How the mobile website was used to support content knowledge in

and Waring, 2011; Sloan; 2007). As such, there became an immediate association with the mobile website as a support tool (McCormick and Scrimshaw, 2001; Wyant, Jones and Bulger, 2015), predominantly in its potential to improve/assist with one’s content knowledge (Hetink et al., 2016).

6.2.2 How the mobile website was used to support content knowledge in gymnastics

When the teacher educator introduced the mobile website to the PE pre-service teachers as an ‘additional teaching resource’ to support subject knowledge in gymnastics (Research diary entry, observation 1), in my opinion she was arguably making a subconscious assumption about the mobile website’s purpose and positioning on the module. Perhaps, use of the phrase ‘additional resource’ concurs with research by McCormick and Scrimshaw (2001) and Palao et al. (2015) that continues to criticise technologies’ use in PE as merely an extension device. Nonetheless, the PE pre-service teachers seemed excited and curious at the prospect of resource intervention, as was the course leader, who believed that a resource like this is just what the PE pre-service teachers required to develop confidence in challenging activities like gymnastics (Research diary entry, module seminar, September 2014). Subsequently, several PE pre-service teachers quizzed me informally after the first practical lesson on the design, and the potential of the resource to support them on their placements. I noted in my research diary:

After the introduction from the teacher educator, some PE pre-service teachers hung about and tentatively quizzed me on what the website looks like, how they can access it and whether it is something that they can use on placement as they were rubbish at gymnastics. I was pleased that there was initial interest, although I tried not to ponder on the answers, as

121 the teacher educator was keen to get out the equipment. I answered whilst ushering them over to help (Research dairy entry, observation 1).

The enthusiasm for using the resource continued through to the initial focus group, where PE pre-service teachers remained positive about the mobile website as a support tool that would assist their developing content knowledge:

“I personally found the website really good for building my subject knowledge (Kelly, pre-service teacher, focus group 1).

“I think that will help me a lot in my teaching of gymnastics, cause it’s like a support mechanism for me maybe. Because what I don’t know, or I can't explain, I can use the website to reinforce what I’m trying to get across” (Levi, pre-service teacher, focus group 3).

This was supported by the teacher educator who also saw the potential of the mobile website in advancing her own and PE pre-service teachers’ knowledge of the skills:

“Well I haven’t actively used it in a school setting, but I think it was quite nice to see some of the skills that were developed a little bit further than the work that I would do from a reality kind of fronting. And I think it allowed the students then to actually stretch and I think the way that you’ve done your beginners up to your advanced skills, I thought that was really good. And typically, they went straight to the advanced skills, then go down and kind of building themselves up. But I think that was really good to do. So, the work that I’ve done over the years has been probably an average kind of level, but some of the stuff that was on the website, rolling and twisting and turning, you know, even with simple jumps and simple vaultings, I thought that was good” (teacher educator, interview 1).

At the core of content knowledge development is the associated movement vocabulary, e.g. forward roll, cartwheel, tuck jump. For PE pre-service teachers, the fundamental purpose of the mobile website was in the advancement of this movement vocabulary, and as such they used the mobile website as a substitute for task cards or to supplement what they already knew. For example, the video clips were credited by the PE pre-service teachers for their ability to present pupils with a visual representation of the techniques and skills (Gibbone, Perez and Vergilio, 2014; Webb and Cox, 2004; Weir and Connor,

122 2009). This visual representation of movement was frequently referred to as the ‘ideal model’ and considered a great way for pupils to observe and replicate:

“I think what I would do is I’d probably get one big television that we have access to, and maybe get them all in, watch one, and then go away, so they’re focused for a couple of minutes watching the technique, and then they go away and you kind of have it looping in the background and they just look over every now and again. I wouldn’t give them access to the iPad” (Dillon, pre-service teacher, focus group 1).

In addition to providing both teachers and pupils with the correct technique, the video clips allowed for immediate access to a range of gymnastics skills, which were both familiar and unfamiliar. Being able to transfer adequate movement repertoires to pupils in gymnastics proved crucial for PE pre-service teachers, particularly when pupils were left to explore and demanded some inspiration:

“Yeah I think it’s good and it gives the kids ideas on what they can do, and lets them try things more, a wider variety of things for themselves as opposed to saying, okay do this, if you can do that, go and do this” (Matt, pre-service teacher, focus group 1).

“I think it just gives you more ideas to be honest. From speaking to people on my practice, during past years doing the schemes of work, one of the teachers said he did six weeks of balances, which there’s not a problem with doing that, but I think this tool allows you to move away from that and actually progress your lessons on that. Right, you’ve ticked the balance box, now move on to travelling or flight or whatever else you need to move on to” (Dillon, pre-service teacher, focus group 1).

For PE pre-service teachers, acquiring extensive movement vocabulary played a more fundamental role in lesson preparation. For them, delivery of the right content knowledge was central to the planning of good PE lessons. The teacher educator reinforced this in one of her sessions when she said:

I think that the website is an excellent tool to help you develop your subject knowledge; it can be definitely used in your planning (Research diary entry, observation 1).

