The information regarding locations, dates, duration and workshop content can be found on the following printable flyer. 

For registration and further information regarding the workshops, simply click on the city below. If you have any questions regarding the workshops, please feel free to leave a comment below or contact jarrod@thepegeek.com 

CANBERRA: Saturday 15 June 2013

PERTH: Monday 1 July 2013

BRISBANE: Friday 12 July 2013

SYDNEY: Saturday 10 August 2013

HOBART: Saturday 17 August 2013

So with this in mind I thought It would be interesting to track a 24 hour period and see if I could handle a full day using nothing more than my mobile phone. Could I handle it? Was it possible?

0600 – Wake Up

Given my phone is used as my alarm clock, the first thing I do everyday is interact with my mobile device. At present I have been using the app “Freaky Alarm”  which gamifies the wake up experience providing you with a set of puzzles and brain riddles. Solve them to turn the alarm off. You can even take it one step further by adding a photo trigger for your alarm (like your letterbox). This means you have to actually take that same photo again in order to shut your alarm off.

0615 – Emails & Social Media

Within the first 15 minutes of being woken up I have checked my emails, which include my tasks for the day. I have also checked any social media usually Twitter and Facebook. The mailbox app makes it possible for me to easily task manage emails by snoozing them and having them return at more timely periods throughout the day or week.

0630 – Driving 

At this stage of the day I hit the road on a 120km drive to Boort. During the drive I use the Podcasts App to listen to a host of inspiring educational content such as The Edtech Crew, Google Educast & The #PhysEd Podcast.

0750 – Arrive at School

Once I arrived at school I checked Google Drive and read & contributed to the daily bulletin. At 8am the Sunrise app sent me push notifications to alert me of the day’s events on the school calendar. While getting ready for the first classes for the day, I enjoyed some exciting content from Zite and browsed a couple of online resources through the Google Chrome app. Finally I printed a test protocol & recording sheet for the PC Recovery test using AirPrint from my device.

0900 – First Class

During Year 12 Information Technology,  I showed a couple of videos about database design on YouTube and used Airplay and the Apple TV unit to share them with the entire class. I also utilised Easy Attendance to record attendance details.

1026 – Second Class

My Year 12 Physical Education class were commencing the Beep Test and as such we utilised the Bleep Test Pro app for conducting and recording the results. We also used Fitness Tests with students able to easily identify the procedures, norms and setup for the Vertical Jump and Illinois agility run test.

1130 – Third Class

Used the app Skitch to capture an annotate a diagram a student had created. This was then shared direct to the Apple TV via Airplay for all to see. Finally I captured some learning evidence within the Easy Portfolio app for storage and use within the report writing process.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNjQP8nJzVI

1300 – Lunch

During lunch my iPhone stayed in my pocket as I ate and relaxed before my next classes. I did however scan and email a copy of an order using the CamScanner+ App.  I also chose to look at my Wunderlist App to see what tasks needed to be completed after lunch.

1400 – Planning Time

During this time I utilised Google Drive to plan and prepare a few activities for the following days classes. I was also busy replacing broken student LCD screens in our 1:1 laptop program. The repair details were logged in a spreadsheet inside of Google drive.

1530 – Staff Meeting

In tonights staff meeting I utilised the Evernote app to record any important notes into the necessary notebooks. These notebooks are then shareable and searchable from all devices. I also used Siri to set a reminder for 8am the next day when I arrived at school.

1630 – The Trip Home

On the way home I finished off  an episode of the Edtechcrew podcast and listened to my offline playlists on Spotify.

1800 – Exercise Time

On this particular day I used the Endomondo app and my heart rate monitor to go for a 3km run before tea. Although this doesn’t happen as often a I would like it certainly helps wind down after a full on day of activity.

1900 – Relaxing

By this stage I had caught up with a few friends via Facebook and moved over to the Flipboard app for a nice streamlined read of my Social Media Feeds. Instant Heart Rate also alerted me to check my pulse, as it does every couple of days. I logged my results in between a game of Rayman Run.

2230 – Days End

Set my Freaky Alarm and read for 15 minutes via the Kindle app

So with 24 hours quickly elapsing what is certainly clear is the incredible capacity of todays mobile devices. Not only did I get everything done I needed to throughout the day with a high level of mobility, but at no point did I feel as though I was suffering for my choice of device.

