Budding golfers realise their potential at the Sports Academy with the help of interactive presentation technology

The Sports Academy is an independent non-profit making organisation set up in 2003 to offer budding golfers the opportunity to carve out a career in the sport they love, while providing the safety net of nationally recognised qualifications.

What was Needed?

With students selected primarily for golfing talent and potential, The Sports Academy’s intake spans a wide range of academic abilities meaning that the delivery of theoretical aspects of the programme needs to be as engaging as possible, while allowing different pupils to progress at their own rate.

Established as a work-based learning establishment, The Sports Academy runs its two year full time programme from three golf venues, so The Academy also required any teaching tools adopted to be easily transportable between the three sites.

The Solution

The Sports Academy turned to interactive tools from Promethean AV Distribution, acquiring three Presenta pads for use as a portable display solution in conjunction with a laptop and projector.

The wireless pads are A5 graphics tablets, provided with a stylus that enables users to control the desktop remotely. The pads also come with Px interactive flipchart software, which means that as well as being used as a mouse, the stylus functions as an annotation tool, allowing users to add or highlight text, and access the extensive range of additional features contained within the software.

With the aid of the pads, lecturers can place the onus on students to develop presentations that demonstrate their knowledge, allowing the more able to work at their own pace.

The Academy also plans to introduce use of the technology to practical teaching on the golf course, with coaches being trained to use the pads as a way of annotating video replays of golfers’ swings.

Students at The Sports Academy are aged between 16 and 19, and the emphasis on regular presentations in lessons allows them to gain confidence and useful life skills at the same time as consolidating their learning in an active way.

“We’ve found that the students’ retention of information is greater if they’ve actually had to do something with the material they’ve been taught,” explains lecturer Sue Windham. “Using the interactive pads to import pictures, annotate text, or highlight the points they’re making, is one way that pupils can achieve this.”

“A big factor in their effectiveness is simply that the students enjoy using the pads, and are keen to get to their turn.” Popular exercises include ‘drag and drop’ to label diagrams in anatomy, and use of the interactive software to gain students’ input during brainstorming sessions.

The Verdict

The students’ response has been positive: “The pads are fun to use, and the software is simple,” commented David Langley.

The pads are also proving a useful tool for management strategy meetings. Principal lecturer, Gareth L Smith, explains: Interactive technology is a great way of getting people to focus on what you’re trying to achieve, and to help stimulate ideas.

“When we’re preparing succession plans for instance, we start with a spreadsheet which we display, then make changes while the discussion is underway. At the end of the session, we simply convert the finished document into a PDF and email to attendees for their records.”