Aaron+Geffre


 * Biomechanics Made Easy**

The purpose of this software program is to help students analyze movement. It simulates real life situations and has student analyze videos and cartoons of athletic movement and help to figure how to throw the ball faster or further, swim faster, jump higher, etc. The students can easily relate what they do and find with the software into their own athletic performance. It is made for grades anywhere from 5-12.

This program is in the categories of drill and practice and simulation. It contains a lot of information as well as quizzes on many biomechanical topics including Newton's laws, balance, rotation, resistance, and more. It also contains a simulation portion where students can pick an athlete or sport and breakdown movement to determine what forces are involved in the movement and how to perform the movement in the most efficient way.

In physical education this program could be used with older students (high school) when breaking down their specific movement. Particularly with athletes, letting them use the program to help them figure out how to perform the skills in their specific sport better. Videotaping them doing the movement and then comparing it to what they see on the software program is the best way to perform the movement biomechanically. This also could very easily integrate into science/physics classrooms.

The strengths of this program is that it contains a lot of information and is presented in a very easy to use way. It is very practical software to use in all athletics. To improve it, they could add a feature where you could download video of your own movement and compare it side by side with the "perfect" videos in the program.

This program can be purchased online for $150.00 at [|http://shop.pesoftware.com] The system requirements are:
 * Windows 7 – 1 GHz or faster; 1 GB RAM; DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver; 1024 x 768 or higher resolution video adapter and display
 * Windows Vista – Ultimate Business/Home edition, Service Pack 3; 800 MHz or faster; 512 MB RAM; SVGA (1024 x 768) or higher resolution video adapter and display
 * Windows XP – Professional/Home edition (Service Pack 3); Pentium III 700 MHz or faster; 512 MB RAM; SVGA (1024 x 768) or higher resolution video adapter and display
 * Mac OS 10.6 – Intel-based Mac; 1 GB RAM
 * Mac OS 10.5 – PowerPC G4 (867 MHz or faster)/PowerPC G5/Intel-based Mac; 512 MB RAM
 * Mac OS 10.4.11 – PowerPC G4/PowerPC G5/Intel-based Mac; 256 MB RAM


 * Elementary Muscle Flash**

The sole purpose of this program is to help elementary students learn the names of muscles. It is designed only for elementary students in grades K-5. It is basically just electronic flashcards that give the students the name of a muscle and the students must drag a pin to the muscle on the picture of the body.

This is a drill and practice software program that teaches the students the locations of the muscles and then quizzes them on their knowledge.

Many state standards now include knowledge of the location and use of certain muscles in the body. This software would be helpful to teach students the location of their muscles and give them an actual visual of what the muscles look like underneath their skin rather than just pointing out where they are on their own bodies. Once students know where the muscles are and what movements they aid in, the students can constantly be questioned when doing movements in PE class about which muscles they are using when throwing, kicking, etc.

The strengths of this program as mentioned before is that is gives the students a picture of what the muscles actually look like on their bodies rather than just trusting a teacher telling them where they are. The main weakness is that is only includes about 45 muscles, which is probably enough for elementary students, but would be nice if it could include all of them and give the teacher discretion over which ones they wanted the students to learn. A middle school and high school level software is available that include more muscles, but it would be nice to have them all in just one program.

This program can be purchased online for $100.00 at [|http://shop.pesoftware.com]

The system requirements are:
 * Windows 7 – 1 GHz or faster; 1 GB RAM; DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver; 1024 x 768 or higher resolution video adapter and display
 * Windows Vista – Ultimate Business/Home edition, Service Pack 3; 800 MHz or faster; 512 MB RAM; SVGA (1024 x 768) or higher resolution video adapter and display
 * Windows XP – Professional/Home edition (Service Pack 3); Pentium III 700 MHz or faster; 512 MB RAM; SVGA (1024 x 768) or higher resolution video adapter and display
 * Mac OS 10.6 – Intel-based Mac; 1 GB RAM
 * Mac OS 10.5 – PowerPC G4 (867 MHz or faster)/PowerPC G5/Intel-based Mac; 512 MB RAM
 * Mac OS 10.4.11 – PowerPC G4/PowerPC G5/Intel-based Mac; 256 MB RAM


 * Elementary Physical Education Dictionary**

This software program is setup just like a regular dictionary with words alphabetized A-Z. The words include vocabulary from PE classrooms ranging from sports words, movements, games, and body parts. It includes definitions, pronunciations, pictures and videos, and quizzes for students to use to learn PE vocabulary. It is designed for students in grades 2-6.

This is a drill and practice software program, where students learn the definitions of vocabulary words used in physical education classrooms and they can be quizzed on the terms with the program or the vocabulary implemented in the classroom.

This software would be helpful at the beginning of a unit. Students could learn the different movements and skills we will be going over in the unit and get a baseline understanding of what to expect in the coming classes.

Strengths include the fact that it is extremely easy to use and easy to navigate even for young elementary students. It really does contain a lot of great information presented in a very easy to understand way. The problem with the software is not even an actual problem with the software program, it's the fact that PE time in most elementary schools is already limited to sometimes only 30 minutes per week, so how much time do you want students sitting in front of a computer learning vocabulary by watching instead of doing.

