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PE Central: A Possible Online Professional Development Tool
ARTICLE

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Physical Educator Volume 74, Number 3, ISSN 0031-8981

Abstract

Traditional professional development offerings for teachers often overlook the needs of the physical educator. Left to their own devices, PE teachers frequently turn to online resources (e.g., PE Central, PHE America [formerly pelinks4u], PHYSEDagogy, and SHAPE America's Exchange and Teacher's Toolbox) for professional growth support. Clearly these online offerings provide valuable resources to teachers, but it is unclear if any meet generally accepted definitions of what constitutes sanctioned professional development. The purposes of this study were to (a) describe pre- and in-service teacher usage of one of these websites, PE Central; (b) describe their satisfaction with PE Central; and (c) assess the relationship of these online resources to promote provisional teacher change, student engagement, and permanent teacher change. PE teachers (n = 418) responded to an online survey. Both pre- and in-service teachers averaged monthly usage and were more satisfied than not with the PE Central website. PE Central provided teachers some key elements of professional development and was positively related to provisional teacher change but negatively associated with student engagement and permanent teacher change. Suggestions for making the site a resource for sanctioned professional development credit and associated future research possibilities are explored.

Citation

Hanson, A., Pennington, T.R., Prusak, K. & Wilkinson, C. (2017). PE Central: A Possible Online Professional Development Tool. Physical Educator, 74(3),. Retrieved March 19, 2024 from .

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