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VARIETY OF PHYSICAL EDCUATION GAMES

YOUTUBE VIDEO LIBRARY

Physical Education teacher, Brian Gradient has created a physical education games video

series. These games were created to help teachers incorporate fun and meaningful lessons in their

Physical Education (P.E.) class. Gradient began creating this library in 2011, and have grown

tremendously. These videos can be found on YouTube

(https://www.youtube.com/user/PhysEdGames) and http://physedgames.com. Gradient also have

books that can be purchased off Amazon. As a physical education teacher, I have used a couple

of these games and activities. The students really enjoyed them. PhyedGames Library consist of

the following types: baseball, basketball, dodge ball, fitness, fun, literacy, net, soccer, tag, warm-

up, and more. However, this library does not teach any skills. Students need prior knowledge of

the skill to play games from PhysedGames Library.

This critique will discuss positives and negatives based off Gradients PhysEdGames

Library determined from the aspects of multimedia learning principles. In this critique, I will

discuss how effective the PhysEd Library is to Physical Education Teachers.

POSITIVES
The PhysEdGames Library have a couple of positive points: accessible, user-friendly, and

concise. Anyone that has the internet can access PhysEdGames Library. Its located on YouTube

and it has its own website.

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Figure 1: Gradient (2012) PhysEdGames YouTube page

The internet is a very powerful tool that caters to todays society. Its on cell phones,

computers, laptops, tablets, and more. With that being said, the most positive advantage of

Gradients library is how accessible it is. If a Physical Education teacher wants ideas or

suggestions of a game to enforce a skill they can surf the internet. As they google, Physical
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Education games the third option is the PhysEd Games Library.

Figure 2: Gradient (2012) Webpage

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Secondly, PhysEdGames Library is very user-friendly. Each topic/skill has its own

library of games. For example, all games that involve throwing are organized under one link. Or

you could find games depending on the grade level you are teaching. Thirdly, the videos are very

concise that are in the library. At most, videos are typically 2:00-3:00 minutes long. During those

couple of minutes, it explains the game very well. Other Physical Education teachers can also

submit games for him as well. Some of the videos has Gradient giving credit to the Physical

Education teacher that submitted it to him. After teachers submit the game to him, he then creates

the short video to explain the game visually.

Each video is narrated and animated to show how each games works. At the beginning,

Gradient states the name of the game and what skill it enforces. He then goes on to show what

grade level it is most appropriate for and the equipment that is needed. Gradient animates how to

play the game as he narrates step by step. In each video different shapes are used to signify teams

or offense/defense. According to Driscoll (2005) The theory of situated cognition claims that

every human thought is adapted to the environment, that is, situated, because what people

perceive, how they conceive of their activity, and what they physically do develop together (P.

157). With that being said, students who are taught these games have to adapted their prior

knowledge to the environment. For example, if we are playing a throwing game, they need to

think about those throwing cues that were taught any apply it to the environment.

NEGATIVES

Although I would suggest this resource to any physical education teacher there are a

couple of negatives that will be highlighted. As a Physical Education teacher, when we are

looking for new and innovative games we like to have a handout we could print or copy and

paste into a lesson plan. PhysEdGames on YouTube provides a video and narrative of how the
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game is played, however a description of the game is not available to print. There is an Amazon

book that is available for purchase, however you can not cut and paste a book. As teachers, we

do not want to recreate the wheel.

Another negative regarding PhysEdGames is there isnt any tutorial explaining each skill

that is involved in the videos on YouTube or the website. These videos are only good for if you

have already taught the skill. This is where the principle prior knowledge comes into play. For

the most part, when Physical Education teachers start playing a game they have already taught

the skill. When using this resource, students would have to retain prior knowledge that was

taught. According to Driscoll (2005), Ausubel believed that there are two types of learning in the

classroom: reception and discovery learning. Most school learning occurs by using the reception

type. Reception learning (Expository Instruction) is the learner taught the information in its final

state. Discovery learning is when the information is not present in a final form, learners have to

reorganize the information and relate it to previous existing information. When teaching games,

students have to use reception learning. Usually in Physical Education, we spending two to three

weeks on a skill. This gives students a chance to practice and perform at the mature level of the

skill. Games are used to reinforce and practice the skill.

REDESIGN

If I were to re-design this product I would include a handout and also a short clip of the

actual game being played. As I stated earlier, when teachers are preparing lesson plans, no one

wants to create the wheel. The handout would include the following: equipment needed,

directions, modifications, extensions, and standards. Providing all of this information makes it

easier on the teacher. Although Gradient does a great job of narrating and showing how the

games are played by using diagrams, some teachers may still not understand. At the end of the
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explanation, I would provide a short clip of my class playing the game so teachers get a real time

view of how each game is played.

SUMMARY

My overall impression of this product is an eight out of ten. I like the fact that you can

visually see how the game is played with diagrams and animation. As a Physical Education

teacher, when looking for games for your students to play it can be difficult. Sometimes you read

thru directions and you dont clearly understand how to play. Therefore, if you dont understand

there is no way you can teach it to your students. Since the library is on YouTube you can pause,

rewind, fast forward at any point in the video to get a clearer understanding. My biggest gripe

about this product is that a handout or printout is not included. If I want to use this game for my

class, I have to type everything. Most times when writing a lesson plan, you can cut and paste

and change things as needed. However, with this product they provide a link where you can buy

the book. The book doesnt provide the documents digitally either.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Driscoll, M. (2005). Meaningful learning and schema theory. Psychology of Learning for

Instruction (3rd ed.) (pp. 111-157). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Gradient, B. (2011). Physical Education Games Library. [Video File]. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/user/PhysEdGames

Kalyuga, S. (2010). Schema acquisition and sources of cognitive load. In J.L. Plass, R. Moreno,

& R. Brnken, Cognitive Load Theory, 48-64. New York: Cambridge.