Incorporating iPads in Training Students Qualifying in Special Physical Education and Sports Therapy for Cultivating Motor Skills among Students With Special Needs

One of the challenges facing physical education teachers is to advance the level of mastery of students with special needs and communication problems in learning and performing motor skills. These skills are required in play, learning, exercise and leisure time. Mastery of these skills contributes significantly to improving physical fitness, general well-being, utilization of leisure time, and social integration. In many cases, special education students are characterized by difficulties manifested in the comprehension and execution of verbal instructions, sequence perception, and unwillingness to cooperate. As we know, integrating iPads into teaching students with special needs increases motivation and also provides a visually and auditory supportive means of understanding movement sequences and constructing a sequence of activities required in performing motor skills. In recent years, many college courses have integrated technological tools in teaching education, however they are not usually used in learning specific subjects such as physical education.

In a qualitative study conducted between 2017 and 2019, we examined the process of training students from a special education and sports therapy qualification program in an innovative combination of two courses taken in parallel: one dealt with the analysis of motor skills and the development of adaptations for specific motor difficulties. The second course focused on content development and application use by using iPads in order to improve the understanding required in performing the skills and in cultivating interpersonal communication in the population of students with intellectual disabilities and autism.

The aim of the study was to examine the effectiveness of combining iPads to train students in teaching motor skills to students with intellectual disabilities and autism. A qualitative research approach was applied between 2017 and 2019 in order to examine the initiative of improving the teaching of motor skills through iPads. The sample included 40 students from a special education and sports therapy qualification program at The Academic College at Wingate.

The research tools for evaluating the contribution of the initiative for student training focused on analyzing texts from student reflections and analyzing videos from the practical experience of both courses. The findings showed that the initiative contributed to the improvement of the teaching skills of the students in the program, and that the process was intriguing and challenging for them. The study showed that in order to implement a procedure as in this initiative, it is important for students to have access to technological tools (iPad), cooperation and coordination between the course instructors, experience during the course in analyzing skills and building motor adaptations, while developing verbal and visual adaptations using the iPad.