For example, most PE pre-service teachers opted to use the movement vocabulary located on the mobile website in the planning phase to ensure that

123 there was enough content across a single lesson and or a scheme of work. This alleviated extensive searching on the internet or in books for ideas and prevented the content of the lesson from falling short of the allocated time for a PE lesson. For these PE pre-service teachers, planning was almost always for content with no references made to other aspects of teaching. Conversely, when reflecting on their own peer teaching in weeks three and six, using the mobile website in the planning phase proved popular. Below are examples of how PE pre-service teachers used the mobile website when planning:

“We used the website to help with the planning phase, also in the development phase of the lesson” (Matt and Ken, pre-service teachers, week 3, reflective video diary).

“The website was really useful in our planning. We used it to plan our lesson so that we could see the moves that were more suitable for a beginner intermediate and advanced. So, in our planning we used Olympic rings and we set out which moves were for beginners and which were for intermediate and which for advanced” (Kelly, pre-service teacher, week 3, reflective video diary).

“I have used it in the planning phase to come up with ideas for the balances and the vaults” (Christopher, pre-service teacher, week 6, reflective video diary).

Planning to use the mobile website as a possible homework resource was also considered, as the interactive use off-site (out of school) could prove beneficial to pupil learning. This was perhaps one example of task transformation (Peuntedura, 2009) (see section 2.5), although it was a proposed idea rather than one that was implemented. For example, one PE pre-service teacher said:

“You could link it into the homework like we said, so they could do their homework. This is what you’ll be doing, and then at the start of the lesson you could have it, this is what you should be looking like at the end” (Matt, pre-service teacher, focus group 1).

Additionally, one PE pre-service teacher verbalised ideas on how she created resources from the mobile website in her own planning time. For Kelly, this showcased what she referred to as innovation and captured her creative side:

124 “……so, from your website I took screenshots of various different points of a balance, and then made it into a laminated task card. So that worked well as well” (Kelly, pre-service teacher, focus group 2).

There did, however, remain some scepticism around the use of task cards, with “death by task card” (Levi, pre-service teacher, interview 1) referred to on several occasions. However, it appeared that most PE pre-service teachers envisaged using the mobile website in the same way as they would use a task card. For example, one PE pre-service suggested that the mobile website was a good replacement for task cards: “The task cards can be quite basic, and I’ve found now that it’s death by task cards sometimes with teaching and this is something new for the kids” (Lorraine, pre-service teacher, week 6 reflective diary). Arguably, like in Kelly’s example, task cards can provide the movement vocabulary required, with less hassle regarding setting up and operating equipment; yet, PE pre-service teachers understood the value of visualising a moving skill compared to a static skill on a card. For example, pupils can see how to get into and out of the skill on a video, which makes it safer to build skills progressively with the opportunity to replay, slow down and zoom in. This was particularly useful for most PE pre-service teachers who held the perception that given the practical nature of learning in PE, that demonstrations were essential for effective teaching (O’Loughlin, Chroinin and O’Grady, 2013). Using the mobile website in most cases overcame PE pre-service teachers’ issues with their own physical incompetence by its ability to serve as a digital representation of the correct technique. There was also an example given of how constant replay of the videos might be facilitated using what they referred to as ‘non-doers’. For PE pre-service teachers, engaging the ‘non-doers’ was high on the priority list when on school placement, with technology proving to be valuable, i.e. it gave them a role in the lesson, and it was useful for their peers’ learning:

“I also had a non-doer who wasn’t taking part in the lesson, so he kept repeating the video over and over again, so it was continually running in the background so that the pupils can use it to see how to do it, to remind them and to compare it with their own performance” (Naomi, pre-service teacher, reflective video diary, week 6).

125 Given that content knowledge was prioritised when using the mobile website, there was arguably lesser attention given to the pupil-centred pedagogies, supporting Casey (2014) and Weir and Connor (2009) in their beliefs that pedagogical use of technology in PE is neglected. Some PE pre-service teachers did suggest that the mobile website “could promote independent learning as well couldn’t it really” (Matt, pre-service teacher, focus group 1), although they were not totally committal in their responses. In line with research by Meredith (2011), I think there was a general perception that the mobile website certainly offered the potential to promote a more pupil-centred approach to learning, yet, apprehensions around the reality of this coupled with perhaps a lack of understanding on the purpose of implementation were evidenced. For example, one PE pre-service teacher makes this explicit in the following quote:

“…. the next school I’m in, every kid and every teacher have an iPad so that will allow them to be a bit more creative, a bit more independent using the website themselves. I think like we said before, if we do monitor it or go step by step with them, maybe on a big screen and go through, I want you doing travels, your group on this, your group on that, that it will work, because they’ve got all that. But for the time being I’d just use big examples on one screen for them all to have a look at” (Levi, pre-service teacher, interview 1).

Here, we can clearly see the contradictions between what the PE pre-service teachers envisaged and what they were comfortable to do in actual practice. Use of technologies requires then PE pre-service teachers to be innovative in their pedagogical approaches with an understanding of what the goal is. Thus, a greater focus on the learning objectives (Rosenthal and Eliason, 2015) before using technology might help PE pre-service teachers to grasp the purpose of its use and eliminate these hazy responses and ideas.

In summary, most of the PE pre-service teachers believed that the mobile website could assist with their content knowledge deficits, particularly when using the videos to plan lessons and schemes of work. The mobile website was also credited for the visual representations of movement vocabulary, using videos. There were, however, very few examples or ideas on how the mobile

126 website might be used to influence pedagogies in gymnastics, beyond the PE pre-service teachers existing practices. The following analysis discusses these perspectives in more depth against the literature.