SOME PHYSICAL education teachers from across Munster recently gathered to hear how technology can help them improve the performance of the school teams and individual athletes.
And the man showing how it could be done was Rhys Long, the video analyst with the Welsh rugby team who this summer is travelling to South Africa with the British and Irish Lions as head of performance analysis.
Long told his audience that performance technology used in professional rugby could benefit the development of students in physical education. He highlighted the benefits of the Avenir Sports performance package used widely by professional rugby teams across the UK and advocated its wider use, across a varied range of sports.
Apple, which develops Avenir software for its Apple Mac computers, hosted the seminar in Cork where it has its Irish base.
Long, a former London Wasps technical analyst, forms part of a three-man analysis team for the upcoming Lions tour.
He said students using the software could examine their performance at a range of angles and could discuss the pros and cons of their techniques. “You look at tackle techniques; they can examine how accurate a throw was and you can let them realise for themselves where their technical difficulties lie.” PE teachers embraced the idea and claimed the use of more primitive methods of recording and playback were highly useful and popular among students.
“Kids get a great kick out of seeing themselves on screen, they love it. It is easy for them to learn if you show them what they are doing wrong, and show them a quality performance, what you are looking for from them. I’ve used this software to teach gymnastics and, after a bit of initial effort, it really paid off,” Marian Carey, a PE teacher at Presentation Brothers College in Cork, said.
Students who struggle with sports activity can glean particular benefits from the practice, according to PE teacher Sarah Cloney. “We wouldn’t be using anything like the technology used at a professional rugby level, but the idea makes a lot of sense. You often get students who will get frustrated and say ‘I can’t do it!’ but when they see the mistakes they are making, they can rectify them immediately. It’s a great learning tool for them,” Ms Cloney said.
Anna Marie Shinnick, also a PE teacher, said students can benefit from the IT skills involved in operating the software. “With a transition year class, you have a double or triple block of classes for PE and that can allow the students get involved in every aspect of it. They learn to use the cameras, the equipment and the software, although what we are using would not be so advanced as Sportscode, it would be very basic . . . It would be great to use the kind of equipment Rhys Long is talking about, but money talks I’m afraid, and there’s just no way the school could afford it, even if it was a great investment,” Ms Shinnick said.
While the benefits to students are manifold, the use of the system would create safety issues in class and privacy issues arise where students are under-16, according to one PE teacher who wished to remain anonymous.
“I use a similar programme, Darkfish, which makes learning visible and it is a wonderful tool, if you could eliminate the expense,” she said.
