The presence of interactive classroom technology continues once the perfect team is assembled. The advent of interactive collaboration tools like those used in innovation incubators and flipped classrooms, enables coaches to collaborate on plays and more with their team on and off the field. The ability to strategize, mark up and change plays on the fly on a digital whiteboard is a significant advantage – along with having assistant coaches, defensive instructors and team members use their connected mobile devices to share their ideas to a large interactive display.
Interactive classroom technology’s uses for the football team don’t end there. Game film and the playbook are arguably the backbone of a team’s training, and both have seen huge changes as technology has improved.
For example, Mike Bobo, Offensive Coordinator, University of Georgia, told USA TODAY3 that the rise of tablets means “we can install 15 times more (plays and formations) now.” Previously, heavier, paper playbooks could prove difficult to carry throughout the day for active student-athletes, but tablets are not only lighter and smaller, students are often already familiar with the technology, making it easier for them to flip through plays and learn them right off the screen.
Meanwhile, game footage has come a long way since the days of passing around a film canister after waiting for it to be developed. Many coaches expect multiple cuts of game footage to be ready same-day, so their staff can make notes on what to practice and what to discuss with players at the next practice. Coaches may even use interactive displays to annotate footage in real time while discussing strategy with their assistants or players.
