Free Custom «Politics and Culture» Essay Paper

Political changes determine the manner in which the world changes. The world has throughout history observed political changes everywhere in the world. Politics influence political stability or instability of a nation. Political instability in a country promotes economic growth and development which has a positive impact on education including Physical education.

Politics control all the external forces and discourse that affect individual sector in an economy. The control, manipulation and appropriation of the discourses also explain the influence of the political arena in education sector including physical education. Betti, (1991) in her research say that politics, economics and government have long stressed the need and importance of physical activities. She says, “Programs were created, technology was developed, facilities were built, and many other machines were articulated and applied to boost the participation of students in PE activities by the government.” Warburton (1999) also commented about the potentially startling lack of coherence in vision and policy of various government departments despite the fact that it is in the center for development in PE and is determinant to enhance the status of sports at both local and national levels.

 

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Gilbert (1998) beliefs that partnership in physical education can only be truly successful if it is centered within a broad vision for the motivation and the development of young people, sport and physical activity. However, this can only be realized if the government is fully involved to boost sport and physical activity and appreciation of the importance of breath in the PE curriculum from those who support and drive government policy.

Research indicates that people’s culture shape individual’s attitude towards their participation in physical activities. Keeping in mind cultural factors and changes is critical when developing a physical activity program. In some culture, girls and women are responsible for domestic chores and thus taking time away from their duties to participate in leisure physical activity or education is deemed (Hoebeke, 2008;; Caperchione et al., 2009;; Mansfield, 2009). In some culture, heavy breathing and sweating are considered unhealthy (Caperchione et al., 2009). Religious factors also influence physical activities and physical education. Some religious practices require men to wear turban and women and girls to wear hijab or skirt which highly restrict their involvement in physical activity and education. Most Muslim faithful are required to pray regularly the whole day thus making it impossible to accommodate their time in a physical activity program (Caperchione et al., 2009). Due to increased globalization and interaction in the world most culture are being eroded and some being assimilated leading to influx of culture around the world. This change will have a positive impact on people’s attitude towards healthy living and physical activities. To achieve PE2020, politics and culture should change in a manner that accommodates and promotes physical activity and exercises in the society. Government should also formulate and promote policies which promote healthy living for everyone and physical education for all students.

Our world has changed in many different ways but perhaps none poses more significance for physical education’s future than changes in technology. Technology advancement has been the most observable change in the world, from the invention of the wheel to the modern vehicles and aero planes, from invention of telegraph to telephone to modern day hand set, computers internet and other nuclear technology, We are living in a digitalized world where innovation, and development have become a common phenomenon. Changes in technology have simplified how things are conducted in most sectors in the society including the education sector. Technology is expected to be one of the main drivers of attainment of PE2020 (NASPE, 2010).

According to Hall & Leigh (2001) Internet and new technology have dramatically brought positive change in the education system of the United States. Has led to establishment of virtual high schools distance education and online course the most advanced features of education landscape. As a result of these positive improvements, most states and individual schools in the United States are examining challenges and opportunities of online education in every subject area that would include physical education.

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Technology has been cited by majority to be able to improve physical education by being able to enhance communication. More than half of the teachers have cited several ways that technology has enhanced physical education programs (Hall & Leigh, 2001). The availability of fitness assessment database, multi-media systems, web pages, visual presentations, and content-based software programs has made the use of technology in physical education viable. Additionally, the use of digital videos, exercise and gaming equipment will enable the teachers to improve on instruction. Communication with the necessary authorities on student achievement and performance will be improved come the year 2020. According to physical best program (2005)the same technology will go a long way to better the motivation of the students in the field of physical education. This motivation will be more evident given that there will be a higher zeal in the learners and consequently their parents on physical education and activity.

Information and communication technology will be a very important tool in physical education since it will support teachers to make their lesson designs better thus transforming teaching and learning. The assessment of learners’ progress will be made easier by the various aspects of technology. By the year 2020, the teachers will be able to efficiently motivate and engage the pupils at a higher level in the learning of physical education. The wide range of information sources and techniques will support creative and critical thinking to enable the pupils to learn challenging and alternative ways in this field. The information available will put more emphasis on individual work while the link up methods available will go a long way to support collaborative work. There will be better websites on physical education that will enable the learners to select the best sources of information for any investigation. There will be improved data-loggers to measure effort used in different physical activities (Hall & Leigh, 2001).

The making of decisions pertaining to the use of technology in planning and teaching physical education depend of a number of factors. Four distinct variables have been highlighted pertaining to physical educators; teaching style, perception of relevance and importance of technology, context, and technology proficiency. There are claims that these four variables greatly contribute to educator’s attitude about and usage of technology, as viewed from a theoretical framework. The teacher’s individual differences and their environment and social setting are the considerations along with the teacher’s attitudes towards technological use and characteristics. For instance, the prediction of technological use in physical education has been clearly indicated by the way teachers and educators perceive the relevance or importance of various technologies in curricula and in daily activities. Likewise, the value of technology as viewed and demonstrated by other external faculty members, also influence teacher’s technology usage in physical education. Given the above variables, we cannot assume the role of technology in physical education come the year 2020.

