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SPORTSPLAN… MORE THAN JUST A TEAM. IT IS A COMMUNITY
My love of sport has always been my outlet and my religion. Day in and day out, I love to get active. Once my injuries forced me to the bench, I fell in love with sharing my knowledge as a coach. As a PE teacher, I often cruised Sportplan, a website with access to drills for a range of sports that I would use regularly and adapt in my classroom. It was not until I started using Sportplan as a member that I realised the potential for community engagement and broadening my love for coaching further. Now, as the netball coordinator at my school and the secretary at my netball club, I can engage online with my immediate communities and in a global forum to deepen my understanding of netball.
“Having spent over 30 years working in coaching and sports development, at all levels, I wanted to create something to transform the communication of coaching knowledge.”
-Bram van Asselt, Senior Coach
Chairman and Founder of Sportplan
Sportsplan is a network of coaches from around the globe designed to be accessed here there and everywhere. Chairman and founder, Bram van Asselt had a vision of transforming how teachers, coaches and athletes engage in coaching materials at home and on the field (so to speak). With 1000’s of animations, videos, sketches and images of coaching drills, van Asselt has created a community of coaches who share, plan and create together.
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“Since 2002 we have helped over a million coaches deliver more focused and varied training ideas in over 14 different sports, and with the launch of a new mobile app this year we look forward to helping even more coaches, teachers and teams.”
It is no doubt their community of learners is widely followed and participatory, but are they indeed a connected learning environment? Sportplan have the bells and whistles of multidirectional communication channels; however, as a connected learning network, they have tremendous expansion potential that has not yet been utilised.
Media platforms:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZDBxF8E2Pzf6Szj5s3z1VA
Linkdin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/consultant-john-nurse/about/
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/sportplan_netball/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SportplanTeam
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/netballcoach/
Internet: https://www.sportplan.net
Blog: https://www.sportplan.net/drills/blog/index.jsp
App: Discover the Sportplan App!
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HALF-TIME TALK: BREAKING DOWN THE CONNECTED LEARNING ENVIRONMENT OF SPORTPLAN
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CONNECTED LEARNING THROUGH THE LENS OF MIZUKO ITO
Through the transformation of online pedagogy, the need for people to openly connect, build relationships and collaborate has become part of the new connected learner (Nussbaum-Beach 2012) and part of the networked learning environment (Lupton, 2019; Richardson and Mancabelli 2011). This concept paves the way for environments that allow for the orchestrating and selection of our own learning path with unrestricted access.
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Ito et al.'s ‘Connected Learning: An agenda for research and design’ (2013, p.12) will be used as a framework for connected learning to analyse Sportplan in terms of its ability to meet the requirements of a connected learning environment. According to Ito (2013, p. 8), when environments such as Sportplan have a shared sense of purpose, a focus on production and openly networked infrastructure, they can be characterised as places for connected learning. Through its million-plus users, Sportplan fosters a participatory culture (Jenkins, Ito, and Boyd, 2016) enabling contemporary learning spaces which allow for the production, sharing and mentoring of drills across a variety of sporting contexts. There are several entry points, including Twitter, Facebook and Youtube, supporting Ito’s (2013) concept of ‘everyone can participate’ and establishing open accessibility to the Sportplan community. On the other hand, Sportplans best collaborative features are part of a paid membership, ultimately creating barriers of accessibility and requiring further critique.
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Ito describes (2013, p. 33) the connected learning framework, “not by the technologies used, but the values, social change and philosophy of learning it interconnects”. It is through technology that we can purposefully pursue these goals through social connection and in the spirit of experimentation (p.62). Ito (p.12) proposes three symbiotic contexts for a connected learning environment: contexts, core properties and design principles, to be discussed in more detail below.
CONNECTED LEARNING PRINCIPLES
Peer-supported
In keeping with the connected learning design principles of being peer-supported, Sportplan allows participants to “fluidly contribute, share and give feedback in inclusive social experiences” (GARCIA, 2014, P.25). Emerging from a self-motivated learning structure, loosely joined individuals connect using collaboratively designed platforms to “build knowledge through discussions with peers” (Dysthe, 2002, p. 343 as cited in Mackey, 2011, p. 2), mentors and experts. In line with connected learning principles, Sportplan facilitates a ‘process of connection’ with an appreciation for ‘knowledge as a result of diverse opinions’ (Siemens, 2005). In addition, the ability to maintain social networks across a range of media ensures a flow of current knowledge (Jackson, 2017; Siemens, 2005). Social networks enable members to “lead discussions, support colleagues, share their research activities, and introduce new ideas” (Mackey 2011, P.12; Nussbaum-Beach 2012) in their face-to-face networks, whether it is with other coaches at schools and clubs, or their players as receivers of this newfound knowledge.
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Licklider & Taylor (1999, as cited in Jackson, 2017, p. 8) describes online platforms, such as Sportplan, as ‘communities not of common location, but common interest'. Passion-based or interest-based learning is imperative when considering how connected a learner truly is within an environment (Richardson and Mancabelli, 2011). Garcia et al. (2014) emphasise interest-based learning achieves higher-order learning outcomes through relevant and personally orientated goals. Sportplan’s diverse platform of visible social media (Jackson, 2017) allows its community of participants to explore and pursue their interests in a chosen sport. 'Lurking' is used to establish confidence in a community of learners or actively contributing to the database of resources continually collating and being shared amongst members (Ito, 2013). Participants share a common ground and mutual interest of the sport they love (Siemen, 2005, Kop, 2011; Mackey and Evans, 2011), further supporting the notion of connectivism whereby knowledge is distributed across the web (Kop, 2011). Sportplan is user friendly and allows for the dynamic development of drills for personal and shared use. Members can use the clipboard function to piece together a training session of other members’ drills or visit their designated folder for created and stored drills, supporting an environment of interested-powered learning.
