Computer Based Technologies

Computer Based Technologies

Technology impacts health, physical education, recreation, and dance educators in the areas of research, classroom teaching, and distance education. While the overall effect is not yet fully assessable, the presence of technology in so many different aspects of the profession makes it important to more clearly recognize and appreciate its current and potential role. This Digest focuses on computer-based technology as it relates to HPERD in the areas of teaching and distance education.

Classroom Utilization Of Technology Specialized Software

The greatest value of computers may reside in the ability to provide improved support to classroom instruction, and the variety of software programs for such use continues to grow. Commercial and shareware programs are available to track grading, student athletic performance, and fitness; conduct health assessments; provide simulations of disease; and monitor research projects, among other functions. The development of individualized software is becoming more common. The availability of hypertext, where selected words in the text of a document can be used as links to other points in a document, has made such software development much easier.

A good example is the shareware package titled HPERIntern (McLean & Hill, 1993), which was created to guide college students through the process of internship development and placement. Using HyperCard, a commercially available application software based on a HyperText language, HPERIntern integrated a number of components from traditional classroom instruction and individual counseling. HPERIntern is a menu-based application that allows students to enter the information stream at a variety of points, rather than be forced to follow a predetermined path. This approach allows students to determine what they think is important rather than what the instructor has deemed important, reinforcing students' ability to control the learning process. The result: a reduction in the amount of classroom time and individual counseling needed for internship preparation.

Multimedia And Cd/Rom

Computers have integrated learning with multimedia presentations. Traditional encyclopedias and reference books have been replaced by compact discs with read-only memory (CD-ROM or CD) that contain pictures, sound, and video, as well as the standard text. In the kinesiology classroom students can observe and listen to the mechanics of movement in slow motion and play over those parts they do not understand. In health education classrooms the growth of an embryo can be depicted to birth. Instructional topics remain traditional, but the delivery is nontraditional and allows the student to move at her/his own pace (Gold, 1991).

Computer-Assisted Instruction

Computer-assisted instruction (CAI) provides students with an alternative to classroom settings and frees the instructor from rote processes that are better handled by the computer. Mohnsen (1995) identified a number of reasons for using CAI in physical education. Among them were suggestions that CAI provides students with the "why" behind health-related fitness; it provides unlimited practice, review, and remediation; students stay actively involved; and it meets a variety of student needs. CAI, if individually developed, requires considerable time on the part of the instructor, but this is compensated for by increased learning time available in the ...