Technology in sports

In this engineering activity, students will work in groups to share their knowledge of the use of technology in sport. They will each give a 60 second presentation about the topic to their group.

This task is aimed at secondary school students and could be used as a starter activity with ‘Create a portable beep tester’ as the main activity. It is an ideal exercise for learners to both demonstrate and develop their knowledge of the topic of technology in sport, and share with their peers.

Activity introduction
This activity encourages learners to recall information, helps learners develop their oral presentation skills and encourages learners to work together to develop their knowledge.

The teacher will first state to students that they will be demonstrating their existing knowledge of the use of technology in sport. They will also be developing their knowledge further by working with other learners in this group and listening to their presentations.

Learners will be expected to work in teams of four. Their topic to talk about will be ‘the use of technology in sport’. Each learner in the group will, in turn, speak about this topic to their team for 60 seconds. They must try not to hesitate, deviate or repeat any information!

Each group of four will write a summary of the main points learnt and read it out the class. This can be both in terms of knowledge of the topic and oral presentation techniques used.

The engineering context
Sports Technology is an ideal topic for teaching about programmable components and embedded intelligence in products. These are key parts of the 2014 programme of study for Design and Technology at key stage 3.

It is also an ideal vehicle for using the BBC micro:bit in the classroom and developing the product integration skills of learners.

Technology in sport
This is one of a series of resources to support the use of the BBC micro:bit in Design and Technology lessons.

Technology can be used in sports to enhance performance and help participants to improve their fitness and stamina. For example, automated beep tests can be used to monitor fitness levels during training sessions and set targets for future improvement.

In this unit of learning, students will use the BBC micro:bit to develop a prototype for an electronic beep test that can be used to help people monitor and improve their fitness levels.

Suggested learning outcomes
By the end of this activity students will be able to describe how technology can be used in sport, present an oral presentation on the topic of technology in sport and they will be able to work as part of a team to develop their knowledge of technology in sport.

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