So with this in mind I encourage you to take up the 24hour challenge and see if you can successfully operate using nothing more than a mobile device. I would love to hear how you go in the comments below. Good luck.

A sleek and simple Beep Test app that is by far the best looking Beep test app on the App Store. What seperates this app from its competitors is its number of test variations, which include the ability to choose from the beep test (UK, Canadian or Australian timings), Birtwell 40m, PACER 15m and 20m, or YOYO endurance and intermittent level 1 and 2 tests. Simply connect it to a set of external speakers and you can easily conduct the test with your students. 

Interchange Manager

A great little app to allow teachers & coach’s the ability to track a students or players game time statistics. Start by adding your classes or team lists, start a game and tap the students who are starting on the field. When they move to the interchange, untap their name. At any point in the game you can easily see the amount of time any player has spent on the ground, and use this data to inform your choices. It could also be used to ensure equitable decisions are made in terms of equal participation for all.

Result Tracker

Result Tracker records results so you can track progress in the activities which are important to you. It’s designed to track results for all types of sports, academic, personal fitness, child growth or just about anything you can think of. You setup the activities by choosing from a wide range of result formats. With this FREE iPad app you can easily track your classes improvement in a wide range of activities from fitness tests, or athletic and swimming events.

Tennis Australia Technique & Hockey Australia 

Both of these targeted video analysis apps are built on the framework technology behind the successful Coach Series of apps by Zappasoft. These apps allow for swift side by side video analysis with an included set of reference videos and content so that you and your students can easily compare and learn. Well worth checking out.

PE Activities

A superb mobile resource for PE Teachers featuring heaps of games and activities for teachers. You can easily plan your lessons, save your favourite games and add further games to build an enormous resource. Another stellar app by @mjhamada  and her Apps For Academics series.

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 - Part 12 – Part 13 – Part 14  - Part 15  -Part 16 - Part 17 - Part 18 - Part 19 - Part 20 - Part 21 - Part 22 - Part 23 – Part 24 – or grab the PE Apps app for a great one stop collection of the best PE apps.

Version 2.0 of ‘The PE Geek’ app is now available allowing you to keep in touch with the latest videos, blog posts, app reviews and news from the world of Physical Education and technology.  The app is available for FREE for iOS and Android devices as well as a Google Chrome  and HTML5 app for your computer. I’m also currently developing it for Windows and Blackberry users. Download them at their respective stores below.

Fun With a Laptop

Adventure to Fitness

A superb series of DVD’s geared towards younger students with an emphasis on inspiring students to healthy living through imagination, storytelling and movement. Have your entire class follow along with the action on the big screen. They will love it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPvv5HqYc60

Wexer

A subscription service containing high quality instructional videos in the areas of Cycling, Yoga, Strength Training and many more. The service requires a device that allows for flash based playback, which unfortunately rules out an iPad. Checkout a sample cycling cinema video know below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xb4HOOKSQvE

Fun with an iPad or Tablet Device 

Just Dance, Dance Central and Hip Hop Experience Videos

While technically these are screen recordings of various video games, they work perfectly as instructional videos for dance and movement. Assemble your students, press play and have some serious fun. It works fantastically as a warm up activity before practical sessions. Check out a Just Dance Video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMKeAfBaaNo

C-Fit Kids

A series of apps and DVD’s designed to guide students through Dance, Yoga and Cross Training Activities. Heaps of fun and simple to follow, these are a must download. See the trailer below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7O7GL68fVs

Workout Trainer

My favourite Workout app for iPhone/iPad and Android Devices. Containing hundreds of workouts. Simply connect your device to a larger screen and have your entire class join in. The app deals with all the timing and instruction leaving you free to participate or value add to the session with extra instruction.

During the last few years visiting schools around the globe, one of the most obvious game changers in a PE classroom is the availability of a fixed big screen or projector. With literally hundreds of ways to incorporate them into classroom practice there has never been a better time to install one. 

What videos, apps or interactives are you using on a big screen? 