Moreover, the influences on the use of technology in various capacities particularly in physical education, involves both the structure of attitude and practice. This is due to the fact that the information of attitude provides an understanding of teacher’s decisions and perceptions. Attitude has the potential to serve in explaining decisions that educators apply to teaching and how they prepare themselves to associate and teach with technological computer use. It is important to note that, teacher’s attitude and experience are the main factors associated with technology and computer use. According to ‘Chrstensen, (2002), Fordhan (2004), and Vannatta, for effective and efficient use of technology, both a positive attitude about technology and technology skills in combination must be accepted and worked upon. Some of the other factors that influence attitude in technological use in physical education include social norms, self-efficacy, and external demands among others. Given the upward mobility of the society and the adoption of a better attitude towards technology by learners and educators, it will be embraced wholly making it an important aspect of physical education by the year 2020.

Efficient decision making relating to physical activities will be more applicable through the use of models generated by computers. Given the development in ICT by the year 2020, pupils will be able modify, refine, redraft and review any work that will be in progress. Different innovations in educational technology will greatly change the systems of communication, learning resources, professional development and the lesson ideas. Innovative technology will notably facilitate creativity and learning productivity. We have a few examples of areas where technology has had positive impact; they include preparing, generating, administering, and also reporting information such as scores in fitness, class participation, or motor skills for both learners and educators. Going by the same trend, we expect a very great improvement in the learning of physical education (Hall & Leigh, 2001).

When speaking about ICT, the CD-ROM stands distinctively from the other aspects. Come the year 2020, learners’ capability in ICT will be developed and consequently applied in PE through lessons stored and retrieved through the CD-ROM. Given the versatility of the CD-ROM as an ICT storage device, it will be instrumental in ensuring that the PE curriculum becomes easily applicable and further develop it to fit the abilities of the learner at that time. The teachers at that time will be required to teach the relevant objectives in the aspects of ICT they intend the pupils to learn(Kleinman, 2009).

ICT includes an array of several software and hardware that will need to be incorporated in the teaching, organizing and administration of PE programs. The internet as an international network will provide both learners and their teachers with the capability to share ideas. With the help of the internet, The nature and normal ways of teaching and the organization of instructional resources and materials can be further developed with the purpose of improving on communication, resources, and the lesson ideas (Mohnsen, 2006). The intranet will be instrumental in the institutions enabling teachers of physical education to share information with the learners. The CD-ROM will enable the learners to watch as they listen to information on physical education which will be presented in the form of graphics and texts.

The physical activity sessions by the year 2020 will be enhanced by the use of heart rate monitors combined with the wristwatch. The mechanism involves a strap that is fitted around the chest which has a radio that transmits the heartbeat ton the monitor in the watch. It provides immediate feedback in an activity and this makes students’ work harder. The use of heart rate monitors will make the learning process more student-centered by the year 2020. This is because the heart rate monitor is based entirely on the student’s ability level and current level of fitness. The significance of the heart rate monitors in physical education come in when students get motivated and are pushed to set higher goals to work upon, due to increased fitness levels in regard to cardiovascular benefits.

The digital camera will come in handy to enable the learners and their teachers to store pictures of the different activities in their computers. The learners will be able to display the pictures on their computers and further import those into graphics packages for editing. The digital cameras will also be able to capture videos of the several activities that will be used by the teachers as teaching aids to help them pass information to the pupils effectively (Hall & Leigh, 2001). The simple introduction of tape recorders, mental monitors, GPS, projectors, and the WII systems such as the WII fit and the Dance Revolution are few examples of technology that indicate how technology has changed in pursuit of improved physical education come the year 2020. In making step and heart rate goals, educators will also find the use of more technologies including pedometers and the heart rate monitors to be very useful in teaching physical education.

The field of ICT gets better every day with more generic software and applications being developed daily. Come the year 2020, there will be software that will improve the way computers and other aspects of technology. Desktop publishing which involves a combination graphics, layout and text will be used to make such items as newsletters, information packets and/or student portfolios which will be used to pass information on physical education come the year 2020.With the advent of databases there will be improved data handling that will store enough data needed to improve physical education. Presentation of the information will be made easier by the use PowerPoint which will present it in slide form.

Evidently, technology has greatly accounted for many changes in physical Education. These changes typically range from the methods of instruction and information delivery to the attitude of teachers and students on how learning transpires to the amount of participation and collaboration and knowledge sharing between teachers, students and professionals (Pettigrew, 2003). Teaching and learning with the use of technology will have a significant positive impact on student outcomes when it is compared with the traditional instruction and forms of learning. This has comparatively been generalized and applied in physical education and has proved to work effectively. With the help of technology in PE, students will get an opportunity to learn and explore how science and technology will be used to uphold good health, both mentally, physically, environmentally and socially.

When considering the role and importance and the need of technology in physical education programs in the future, a number of critical questions emanate that need to be explained and addressed carefully. These include; what options of technology are available for physical education? Does the use of technology in physical education motivate student? What is the main role of technology as an assessment too in PE? Does technology aid in advocating the importance of physical education programs? As indicated earlier, there are a number of good options available to physical education that are easily accessible and incorporable into the curriculum in regard to technology.