Gender is also a significant variable affecting leisure behavior and plays an important role in individuals\u27 experiences. The purpose of this study was to explore the leisure experiences of a group of Latin America women immigrants in the United States. Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 10 Latino women immigrants. The results of the interviews suggest that in general, the informants have experienced variations in their leisure activities and recreation participation after moving to the United States. Some of the major themes included: (a) women spoke of their work and family as being central in their lives; the women expressed that most of their present recreation activities were family related and with friends of their own cultural background, (b) recreation was not a main component of their lives (c) lack of English skills shaped the individual\u27s socialization patterns and recreation participation, (d) many changes due to different stages in the life cycle. Immigration resulted in positive and negative influences on their social life and on their recreation participation. Participation in recreational activities became more structured and segregated. These individuals indicated having less leisure time and being more concerned with survival and economic advancement. They gained a sense of responsibility, confidence, and freedom after moving to the United States. These women felt capable of doing things on their own, and taking control of their lives

Use of Technology for Constructivist Learning In a Performance Assessment Class

The use of educational technologies in teaching and learning presents pedagogical concerns and challenges to educators. Combining multimedia technologies with the Web has created new possibilities for the development of instructional materials to deliver course content. However, this use of technology continues to represent traditional conceptions regarding the use of computers. The question remains as to when and how to use various forms of educational technology and how to best integrate them into the classroom. Disciplines such as measurement and evaluation are not free from these challenges, especially when instructors are looking for ways to improve learning of statistical concepts that are hard to retain. Using educational technology as a constructivist tool could aid students to represent their ideas, articulate what they know, and explore, manipulate, and process information, while actively collaborating with each other (Jonassen, Peck, & Wilson, 1999). The purpose of this article is to describe constructivist uses of technology and to present a curriculum unit for a performance assessment class in health and physical education, which is presented as an example of a project-based learning activity that exemplifies a constructivist use of software to support problem solving

The Transformation of Leisure

What does leisure mean to people? Has the essence of leisure been changed? The individuals may feel controlled by a system that values material possessions more than emotional and spiritual wealth. In the present context, it seems that people respond to the pressures of being productive and of consumption by measuring what they are and how much they have rather than analyzing the quality of who they are and what they have. These extrinsic motivators tend to govern people\u27s lives and behaviours influencing how they relate to others. These motivators have also impacted the spiritual and emotional elements of quality of life. Leisure is no longer a disposition of the mind, spontaneous and genuine; it has become a disposition of the society. Thus, the historical sense of freedom in leisure has been lost to consumerism. This paper analyzes the elements that have transformed leisure behaviour and explores alternatives to help regain the philosophical essence of leisure

Computer mediated parent-teacher communication / La comunicación entre padre-maestro mediada por computadora

Parent-teacher communication is crucial to children’s education. The literature reveals that parents’ involvement in their children’s education improves outcomes in areas such as learning, attendance, behavior, and graduation rates. Increased and meaningful communication between home and school is likely to enhance parent involvement and may consequently support students’ learning. Schools are using various forms of technology to increase school/home communication, including voice mail, e-mail, school and classroom websites, and web access to individual student information such as attendance, grades, and student portfolios; however, this use is not consistent or widespread. This paper examines the most prevalent parent-teacher communication in a K-12 educational setting and explores various communication options to improve parent-teacher communication. The focus is to examine the communication needs between teacher and parents and the benefits of combining traditional synchronous and asynchronous communication with newer communication technologies to meet these needs. La comunicación entre padres y maestros es crucial para la educación de los niños. La literatura revela que la participación de los padres en la educación de sus hijos mejora los resultados en áreas como el aprendizaje, asistencia, conducta, y en las tasas de graduación. Una comunicación efectiva entre la familia y la escuela aumenta la participación de los padres en la educación de sus niños y consecuentemente mejora el aprendizaje de los estudiantes. Las instituciones educativas están utilizando diversas formas de tecnología para incrementar la comunicación familia-escuela, entre ellas están el buzón de voz, el correo electrónico, páginas Web de las escuelas con acceso a la información personal de cada estudiante (asistencia, calificaciones, y actividades escolares). No obstante, este uso no es consistente o masivo. Este ensayo examina las necesidades de comunicación entre los maestros y los padres y los beneficios de combinar comunicación tradicional, sincrónica (tiempo real) y asincrónica (con retraso), utilizando nuevas tecnologías de comunicación para satisfacer estas necesidades