Dartfish TeamPro Teacher version

content and design

Design and navigation

The interface has many panels, which at first glance seem complicated; however, the user soon learns to navigate around. There is a library of clips and the software can automatically catalogue the computer to retrieve video clips. The captured clips can be categorised to enable searching and these are automatically managed as the new clips are recorded. The video camera can be controlled and annotated over on screen to highlight the teaching points. Further annotations can add detail such as, trajectories, distances and multiple stopwatches. These can be adjusted to fade in or out or added to other videos to exemplify the good practice.

A major feature of the package is the remote control. This can be used to control live recording in the lesson while the user is away from the computer. Another excellent tool is the ‘pre-roll’ setting; here the software can be set to pre-roll back in time for a number of seconds. So, the teacher could watch the pupil hit the tennis serve and decide if they wanted to record it as a good example; by pressing record after the event, it captures the video from the past 10 seconds, for example. This means that all of the events don’t have to be recorded and later edited, but the teacher can assess on the spot and decide which they want to keep (amazingly after they have occurred).

Up to four different video clips can be concurrently viewed and automatically synchronised to aid comparison, eg the golf swing of four players can be aligned so that they all hit the ball at the same time. Two videos can be simply overlaid and even a left-handed golf player’s video can be reversed to match a right-hander’s one.

Key points in the videos can be identified and further enhanced with audio descriptions, annotated drawings, still photos of the key positions and most impressively exported out into a ‘Media Book’ or printed out with comments.

The video analysis tools are extensive and have the ability to transform the teaching of PE in the classroom: automatic tracking of angles and distances, which can be exported as a spreadsheet file. Stro-motion is an excellent feature which allows the video to be broken down into steps and captured (like stroboscopic lighting). This can follow the path of a football, tennis ball or the swing of a hockey stick to clearly exhibit the key features. Simulcam offers a high quality blend of video and stills.

The Media Book is a self-contained eportfolio, which can contain the video clips, still photos, annotations, drawings and worksheets all in one package. This can be distributed to the other teachers or students, who can watch it using the Dartviewer. So, students can construct their own eportfolios for submission as GCSE coursework or record of achievement.

The videos can be easily shared by email or on CD or DVD. The software even includes the ability to produce auto running CDs for the Media Books, giving a very professional finish to the work.

Planning

The introduction of ICT into any lesson requires careful planning. The many features of the software need to be trialled and tested in lessons for the teachers and students to become familiar with them. The teacher needs to be able to set up the video camera, laptop and projector, when appropriate. They also need to learn how to use the software and chose which feature is best to use for the different applications. Good INSET will help with the implementation, however, it is highly recommended to receive training from one of the accredited trainers to realise the full potential of this excellent package.

Schemes of work supported

Within PE, the software has many applications: gymnastics to review routines and vaults, field events to review high jump, long jump and javelin technique, football to compare penalty taking by pupils and professionals. The possibilities for integration into the schemes of work are extensive. The initial limiting factor would be the teacher’s own expertise as they begin to realise the potential of the package.

The support materials do not contain schemes of work, but they provide many suggestions of where it could be used in PE and across the curriculum.

Literacy

The ability to create the Media Books could be an excellent way of making pupil eportfolios. This could be a record of their drama performances of Shakespeare plays with annotations and accompanying worksheets for self and peer study. The teacher could create a Media Book to record the aspects of Speaking and Learning in the lessons.

Numeracy

The software has the capability to record live data of different events relative to known angles and distances, for example, the distance the ball moves from the kicker to the goal; it can create live data of the motion of the ball and place it in tabular form for analysis. Another could be the angle of the hockey stick as the ball is struck. The pupils will find these links with sports statistics in numeracy exciting and particularly relevant.

Ease of installation

The software installed easily. A dongle is supplied with the package, which limits the software to be used on more than one computer, in line with the purchased licences. This meant that the software could be installed on many computers, but only worked when the dongle was inserted.

For the delay feature, it was apparent that the computer needed to be less than three years old and have free disk space; the smaller the disk space, then the smaller delay in seconds could be achieved.

Support materials

There is comprehensive support on the website: there are help files, including video tutorial files, which guide the user through capturing, trimming, playing, managing and sharing video. Also, there are user guides and an FAQ section to show good tips on getting the best from the software.

There is a network of trainers for Dartfish and it is highly recommended that the school or at least one teacher should receive this to see the maximum potential of the product. Users may not realise the many different ways this software could support the improvement of performance in the classroom, until receiving an introductory session from a trainer.

Suitable for ages

7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18