Mr Robbo

Top ‘Apps’ for PE Teachers – Part 14

Posted on May 10, 2012 by mrrobbo

What do you get when you combine social networking with fitness? An amazingly supportive app that builds a rich environment for real behaviour change. Use this in the classroom to inspire healthy competition amongst classes and friends as they race to earn the post points

Make My Groups

As the name suggests a great app to take the stress out of placing students into teams. Allows import of names via Dropbox ans saving/exporting of group lists. Use it to organise spontaneous team activities

G.A.P.S - Sports Coaching

A collection of over 1750 high quality coaching resources for a variety of sports. Use it to cut down on planning and preparation. Give the app to students and have them run a peer teach or coaching session.

Swimming Games

Developed after a summer teaching swimming and water safety to a group of younger students. Features over 50 games for swimmers of all abilities with the emphasis on fun in the water.

Heart+

A superb heart rate app that allows users to measure HR data including time to recovery following exercise. Keep a record of your HR in the history and discuss how results vary from day to day and as a result of training

QReader

Developed to support the sudden influx of QR Codes appearing in the PE classroom. The app enables students or teachers to swiftly scan a code and link to online information, making it as the name suggests ‘A Super Fast Code Scanner’.

Kinesio Capture or Kinesio Lite

A high end video analysis package that enables users to conduct incredible motion analysis on performance. Users can complete side by side analysis, annotations, frame by frame and video layering. Use the apple camera adapter to import pictures taken with a digital camera direct tot the app.

Check out the other top app lists here – Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4- Part 5 – Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9 – Part 10 – Part 11 or grab the PE Apps app for a great one stop collection of the best PE apps.

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Weekend Workshop @ YIS Yokohama Japan

Posted on May 9, 2012 by mrrobbo

I’m super excited to announce that I will be visiting the Yokohama International School in Japan to present a weekend workshop on the 29th – 30th of September 2012 entitled ”It’s Now Possible – PE, Technology and Learning”

If you are in the region I would love to catchup with you at the workshop as we work together to bring physical education into the 21st century. You can register for the event at the following link

Hope to see you there

Filed under: conferences | Tagged: japan, YIS | 2 Comments »

QReader – Super Fast QR Code Scanning App

Posted on April 29, 2012 by mrrobbo

Today the QReader app hit the app store with a no fuss approach towards QR Code scanning making the app perfect for use in situations where speed is a priority. With the education worlds jumping on board the QR Code journey, this app should prove useful in countless mobile learning situations. Grab it here

For a comprehensive list of ways to use QR Codes in the classroom check out the following resources

QR Codes Prezi

QR Codes Blog Posts

Filed under: apps, mlearning, qrcode | 1 Comment »

Top ‘Apps’ For PE Teachers – Part 13

Posted on April 20, 2012 by mrrobbo

PE Games

The premier app for PE Teachers,allowing you to sort through and discover minor games for use in your practical sessions. You can even add your own games and game categories to build an enormous mobile library.

Video Coach

Another highly useful video analysis tool for coaches and PE Teachers on the go. Use the built in pen and drawing tools to emphasise aspects of a given performance during review and send them via email or save to the camera roll. One of the coolest features is the ability to send a video direct to another iOS device via Wifi.

SnapGuide

Snapguide is a free tool that allows you to create step by step guides for whatever you like. With this app it is a breeze to add text, photos and even videos to the guide. Phys Ed classes could easily use this to build up step by step guides to sporting skills, game situations and much more. You can even share the finished guides via your favourite social networks.

Video Pix

This great app is allows you to capture frame by frame images of sports activities and then play them back in either slow of faster than normal speeds. A perfect addition to any skill development activities or video analysis/instant feedback task.

iCoacher

A free video analysis app that allows users to easily explore skills on the go. Comes in either an iPhone or iPad app, with the later providing the ability to conduct side by side analysis with syncing. Something I have really wanted to see in an app.

Great Coach AFL

If your an Australian Rules coach you absolutely must get this app for your iPad. Not only can you setup your teams, but you can gather statistics to strengthen your coaching. Full match reports can be emailed as soon as the game completes. A wonderfully useful app.

AFIT for iPad

This great little free iPad app, allows students to track and record their physical activity and nutrition via an engaging interface. Provides many opportunities to discuss hydration, physical activity guidelines and many other health related areas.

Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

PE Apps Presentation

Posted on April 20, 2012 by mrrobbo

Today I was lucky enough to present at the ACHPER SA conference on the use of mobile applications in physical education. The session explored the apps that allow for countless teachable moments in the classroom. Feel free to download, use and remix the presentation as you see fit.

View this document on Scribd

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Great Web Tools for Health, Exercise & Activity

Posted on April 10, 2012 by mrrobbo

In the last few months I have been playing around with a heap of groovy websites that help to visualise, mashup and track health and exercise. The following sites seek to integrate flawlessly with different social media tools to help inspire health behaviour change through a variety of means.

Earndit

This exciting service allows you to earn real prizes and incentives for the exercise and activity that you complete. Simply connect your runkeeper, foursquare, Nike+, Garmin and other services to earn your points. Once you have accrued the required number of points you can redeem your reward from an extensive and ever growing list. The thing I like about this service is the possibility for health behaviour change as a result of extrinsic rewards, which hopefully translate into long term intrinsic rewards as improved health becomes the motivator.

First One There Wins

A cool service that integrates with Runkeeper and Nike+ and allows you setup a race and invite others to race you. You start by giving your race a name, choosing your start and finish points via a Google Map and then inviting others via a unique URL. The race then begins with users logging into runkeeper and completing the virtual race. The web service then tracks all runs that the competitors complete and the first person to complete the designated total is considered the “first one there” and the winner. How about challenging a friend on the other side of the world to a virtual race between two famous landmarks. You will then be able to run in your own town, then login and see exactly where you are in the race on the Google Map. Way Cool. Join me in a race across the Great Ocean Road in Australia

One Health Score

A simple service that turns your recored physical activity (via Runkeeper) into an overall health score. A score over 60 indicates that you are meeting the minimum requirements for general health and wellbeing. It also shows you how your score has changed over time (see below)

FitBolt

FitBolt is perfect for office workers and students who spend considerable amounts of time sitting at a desk. Simply sign up for an account and the website goes to work to keep you moving at designated intervals prompting you to complete stretches, exercises and even offering nutritional general wellness tips. The best thing I like about this tool is the ability to add it as a browser extension, or desktop app meaning you can get on with working and be automatically alerted when its time to move. Below is an example of the alert system installed into a chrome browser showing me how long until I will be presented with a activity

FIT2app

A simple yet powerful tool that allows you in 3 clicks to upload your run data from your Garmin GPS watch direct to your Runkeeper account. Use this data in a senior PE class to easily visualise physical activity and prompt discussion of concepts like energy systems, acute responses, training and much more.

Run Calendar

A great way to visualise all training and activity that is completed via the Runkeeper system. Connect it to your account and then analyse your training history to see if you are meeting the correct training principles and giving yourself enough rest days.

Filed under: web2.0, webtools | 7 Comments »

The QR Code Assassin Game

Posted on April 4, 2012 by mrrobbo

A number of years ago at a conference I spoke about a game concept that utilised QR Codes and Smart Phones to facilitate a fun activity that centred around exercise, teamwork, strategy and technology. The basic idea is simple.

Each user creates a QR Code that prompts a text message to their phone. They wear the QR Code on their back and aim to avoid it being secretly scanned by the enemy. Once the enemy scan the QR Code, they will be prompted to send a text message to your number, ultimately sealing your elimination from the game.

You can follow the steps below to make this game a reality

1) Visit http://qrcode.kaywa.com/ and choose the SMS option. Users then enter their mobile number along with a unique text message. This will ensure that your enemy actually has to scan the QR code on your back to eliminate you.

2) Once your QR Code has been generated, you can download it and place it on the back of a t-shirt.

3) Once the QR codes are setup, players can download a free scanner application like RedLaser for iPhone or QR Droid for Android and the game is ready to begin.

Depending on what the intent of the game is, teachers might choose to incorporate different rules to bring about a variety of learning outcomes. These could include;

Increasing the size of the playing area to increase physical activity
Decreasing the size of the playing area to increase tactics
Creating different roles within teams such as medics, who cannot eliminate players but revive them by scanning a designated QR Code within the battlefield
Incorporating base stations or medical stations, each of which contain QR Codes that prompt text messages to the opposition or teachers. This could be used in replace of QR coded t-shirts.