This program can be purchased online for $100.00 at [|http://shop.pesoftware.com]

The system requirements are:
 * Windows 7 – 1 GHz or faster; 1 GB RAM; DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver; 1024 x 768 or higher resolution video adapter and display
 * Windows Vista – Ultimate Business/Home edition, Service Pack 3; 800 MHz or faster; 512 MB RAM; SVGA (1024 x 768) or higher resolution video adapter and display
 * Windows XP – Professional/Home edition (Service Pack 3); Pentium III 700 MHz or faster; 512 MB RAM; SVGA (1024 x 768) or higher resolution video adapter and display
 * Mac OS 10.6 – Intel-based Mac; 1 GB RAM
 * Mac OS 10.5 – PowerPC G4 (867 MHz or faster)/PowerPC G5/Intel-based Mac; 512 MB RAM
 * Mac OS 10.4.11 – PowerPC G4/PowerPC G5/Intel-based Mac; 256 MB RAM


 * Health Related Fitness Complete**

This program is designed to teach students how to stay fit and how to do it properly and efficiently. It has several very cool features which include the ability to learn many different exercises for each muscle group in the body, it teaches good nutrition, it talks about safety concerns when exercising, and also includes on online portfolio where students can create exercise programs and track nutrition and test scores. Students in grades 5-12 should be able to successfully use this software program.

This program falls into several categories including drill and practice, tutorial, and simulation. It includes definitions, pictures, and quizzes of several exercises, nutrition facts, and more. It has videos and examples of how to exercise different parts of the body and how to setup exercise programs. And also has interactive labs that include a nutrition, exercise, and exercise facility simulations.

The online portfolio could be used in any physical education class that contains any type of fitness component. The students can learn how to log their nutrition, fitness test scores, and their daily activity to count their calorie deficits daily and track progress over time. This program will help teach them lifelong skills of being able to exercise the proper way and track their progress to set them up for success.

The benefits of this software are plenty, most of them already touched on, but the way the information is presented in an easily explained and easy to navigate way is a great strength. To have a software program for such a wide range of ages, some of the information seems a little much for elementary students and not quite enough for some high school students. It also would be nice to be able to add your own exercises and exercise programs to the program to individualize the actual software program more than just the online portfolio.

This program can be purchased online for $200.00 at [|http://shop.pesoftware.com]

The system requirements are:
 * Windows 7 – 1 GHz or faster; 1 GB RAM; DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver; 1024 x 768 or higher resolution video adapter and display
 * Windows Vista – Ultimate Business/Home edition, Service Pack 3; 800 MHz or faster; 512 MB RAM; SVGA (1024 x 768) or higher resolution video adapter and display
 * Windows XP – Professional/Home edition (Service Pack 3); Pentium III 700 MHz or faster; 512 MB RAM; SVGA (1024 x 768) or higher resolution video adapter and display
 * Mac OS 10.6 – Intel-based Mac; 1 GB RAM
 * Mac OS 10.5 – PowerPC G4 (867 MHz or faster)/PowerPC G5/Intel-based Mac; 512 MB RAM
 * Mac OS 10.4.11 – PowerPC G4/PowerPC G5/Intel-based Mac; 256 MB RAM


 * Softball Sports Complete**

This program is focused solely on softball for athletes in grades 5-12, with a focus on middle school. It has pretty much anything and everything you would teach about softball, including rules, skills, techniques, training, teamwork, and more. The actual purpose of the program could be really whatever the teacher or coach wanted to use it for - from teaching rules and history to a class to teaching strategies and specific techniques to a team.

This program falls into the categories of drill and practice, tutorial, and simulation. There are a lot of definitions and facts about softball and also includes quizzes over that material. There are videos, pictures, and explanations that show how to play softball correctly. There are also interactive labs that study techniques, strategies, biomechanics, and movement analysis.

Using this in a PE classroom might not have the greatest benefit as a lot of the information may be deeper than a small softball unit would need to go. A softball coach would be able to use it much more to the benefit of the players. But for a PE class, there is enough general information available to be able to use it to help students gain baseline knowledge of rules and skills necessary to play softball successfully. It could be used at the beginning of a unit to help students understand what to expect during the unit.

The strength of this program is its wealth of information and the ability to navigate all the information easily. The weakness of the program is again the fact that when it comes to PE classes and athletics, students need to actual move and can only learn so much from sitting in front of a computer. A lot of the information presented in the program can just as easily be taught by teacher or coach in a more physically active format.

This program can be purchased online for $150.00 at [|http://shop.pesoftware.com]

The system requirements are:
 * Windows 7 – 1 GHz or faster; 1 GB RAM; DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver; 1024 x 768 or higher resolution video adapter and display
 * Windows Vista – Ultimate Business/Home edition, Service Pack 3; 800 MHz or faster; 512 MB RAM; SVGA (1024 x 768) or higher resolution video adapter and display
 * Windows XP – Professional/Home edition (Service Pack 3); Pentium III 700 MHz or faster; 512 MB RAM; SVGA (1024 x 768) or higher resolution video adapter and display
 * Mac OS 10.6 – Intel-based Mac; 1 GB RAM
 * Mac OS 10.5 – PowerPC G4 (867 MHz or faster)/PowerPC G5/Intel-based Mac; 512 MB RAM
 * Mac OS 10.4.11 – PowerPC G4/PowerPC G5/Intel-based Mac; 256 MB RAM

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