Did the project get implemented as planned?
All through my MAED I’ve been focusing on the combination of Educational Technology and Sports. During KIN856 “Physical Basis of Coaching” by Dr. Scott Riewald, I got introduced to Dartfish when we had to video analyze and bio mechanically compare the tennis serves of Roger Federer and Andy Roddick.
When encountering issues in downloading some of the software I contacted the local help desk of Dartfish only to find out that it was the Global Head Office and Development Center!
All along I had thought it to be an American company as NBC uses the products so much in their broadcasts and I encountered it (unknowingly) first while watching the winter Olympics in Vancouver.
When looking at the Wicked Problem it was quickly clear I would like to do it with Dartfish and PE/ASA Sport at the International School of Lausanne. As I’m not responsible for the IT budget it would always be a stretch to expect the program to be fully implemented.
Hence the focus became to ensure a demo/work shop ran by Dartfish Switzerland for the PE Staff, Sports Coaches and Students. The corresponding Key Performance Indicators of success were:
- Exploratory meeting with Dartfish Country Manager Switzerland
- Presentation plan for set up at ISL
- Financial evaluation
- Dartfish trial at ISL including feedback from participants.
The meeting with the Country Manager went really well and sparked my interest even more. During that meeting I discovered that the Canton of Fribourg had bought the software for all its public schools and that many of our competitors in the International School Arena had purchased it as well. Another major step was the financial evaluation and negotiation in the first meeting. ISL will be able to get the same 4 year discounted educational price as the public schools in the Fribourg area. We also agreed to have a free of charge demonstration/workshop at ISL which in the end only happened on June 12th. Anyway, three of the four KPI’s got knocked off in the exploratory meeting!
Followed a meeting with the Deputy Head of ISL (Sports and ASA report into him) to discuss the Dartfish proposal and possible set-up at ISL. Based on the information I shared he became very enthusiastic as well when he understood the opportunities of the package. Especially the student self-evaluation tied in very well with the MYP (Middle Years Program) criteria of our IB accreditation. The planned set-up as presented by me look like a “go”, however timing wise all became a bit problematic as the HOD PE felt staff would only be available for the workshop in September and not June 12th.
So in the end we went ahead with the workshop, unfortunately without PE staff, but with the Coaches and students of the two biggest sports programs: Gymnastics and Floorball/Unihockey.
In September there will be another Workshop for the ISL Staff and I would be very surprised if it will not get fully acquired and implemented as the investment is not over the moon and the educational contribution / deep understanding in sports is significant.
Evidence of success in addressing the problem of practice
We started out with the small trial group first. The ISL Gymnastics Team and two of the ISL Unihockey/Floorball Teams were the lucky ones.
The first trialist was the Gymnastics group on the Air Track tumbling mattress. The Dartfish CM put himself as the videographer to pan the camera and tape the routines. It became clear that a single teacher/coach would not be able to register an activity with a wide field of view. Having said that, a student can also be used as a videographer and they could be taking turns.
We started by putting the software at automatic videofeedback with a 12 seconds delay. This registers the routine and plays it back 12 secs later. This time is used by the gymnast to finish the routine, get off the air track, get into line and view the screen. The videofeedback was then discussed by the coach, by the student as self evaluation or by both.
The incredible involvement of the students was the first evidence of success. They were in awe of being able to see themselves right after their routine and see what went right or wrong. Students were able to use the software as well to archive and play back routines.
The self evaluation, self correction and improved results are in my opinion clear indicators of success. Clearly this wasn’t a scientific setup with a control group so I can’t quantify the improvement, but I would be very, very surprised if a proper test would prove me wrong in my assumptions..
The coach also hardly could contain himself as he would be able to slow down the routine with the remote control and go even to a frame-by-frame viewing and discussion.
Totally unexpected was the reaction of the parents who happened to be in the gym hall. Utter surprise and excitement was their reaction to the Dartfish set-up!
After the gymnastics we used it in Floorball. First for a passing drill ending with a shot on goal and then for goalie training.