With term 2 fast approaching, I would love to make this game a reality in my classes as a way to measure teamwork and collaboration. Do you think this would work? What else could you add to the game to increase activity and other learning outcomes?

Filed under: mlearning, qrcode | 3 Comments »

The PE Games App

Posted on March 30, 2012 by mrrobbo

After months of development, I am pleased to share a brand new iPhone/iPad/iPod app with you that should prove to be extremely useful in practical sessions. The app idea came about after I realised that their needed to be a more user friendly and mobile way to research and plan games and activities to play in your class. With this in mind I decided to make the PE Games app a reality.

PE Games has been designed to be the premier app for PE Teachers on the app store, containing over 100 games in a variety of categories. Once a user finds a game that they want to play they can press the ‘ plus’ button in the top right to add it to their current lesson. Games can then be added and deleted as required, creating a quick snapshot of the games for your upcoming session. Other features of the app include the random tab, in which a user can ‘shake’ their device to receive a random game.

However the most exciting feature of the app is ability to add your own game categories and games. This means that over time you can turn the app into an enormous resource of games that you play in your classes.

For a demo of the app in action, check out the video below or visit the app store to get it

Filed under: apps | 1 Comment »

Top ‘Apps’ for PE Teachers – Part 12

Posted on March 27, 2012 by mrrobbo

Faster

A really solid iPhone app that allows users to set a target pace for activities such as jogging, walking or running. The app then uses your music to inform you if you are keeping pace with your set target by altering the pitch of the current song. Running too slow? Well the app will slow your music down to give you a nice audible cue to speed up. Brilliant.

GroupGames

GroupGames was designed for teachers in the outdoors whom require quick and minimal equipment activities that help with team building, ice breaking and problem solving. Featuring over 50 games users can also submit and request games to feature inside of the app. Available on the Android Market here

Beep Test Trainer

A great app that allows users to facilitate the classic beep test with ease. You can also use the app to facilitate training by starting or looping the test at a certain stage. I recently used this app to introduce my junior students to the beep test while participating in a “Team Beep Test” warm up where students work in groups of 4 or 5 to get as high as they can by sharing the running load.

Stress Check

Another one of those apps that made me go wow on first use. The app uses the devices camera to measure heart rate variability and in turn can use this information to track overall stress levels. A great tool for introducing students to the concept of arousal and readiness for optimal performance. Available as a free version also

CoachNote

CoachNote is an exceptional app that allows users to record set plays and game strategies for a variety of team sports. The coach simply drags the icons onto the screen to represent the players and can then record the movement of the players and the ball as they narrate. This app fits perfectly into any Games Sense or TGFU class, where students are responsible for developing deeper understanding of the why behind the sports they play.

Arookoo: Walk +Game

Arookoo is a one-of-a-kind iPhone App & Website that turns walking into a game by sending you on fun challenges that motivate you to move around your city. Arookoo rewards you for increasing the amount of steps you walk each day by completing a wide variety of fun activities. In a phys ed class users can discuss how tools and initiative such as they help promote physical activity opportunities

PaceWheel

A useful app for athletic coaches that allows users to determine appropriate training loads. Users start by scrolling the app to their finish time for one of the following distances between 800m to a Marathon. The user is then provided with approximate training targets for building aerobic base, developing lactate tolerance and increasing V02 max. Even though these figures are just a guide they can lead to discussion in senior classes about important physiological concepts and how they link with training

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Make Your Own Apps In Minutes

Posted on March 22, 2012 by mrrobbo

In the past year I have received numerous emails asking the best and easiest way to go about designing ‘apps’ for classes etc. The question varies depending on what type of functionality they desire, however for anyone looking to build an app that links together content from multiple web sources such as RSS Feeds, YouTube videos, twitter accounts etc then I am recommending two tools to get this done in a matter of minutes.

1) Web Apps – The benefit of building a web app is the fact that they are designed for multiple devices, meaning that anyone with internet access can access the app by simply visiting the URL while on their device. They also offer some of the basic features of native apps with an increased level of flexibility. For a step by step video guide to building your own app and making it accessible in a matter of minutes, check out the video below

To see the web app developed in the video above in action, scan the QR Code below or visit the following link on your mobile device

2) Native iOS/Android and Windows Phone Apps – If your craving a little more flexibility in your apps and would prefer to follow the official route in terms of submission to the app store and android market, then you might be interested in the “The App Builder”. Check out the step by step video to building an app below.