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Academically orientated
Connected learning emerges through relationships, is self-directed and interest-based, and expands traditional learning experiences through a participatory culture (Jenkins et al. 2016; Nussbaum-Beach 2012). Members of Sportplan are mostly part of a remix culture (Jenkins, 2016) that is academically orientated to “future success and opportunity” for professional development in the coaching domain (Ito, 2013). The ability to lurk throughout the website allows novice coaches to develop a coaching repertoire and access mentoring through connections with more senior coaches. Once self-efficacy increases members begin to contribute in knowledge sharing participation (Tseng and Kuo 2014) by remixing and sharing drills for the community to access and receive feedback from mentor’s and peer’s (Ito, 2013). The ‘Schools’ and ‘Clubs’ feature of Sportplan is powerful in developing a localised network of shared success with coaches being able to develop along-side each other.
Learning through relationships further commits participants to a deep understanding of ideas cementing themselves in connected learning experiences (Garcia et al. 2014; Goldie 2016; Jenkins et al. 2016; Lupton 2019; Nussbaum-Beach 2012). There are specialist coaches employed as mentors for Sportplan who ensure formal and informal access to information through youtube videos, blogs and the answers forum. Suggesting that once members are open and accepting of new ideas and constructive criticism, they can tap into a network of 'critical friends' (Nussbaum-Beach 2012) who can help them connect interests to institutional domains social engagement (Ito, 2013).
CONNECTED LEARNING CORE PROPERTIES
Production-centered
Autonomy, openness, diversity and interactivity are four traits of connective knowledge described by Downes (as cited in Siemens, 2006) as crucial to connectivism. As a critical function of the Sportplan platform, the prime focus of connectivity is centred around the production of coaching resources. A diverse range of digital tools allow for autonomous creation, including; clipboard, chalkboard and animator features, and utilised in the production of drills on the website and app (Ito, 2013). Sportplan also offers several social media platforms for publicising, circulating and commenting on created works (Ito, 2013; Jackson, 2017).
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Shared Purpose
It is evident from the outset of the Sportplan website that they are there to support coaches by providing access to coaching resources and social opportunities. Sportplan also actively facilitates a participatory culture in building relationships with peers and mentors in a cross-generational atmosphere (Ito, 2013). A shared purpose is evident amongst members who have a common interest in coaching their chosen sport (Anderson and Dron 2014; Ito 2013). Sportplan allows members to select their sport of interest, helping to personalise drill searches and link members by their shared passions, addressing both the individual and social needs of its members (Anderson and Dron 2014; Siemens et al. 2005). Members can create profiles, follow other members, ask questions and blend their face-to-face networks as coaches with their online networks, all vital elements to a connected learning environment (Mackey and Evans 2011; Richardson and Mancabelli 2011).
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Openly Networked
The ability to organise “your own learning, select your own mentors, workshops and pursue just-in-time learning” (Nussbaum-Beach, 2012, p. 11) has been well established as a global endeavour among professionals seeking learning opportunities. Sport is seasonal, which results in somewhat seasonal members who can drift in and out of the Sportplan network based on relevance, time, needs and context (Anderson and Dron 2014). Sportplan is openly networked on a global scale while offering smaller, more personalised networks through its ‘schools and clubs’ program's that create pockets of users who can connect more closely while also accessing the broader network. Individual, schools and clubs all have access to multiple online social spaces including twitter, Facebook and Insta, which act to increase the visibility, social interaction and interest of its users. Additionally, Youtube and the app increase members' ability to access and connect with Sportplan tools in more dynamic environments (Ito 2013; Nussbaum-Beach 2012). These platforms allow for sharing collaboration and curation to be quickly published in networked spaces (Fuchs, 2014, as cited in Jackson, 2017, p. 4).
Jenkins (2006) describes a participatory culture as a community that has low barriers, strong support for the creation, social connection and mentorship opportunities. Sportplan can be considered a participatory culture. However, it is reliant on the members paying fees to access the more collaborative and curative tools of the platform. This barrier restricts the level of access and participation that users have, particularly the individuals tapping into the free elements of the site.
Lastly, Sportplan offers the ability to share and publicise work directly from their site which increases the visibility of members work; however, they also make explicit through their copyright policy that information is not free to reproduce and distribute outside of the Sportplan domain (Ito 2013; Jenkins et al. 2016; Lawver and Harris 2010).
“Material from Sportplan Limited Products may not be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted or distributed in any way."
-Sportplan
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EXPANSIONS AND RISKS
Arguably, Sportplan has the required features of a collaborative network; however, its members predominantly interact in accordance to cooperative learning notions and do not fully utilise the potential afforded to them (Anderson and Dron, 2014; Nussbaum-Beach, 2012). To be organically connected learning, Sportplan members need to negotiate jointly, and collaboratively pursue (Garcia et al. 2014, p.36) the creation of learning and resources. Features that could be better accessed include; increased interaction on blogs, more significant discussions within the answers forum, more diverse ways of providing peer feedback on drills and substantially more avenues for co-creation (Siemen, 2006).
Furthermoe , cost has been discussed as a barrier to accessing the suite of connected learning experiences enabled by Sportplan. If cost was removed or even reduced Sportplan would increase the openness and collaborative nature of their site and thus increase the participatory culture (Jenkins, 2006).
Overall, Sportplan, facilitates a connected learning environment designed for cross-generational participation to expand knowledge within specific sporting contexts. Members can interact, participate and learn by doing at a level that is comfortable to them. Multiple platforms enable learning to be social orientated and interconnected on a global scale. It’s fair to say the Bram van Asselt is successfully transforming how teachers, coaches and athletes engage in coaching materials at home and on the field.
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