Featured Articles

Electronic Portfolios: The Time Has Come

More and more schools are implementing handheld/or laptop (notebook) computers programs for students. And, is it any wonder, with the price of textbooks rising, the cost of computers failing, and the breadth of the Internet expanding - that schools should choose to invest their limited resources in computers for students. But what does this mean for health and physical educators? Perhaps one thing that it means is that the time has finally come for electronic portfolios. Many health/physical educators have tried or are trying paper-based portfolios, but challenges have included storage issues (lack of space), maintaining a back up copy, and typically lacks visual/video images.

Electronic portfolios offer the convenience of automatic organization, storage on a CD or network, and depending on the software - automatic grading and assessment.

To this end, Bonnie's FItware Inc. will release a new version of their Electronic Portfolio software this summer that runs on Mac, Win, Palm OS, and Pocket PC (Mobile 2003 and higher). In addition, for users of Record Book 7, the electronic portfolio provides an interface for transferring scores from the portfolio to the record book for grading purposes. Our goal for grading and assessment is to link our electronic portfolio to the record book so that scores can automatically transfer and, in the future, have the software automatically assess students' work.

Devices Update

Gym for the Brain

A company in Netanya, Israel, called Applied Cognitive Engineering (ACE) believes that offensive and defensive skills in basketball can be taught- and to prove it, it has created a video-game-like tool that helps players learn when to shoot or pass the ball and how to work with teammates. The program, called IntelliGym, does not resemble basketball. The player initially shoots down spacecraft using the keyboard's arrow keys. In each session, the tasks get more complicated, challenging the player to confront a variety of situations. Each level is designed to exercise specific skills used in basketball - predicting an opponent's trajectory, deciding when to shoot at an opponent, and working with other team members. For more information, go to: http://www.ace4sports.com/product.html

Tips/Tutorials

Excel - Formatting tables

To start, make sure you have arranged your table's data. Enter information in horizontal rows for each category. Once your numbers are in place, click a cell in the table and choose Format and AutoFormat. You will see a dialog box with thumbnail images of all the available table formats. Most choices are various combinations of highlighted column headings and other key components, but Excel's also smart enough to pay attention to the formulas you're using in your table. When you find a format you like, click OK. You can always change your mind. Even after applying an AutoFormat, you can tweak the formatting of cells. Just click the appropriate cells and adjust the formatting.

Web Pages for May

Handheld Support

http://www.pesoftware.com/Support/handheld.html

Kaboom

http://kaboom.org/

The New Pyramid

http://www.MyPyramid.gov

Summer 2005 Online Courses
June 15, 2005 - August 15, 2005
Last chance to sign up:July 10

• Fitness Software
• Record Book Technology
• Web Design and Activities
• Instructional Software
• Technology Devices
• Electronic Portfolios
• Spreadsheets

Each course is $100 plus an additional $50 for college credit if needed. Click on each course for more information. You may register through July 10, 2005.

Future Devices

High Tech Watches

Still using your watch to tell time? Well that's okay, but with today's high tech watches you can do that and much much more. Built into some affordably priced watches (e.g., Timex, Casio) today are some really cool functions:

• Calculate distance and speed using GPS technology
• Deliver news and weather reports via a wireless Internet connection
• Transfer computer files via built-in flash memory
• Display current batometric pressure and temperature
• Talk to your friends and family via two-way radio
• Take pictures with a built-in digital camera
• Operate your TV and VCR via remote control

Interdisciplinary Software

Concept Mapping

Inspiration for Palm OS allows teachers and/or students to create their own graphic organizers in order to depict knowledge in a visual format. Students grade four to twelve use Inspiration for Palm OS in health education, physical education, planning and anytime they need a versatile tool to capture ideas and organize thinking. Using the stylus, students quickly build graphic organizers by sketching shapes to create symbols and drawing links to make connections. After organizing and expanding on ideas in the integrated Outline View, students can finalize their work by transferring to a handheld word processor, syncing to the desktop, beaming to another handheld or sending projects directly to a printer. Here is an example of what it looks like:

Bonnie's Fitware Inc Grant Program

Software Choices:

1. Health Related Fitness
2. Volleyball Complete
3. Sim Athlete
4. Biomechanics Made Easy
5. Muscle Flash
6. Elementary Physical Education Dictionary

The application is simple (no more than two pages): Name of person submitting the proposal and email address; Name of school, address, phone number; Name of software (one title per proposal) and platform (Windows or Macintosh); Description of how (specifically) you will use the software; Description of how (specifically) you will determine if the software makes a difference in student learning.

Questions and Answers

Q: What is the difference between USB 1.1 and USB 2.0? What is the difference between Firewire and Firewire 2?

A: USB 1.1 came out at 12 Mbps (megabits per second). USB 2 has a transfer rate of 480 Mbps. Firewire originally came out at 400 mbps and Firewire 2 has a transfer rate of 800 Mbps. Be aware that there are very few "Firewire 2" peripherals.

Other Funding Sources