This document discusses a study on the use of social media, specifically Facebook and YouTube, in physical education (PE) classes at a high school. A survey of 45 PE students found that most use Facebook and YouTube in their daily lives and see benefits to using them for PE, such as increased accessibility to course content and discussion. However, some reported drawbacks like distractions. Overall, social media was found to increase students' homework completion and understanding of PE content. The document proposes improvements and expanding social media integration across other classes.

1. Social media and its use within Physical Education at
WHS

2. Background
• CTS and I have been teaching level 1-3 PE with a "flipped learning" approach
• We deliver our flipped approach using Facebook groups as our "base" for each year level, then
upload videos we create to this group
• Although we know this style can boost achievement levels, we wanted to take a closer look at the use
of social media in our learning area, in particular how students feel about our use of Facebook and
YouTube and its effect on their learning at school and at home
• We surveyed 45 NCEA PE students from level 1-3 asking ten questions about their experiences using
social media in our classes
• We are hoping to use the feedback to improve the way we use social media in PE and encourage
other teachers and learning areas to embrace social media as a real tool in and out of the classroom

3. What types of social media do you use
in everyday life?
Facebook
YouTube
Tumblr
Twitter
Google+
Other
Blogs
Myspace
Percentage
0 25 50 75 100
2.2
4.4
8.9
13.3
15.6
17.8
80
91.1

4. What types of social media do you
use in subjects other than PE?
YouTube
Facebook
Google+
Other
Tumblr
Blogs
Twitter
Myspace
Delicious
Percentage
0 17.5 35 52.5 70
2.6
2.6
2.6
5.3
7.9
10.5
26.3
26.3
60.5

5. What do you like about the use of Facebook
in PE? [sample of student responses]
• We can get an idea of what to expect in class.We are able to discuss PE topics easily with the class
while we are at home and ask questions that we might forget to ask at school
• It's convenient
• Creates a forum where you can talk to other students about work
• It is something that I go on very often, so it reminds me that I have work instead of just forgetting
about it
• Easier to keep in touch with the rest of the class, easier to inform the entire class at the same time
of something important they need to know
• That it's accessible from most places. I go on regularly so it's not out of the way. It's a simple and
easy way to communicate and share work.

6. What do you dislike about the use of Facebook
in PE? [sample of student responses]
• Sometimes I don't go on Facebook
• I sometimes don't have the internet available at home
• If Internet is down or you're away from the computer work is impossible
• Facebook used to be for an escape from work. It feels odd having homework
and Facebook connected
• Easily distracted by chat pop ups etc
• We have less excuses for not doing the homework!!

7. How often do you engage with
your PE class Facebook page?
15%
8%
56%
21%
Once per week 2-3 times per week
4-5 times per week Daily

8. How does the use of YouTube increase
your understanding of PE related content?
5%
51%
39%
5%
It doesnt increase my understanding
It somewhat increase my understanding
It definitely increases my understanding
My understanding has increased considerably

9. Does social media increase or decrease the
effectiveness of your homework completion in PE?
28%
56%
15%
I dont do homework
I do less homework now
I do more homework now
I complete all homework set for every PE class

10. What improvements would you suggest to how we
use social media in PE? [sample of student
responses]
• Encourage people to only comment things that are relevant to the discussion
• If homework is due, use the messaging system to remind us
• Integrate a group chat session for a homework task
• Make sure that everyone can access Facebook at school
• Reminders before each class so we know what we need to bring - practical gear / theory booklets
etc
• Add due dates to videos
• I would like it if it was more private with less people reading my comments, I feel self conscious
having my comments visible by everyone in the group

11. What improvements would you suggest to how we
use social media school wide? [sample of student
responses]
• More Facebook groups to share homework tasks with in other subject
areas
• Not use social media because Facebook puts you in a headspace that is
not conducive to completing homework
• Maybe more classes could use the sort of flipped learning technique
because it allows you to watch things over and over
• Create a social media group for every single course, not just PE.This
would really help improve homework completion

12. How do you see social media affecting your
education in the future? [sample of student
responses]
• I think it adds a level of convenience and will greatly affect my future because ill be
more likely to complete homework
• Technology is only bound to grow bigger, so it is going to have a huge affect on my
education, particularly if I go to university
• Social media will become a big part of my education. Hopefully it will enhance my
learning and make it easier
• I see social media being integrated more and more into our education system and I
think that's a very good idea
• The benefit of accessibility anywhere is a big plus!

13. Moving forward
• Release class guidelines on social
media etiquette to address some of the
identified concerns
• Brainstorm other ways to incorporate FB
in the classroom (plan evening group
chats, guests on FB chat, utilise full
group messaging, maybe FB events?
• Revisit class expectations and look at
student options for when Internet
access in unavailable

14. Moving forward
• Work with other teachers interested in
incorporating social media into their learning area
• Invite other teachers into our class Facebook
groups to observe how we use it
• Provide training sessions around different ways to
use social media in the classroom
• Keep promoting student access to Facebook, but
also consider consequences for those misusing it
or getting distracted by it in class