The first part was less effective as we hadn’t really thought it through as well as we could have. Personally I would rather work with two cameras (max=2) to capture the action from different angles.
The goalie training was absolutely excellent. 25 shots in succession on goal going from left to right so that the goalie had to move and shift position. The footage gave great insight in body/arm positioning, shifting technique, orientation in goal vs direction of shot. The goalies (2) would self evaluate their action and then we could even show them side by side on the screen to see their different techniques. Main gain in just 30 minutes was the position of the arms, elbows and hands in order to cover more of the goal mouth and be better positioned to block the shots.
How would you approach another project of this type differently given what you’ve learned here?
Obviously the only thing I would need more of is time in the preparation phase to plan it out correctly and to have enough time to get all key decision makers on board. Most importantly the HOD PE and her PE Staff who I would have loved to “target” with teaser material on the web prior to “ambushing” them with the workshop/demo. In that way they would have been able to understand the potential prior to the invitation.
All other elements went very smoothly with all the excitement of the individuals involved, especially of the Dartfish Swiss Country Manager who was incredibly patient and flexible!
What are the lessons learned that others might benefit from knowing about?
Most importantly: the videofeedback analysis tool in PE/Sports WORKS wonders!! Students, coaches, parents and teachers (the latter based on feedback from Dartfish) all love to work with it.
In order to make it work with one single teacher it should capture a fixed drill station. If a routine or full game it there should be a videographer to pan the camera.
Ensure the laptop has sufficient memory as Dartfish does need it to function at its best.
The equipment should be based on a trolley so it’s ready for use when rolled into position and hooked up with electricity.
In what ways will you endeavor to do the same project again, and what will you change or not do?
This project is not finished yet for me personally as I really want to get it implemented at ISL. So my next step is to have Dartfish and ISL agree on a date in September and wet the appetite of the PE staff properly by using examples of their favorite sports: basketball, volleyball, swimming, biking, soccer in order to get them really interested.
Should my kids move to a different school and Dartfish wouldn’t be available I wouldn’t hesitate to repeat this project albeit with more time for especially the planning phase.
It sounds like with all our projects a theme was that more time is needed. It is great to hear that you feel this is only the beginning of using this project. Having peers, parents and students involved is already a huge jump. Do you think there will be any possibility of grant funding for more people to be trained to use Dartfish?
ReplyDeleteYou tips were really helpful as to needing enough memory on a computer and putting equipment on a trolly for easy use.
Outstanding news! It sounds like your proposal was well-received by all stakeholders=8-) Which is going to be beneficial in the long run - when convincing the teachers in the fall. Personally, I really don't think the teachers stand a chance - enthusiastic parents are hard to dissuade, once they get a "bee in their bonnet," as my grandmother used to say. Plus, you can always have "experts" from the neighboring school, come in and share with your teaching staff how they use it. Sometimes hearing it from a fellow teacher, is more meaningful, than hearing it from a rep. I loved the idea of using students assist with the video taping during a practice session with a fellow teammate. What a great way to engage them in learning real-world work skills, in addition, to building technology skills, independent learning and collaborative small group work skill sets. Hope to hear back from you in September - I really would like to hear about what your PE staff thought about DartFish ~ Sue
ReplyDeleteAwesome stuff, Spike. I congratulate you on your initiative and taking a proactive role in getting a great tool noticed by those around you. Like Sue said, it's always a bonus when it's not just you that sees the benefits, but all those who are invested in the educational process. Best of luck come September; I'm sure you'll be fine.
ReplyDeleteSpike,
ReplyDeleteGreat job doing your homework to be able to discuss and advocate for the same four year deal offered to another school! Would allowing students be videographers help teach them the things to look for or is it strictly mechanical? Perhaps that wasn't phrased well but are there any PE standards that could be assessed about their understanding in PE about form/what's important based on the videoing? Great to hear that the parents could see it and were excited. Perhaps if you have a parent organization they might be able to advocate for the program/fund or donate to cover the 4 year contract as well. I'd be interested to hear how things go for you in September with more time to implement based on the findings you had during this project. Hope it goes well!