DELIVERING INITIAL AND ONGOING TRAINING OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION TEACHERS THROUGH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A WEBSITE WITH UNRESTRICTED ACCESS

Convergence in the European Higher Education Area requires both regulatory reforms and a change in the educative paradigm so that a more prominent place is given to distance learning and to education that is more focused on professional practice and centred on the needs of the student. New technologies in education have emerged as very useful instruments for facilitating this change. The project we are presenting aims to initiate a process of reflection, action and evaluation for the improvement of the initial and ongoing training of Physical Education Teachers, harnessing the use of new learning technologies as a tool to bring initial training in line with the labour market and to extend the scope of the university’s training programme, opening up education to a professional environment.

We have created a shared interactive virtual space for university students and professionals working in the field, with a dual purpose in tune with the new approach to higher education that came out of the Bologna Declaration: to provide training that better prepares students for their future careers and to promote lifelong learning from the university. To do this, we have designed and initiated the implementation of a website with unrestricted access. The website has attractive content that is useful for both current students and for teachers of primary education, with a section for the development of mixed working groups in which they both can participate. It will also provide interesting information on courses for future university students and for students who have finalized their studies but have not yet entered the workplace. The layout of the site allows for the project to evolve continually, allowing it to adapt as it develops; and encourages the students to play an active and leading role, so that in the medium term, the site can be managed by the users themselves, and can be self-funding in order to ensure its future continuity.

This project has been funded by the Educational Innovation Service of the University of Malaga, with the collaboration of the Malaga Schoolteachers’ Centres, as institutions responsible for the continuing training of Primary School teachers.