The rapid spread of COVID-19 had a global influence on many aspects of society, putting nearly all academic institutions on ice. Furthermore, due to the coronavirus outbreak, educational institutions were required to close, causing the Department of Education to pause the conduct of face-to-face classes and forcing educators to adapt to new ways of teaching. Distance learning was implemented by the Department of Education to avert an academic freeze.
Teachers are delivering their lessons online, utilizing online video conferencing and learning management systems and platforms such as Google Classroom, Zoom, and etc. The online class environment helps teachers conduct their lessons despite being distant. All subjects were conducted the same way, and even physical education is not exempted from this mode of teaching and learning.
Physical Education (PE) lessons are important for many students in terms of being active, combating stress, and creating healthy routines, particularly in these pandemic times. However, when face-to-face classes were unavailable, these subjects were among the most challenging to adapt to an online environment. Space, location, physical distance, internet capacity, and other factors continue to limit what physical education teachers can do in-person and also the students while at their respective homes.
The integration of online classrooms for physical education (PE) has presented significant obstacles for teachers due to the subject’s distinctive nature, such as the necessity of executing physical movements, space, time, training, and so on.
Teachers are also struggling to come up with alternative ways to implement it so that their students can perform the routines precisely as necessary for the subject. The majority of the teachers used instructional videos to give their instructions, but their students did not execute their performance tasks accurately. Furthermore, teachers frequently struggle to provide immediate feedback in front of a computer screen. Some students are not too mature to receive negative feedback, which makes teachers careful with their words too.
Physical education, which includes sports such as basketball, badminton, and other outdoor sports activities, is conducted in a different manner; competition in such sports is still on hold due to the pandemic. These sports activities left teachers with limited options on how to implement them for their students properly. Teachers instruct students to practice dribbling, shooting, and other skills in their own homes by submitting video coverage. It makes it difficult for the teachers to observe students’ motions since they’re so small, especially in a single view. At the same time, students struggle with execution and timing because physical education teachers find it extremely difficult to correct performances.
Whatever the circumstances, teachers will always find innovative ways to teach their students the activities that they must learn in physical education. When teachers are challenged, they appear to be resourceful and flexible. They take the initiative to build an online environment in which one can teach lessons using a variety of teaching strategies to promote interaction and motivation in online classes.
By: Aldrin John T. Bustamante