During my holiday period I started work on a small, but useful Google Chrome Extension with the aim to make the creation of QR Codes even easy and more efficient. Essentially the QRCodify Extension, once installed allows a user to create a QR Code out of any webpage they are currently on, simply press the little button in the top of your browser and instantly you have a QR Code. However it gets even better, as users can right click any web link or select a slab of text and instantly convert these into QR Codes ready for download. Check it out in action in the video below and then download it for FREE in the Chrome Web Store.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-4GiQypBwE

When I signed up in 2008, It took me ages to see the real benefit behind this platform for professional learning. With this in mind, I am always hesitant to introduce new teachers to Twitter. The reason behind this hesitation is in the fact that too many teachers sign up, tweet once or twice, miss the benefit and let their accounts fade to oblivion.

So to assist with the goal of helping teachers unlock the potential, I have designed a 14 day twitter challenge. Follow it and reap the benefits of powerful connections. Visit the following link here , scroll through the days below or download as a printable infographic 

Everyone who participates and completes the PE Teacher Twitter Challenge will go into a monthly draw for a $20 iTunes Giftcard. Just leave a comment with a link to your Twitter page and Ill pick a winner at random at the months end.

Checkout the video tutorial showcasing how I use the FREE Zite app for my daily professional learning and as a worldwide news source.  Its truly amazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JjaPomu86I

Available for iPhone,iPad and iPod Touch here

Available for Android here

Available for Windows Phones here

So what makes Google Chrome so good? Well its a number of things, but one of the main reasons for me is the plethora of web apps and extensions available that take it from a boring old browser to just about anything you want. So without further a do, checkout the video below in which I highlight my favourite Chrome extensions and web apps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVoNulWfQE4

Download Google Chrome here

Access the Chrome Web Store Here

What are your favourite Google Chrome Apps & Extensions? Let us know in the comments below

Three Ring or Easy Portofolio

Either of these apps will make Student Portfolios a breeze in your classroom. With Three Ring you can easily capture photos, videos and audio recordings and assign them to students. This information is then uploaded to the Three Ring website and can be viewed behind
your secure account.

Another Alternative is the Easy Portfolio app which allows for the capture of Photo/Video/Audio/URL/Documents and Text notes for your student cohort. The data is then stored on the device, until you choose to export it via email or Dropbox.

Easy Assessment

The Easiest and most popular rubric style assessment app available. In a matter of a few minutes you can setup a rubric and assess your entire student cohort. Assessments can even include photo or videos to strengthen your evaluation. All assessment material can be exported to dropbox for archiving.

Easy Tag

Simple application that allows you to do statistical recording within sports. Users can very quickly setup a game panel with tiles dedicated to specific actions the user wishes to observe (see the image below). The user then taps the events as they observe them throughout the game play, ultimately completing a statistical analysis. The perfect tool for getting key performance indicators within games. Have injured students do recording during practical classes to provide insight into game play. Results can then be exported directly to email for further analysis.Keep track of student possessions and use this information to track involvement. A great little tool for a myriad of situations.

Cardiograph

Cardiograph is a super high quality app that tracks your heart rate via your devices camera. The app uses the tiny colour changes that occur during capillary refill in your finger to determine your heart rate with astonishing level of accuracy. The best feature about this app is the capacity to create multiple profiles, making it perfect for a class full of students. In the past this has been used to track heart rate variance over a period of time and discuss how these changes occur. The other advantage to using this HR option is the less invasive nature when compared to a traditional chest strap

Coach’s Eye

The app is an absolute must have and brings exceptional insight to your Physical Education classes. Simply point and shoot your desired footage and tap to begin an instant on the spot analysis. Users can finely tune the footage the exact frame using the ‘fly wheel’ at the bottom. You can then use the drawing tools to complete a telestration emphasising the important aspects of the performance.  The really exciting addition to the app which takes it to the next level, is its ability to create a voice over recording during the video analysis. This recording can then be shared via Text Message, Email, YouTube or other social media platforms making it the easiest and most powerful way to improve performance.

Sports Tracker Pro

This is coolest GPS tracking app I have ever seen and comes only available for Android users. Use it to live track everything including Heart Rate, Breathing Rate and Skin Temperature with the Zephyr Bioharness attachment. AWESOME.

PE Games

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 add it to their 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.

So what Android apps are you using? Suggest some additions to the starter package in the comments.