Collaboration using Student Learning Space in Physical Education in Primary School

Introduction

Collaboration 

Physical Education activities require students to collaborate with each other. To further enhance the collaborative learning process, ICT is infused into the activities to increase the level of interactions. Collaborative learning involves having students work in pairs or groups on a problem that engages them in interdependent learning activities. These activities help students become more engaged and thoughtful as knowledge construction is often a communal effort rather than an independent endeavour. In addition to that, collaborative learning helps in the retention of learning (Prince, 2004).

SLS 

Student Learning Space (SLS) is used as a collaborative tool to enhance students’ learning. With SLS, students can provide individualised and group input for learning tasks. This is aligned with the belief that learning takes place individually and collaboratively, as students construct and co-construct meaning from knowledge and experiences (Singapore Curriculum Philosophy).

Outdoor Education:

SLS Lesson Package 

The SLS platform provides an ideal blended learning and collaborative space. Students can be first introduced to the topic, for example map reading, through scenarios supported by different media to allow them to understand the context via the SLS lesson package. The prior learning can be done remotely for students to provide their responses with guided questions and set clear goals before the actual face-to-face lesson in school. Hence, this allows more time for discussion during the face-to-face lessons. The SLS lesson package also creates opportunities for students to be more reflective thinkers. 

Collaboration on SLS 

Collaborative work takes place in class during curriculum where they will work mostly in pairs for outdoor education lessons. Their collected input or ideas will be captured in media or written form via the SLS platform. Through collaboration, we aim for students to work well together to achieve compromises and get the best possible results to complete the given tasks, for example to find the checkpoints and plot the routes on the map. Students in completing the tasks have to learn to be more flexible and make accommodations for overall team improvement. To attain a successful collaboration, effective communication is also critical as students work together. Through the group work, students learn to explain goals and expectations effectively so that the group has more consistent information and continues working well together.

Students’ Learning 

With the new knowledge attained, it is put into practice in class with their group. The thought processes are sharpened as they work together to complete the assignment. The collaboration and communication done during discussion help them to be better aligned with the objectives which would lead to a more accurate output. The use of other applications (apps), e.g. Sketch, to help support the collaborative work.

Gymnastics:

SLS Lesson Package 

The Collaborative Learning Experience template is used to build the gymnastics lesson package. This lesson package aims to allow students perform in a pair/group, a sequence of six different movements which include travelling, jumping, rotating and balancing, demonstrating a variety of positions, timing and relationships with a partner. Through the use of SLS platform, it enhances personalised feedback through the use of technology to provide formative feedback at the peer-to-peer and teacher-student levels.

Collaboration on SLS

SLS increases the interaction among the students in self and peer evaluation as well as getting customised feedback from the teacher. The use of the Padlet allows students to showcase their performance and thinking is made visible to their peers and self. In this process, they collectively improve on their ideas and give targeted feedback to one another. Teacher models how to give constructive feedback with specific vocabulary and provides customized feedback to each pair/group. The use of technology allows the teacher to view all the recorded performances and to give specific feedback to all the students as these can be challenging to do during the lesson time. Using colour coding, the students can self-assess and show their level of achievements in the Padlet by choosing the colours as indicated in the given rubrics.

Students’ Learning 

Students review their sequence based on peer feedback and teacher’s comments. The use of Interactive Thinking Tool allows the students to upload their final performance for the class gallery. This eliminates the need to perform in front of spectators as some students may have stage fright and it reduces the time required to view all group performances during the lessons. They are able to articulate how they have made improvements in their movements when they answer the questions. Here are some examples of students’ comments on the improvements that were made to their sequence.

Games and Sports:

SLS Lesson Package 

Games and Sports itself allows students to collaborate with one another on the court. These activities develop respect for self and others, a sense of responsibility towards their own well-being and their peers. With technology, students can capture their game play, pause at various points to discuss and review their play. The use of SLS and Padlet have been intentionally incorporated into the PE Lessons. As the recordings are in SLS, students can review it at their own timing, providing constructive feedback and affirming their peers of the good practices.

Conclusion:

Impact 

Collaboration using SLS in the three learning areas of Outdoor Education, Gymnastics and Games & Sports has allowed for many opportunities to facilitate students’ learning and development of the 21CC skills. SLS supports collaboration as it allows other collaborative apps such as Padlet and Sketch to be embedded into its platform. Consistent use of SLS allows for the creation of a gallery of independent and collaborative work for every student, providing evidence of the student's learning. Interaction amongst students is enabled through peer evaluation and customised feedback from teachers. Collaboration enhances teaching and learning of PE when students receive immediate feedback and teachers to gather evidence of students’ learning. This method of instant data collection helps in retention of information. With continuous feedback, students’ knowledge construction strengthens. Live monitoring of students’ progress on SLS provides immediate feedback to teachers and enables teachers to monitor students when they are moving around the school independently during Outdoor Education activities.

Constraints

Teachers faced challenges in terms of time, technology and logistics. All students and teachers had to be trained in how to use the various technologies. This took some time and one lesson plan may take multiple lessons to be completed at the beginning. Logistical issues such as Wi-Fi connectivity also took time to be resolved.

Future Plan

Fairfield Methodist School (Primary) plans to implement collaboration using SLS for all levels and in all the learning areas of PE. Explicit planning of collaborative activities will produce structured lesson plans on SLS that can be carried out by all teachers for all classes in the coming years.

Article Contributed by: 

Fairfield Methodist School (Primary) / PE Dept 2023

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