Teachers Demand Physical Education Overhaul

Scientific research supports physical activity as an effective approach to minimize mounting health concerns and Physical Education teachers are using this research and exciting new methods to re-define "what is PE". PE teachers are the doing their part by rasing awareness that fitness can be fun, in a way that kids today understand - technology.

These technology skilled PE teachers of today are learning to use "exergames" in classes - exergames are video-games combined with fitness. Nothing engages today's school children more than technology, so it is no surprise exergames dramatically raise interest in PE class by making the class fun, challenging and rewarding. Exergaming is advocated throughout the U.S. by The Exergame Network (TEN). TEN's mission is to share information, success stories and act as a portal resource for exergaming via it's education wiki and blog.

Pioneering teachers PE encountered early challenges, sometimes experimenting with games consoles, like the Nintendo Wii, as a format to drive a PE class. Leading PE teachers now eagerly share the formula for success by using a wide range of exergame implementations. Successfully trailed exergames meet recommended exercise guidelines and can be integrated into structure PE lessons to the enjoyment and benefit of students. Many PE teachers have developed the skills to use exergaming in a developmentally appropriate way, according to guidelines from PE centers of excellence, as a tool can motivate and energize today's youth.

A Florida PE teacher spoke confidently in support of exergaming, "This is the first time in 11 years of teaching PE that I've had to kick kids out of class who don't want to stop exercising." One student summarizes the feelings of those involved in structured exergaming PE class "If the whole United States had a room like this, then this world would be a better place." This evidence, supported by peer reviewed research, comes directly from the University of South Florida's, Active Gaming Research Lab's web archives and represents just two of the many success stories of research into all ages and different implementations of exergaming.

The support for exergaming has reached global proportions, demonstrated by quotes from the BBC News posted in the Gamercize web archives. A PE student talks about the immersive nature of exergaming "Sometimes when you're playing netball or basketball you get a bit tired and then you say 'Oh I don't want to do this anymore' but this is really fun and I think I could do it all day." Her teacher is aware of how exergaming increases student involvement in PE, "Its certainly not physical education as we know it, but thats not what we're looking for. Some kids want to take part in this who wouldn't want to play football or other conventional sports."

Educators, researchers and editors alike are encouraged to use exergaming technology in their classes by first visiting the TEN resource sites to participate, ask questions to the worlds foremost experts, share news and ideas on exergaming in PE and PA. Resource information from TEN includes the five major categories of exergaming implementations, from dance pads to dedicated "workout" games, at http://exergamenetwork.blogspot.com/p/types-of-exergaming.html. TEN has also listed exergaming products available in the US with a collection of nearly 40 different exergaming choices covering aspects of PE with many different modes of physical activity at http://exergamenetwork.blogspot.com/p/exergame-products.html.

The Exergame Network can be joined or contacted via LinkedIn, Facebook, Wiki, Twitter or by email at info@exergamenetwork.org.

Teachers Demand Physical Education Overhaul

Scientific research supports physical activity as an effective approach to minimize mounting health concerns and Physical Education teachers are using this research and exciting new methods to re-define "what is PE". PE teachers are the doing their part by rasing awareness that fitness can be fun, in a way that kids today understand - technology.

These technology skilled PE teachers of today are learning to use "exergames" in classes - exergames are video-games combined with fitness. Nothing engages today's school children more than technology, so it is no surprise exergames dramatically raise interest in PE class by making the class fun, challenging and rewarding. Exergaming is advocated throughout the U.S. by The Exergame Network (TEN). TEN's mission is to share information, success stories and act as a portal resource for exergaming via it's education wiki and blog.

Pioneering teachers PE encountered early challenges, sometimes experimenting with games consoles, like the Nintendo Wii, as a format to drive a PE class. Leading PE teachers now eagerly share the formula for success by using a wide range of exergame implementations. Successfully trailed exergames meet recommended exercise guidelines and can be integrated into structure PE lessons to the enjoyment and benefit of students. Many PE teachers have developed the skills to use exergaming in a developmentally appropriate way, according to guidelines from PE centers of excellence, as a tool can motivate and energize today's youth.

A Florida PE teacher spoke confidently in support of exergaming, "This is the first time in 11 years of teaching PE that I've had to kick kids out of class who don't want to stop exercising." One student summarizes the feelings of those involved in structured exergaming PE class "If the whole United States had a room like this, then this world would be a better place." This evidence, supported by peer reviewed research, comes directly from the University of South Florida's, Active Gaming Research Lab's web archives and represents just two of the many success stories of research into all ages and different implementations of exergaming.

The support for exergaming has reached global proportions, demonstrated by quotes from the BBC News posted in the Gamercize web archives. A PE student talks about the immersive nature of exergaming "Sometimes when you're playing netball or basketball you get a bit tired and then you say 'Oh I don't want to do this anymore' but this is really fun and I think I could do it all day." Her teacher is aware of how exergaming increases student involvement in PE, "Its certainly not physical education as we know it, but thats not what we're looking for. Some kids want to take part in this who wouldn't want to play football or other conventional sports."

Educators, researchers and editors alike are encouraged to use exergaming technology in their classes by first visiting the TEN resource sites to participate, ask questions to the worlds foremost experts, share news and ideas on exergaming in PE and PA. Resource information from TEN includes the five major categories of exergaming implementations, from dance pads to dedicated "workout" games, at http://exergamenetwork.blogspot.com/p/types-of-exergaming.html. TEN has also listed exergaming products available in the US with a collection of nearly 40 different exergaming choices covering aspects of PE with many different modes of physical activity at http://exergamenetwork.blogspot.com/p/exergame-products.html.

The Exergame Network can be joined or contacted via LinkedIn, Facebook, Wiki, Twitter or by email at info@exergamenetwork.org.

Advice: teachers guide to exergaming in school

Exergaming has a place in school, but this place can be different, from school to school. The investment in exergaming equipment gives best return by maintaining high usage rates. In this post we share the uses of exergaming that have been shared with us from schools we know.

Exergaming can span many disciplines and activities within the school environment, all of which could be very different from the initial purchase intention. The obvious choice for exergaming is within core curriculum PE classes. We have covered the various options and techniques in this previous post here.

Looking beyond this core activity we have five other options for the exergaming equipped school to explore.

Option 1 – School Clubs
Out of schools clubs are especially popular for exergaming, with schools using breakfast, lunchtime or after school time slots. These clubs allow a more unstructured use of the equipment than PE class, emphasising the fun element of exergaming. Without set goals, the children can bring in their own games to play and develop the social skills of exergaming. Breakfast clubs encourage school attendance while lunchtime club attendance can be used as reward for academic or behavioural excellence. All time slots are useful to add extra physical activity into the children’s lives.

Option 2 - Day Care
When school is closed for holidays, equipment can be used in supervised child care sessions to provide another activity for the youngsters. To keep children entertained for long periods of time the use of exergaming is invaluable. Parents can testify to the length of time children are engaged by this media. Adding exercise also adds physical limitations on time playing, to ensure rotation of children on the equipment. The exercise burns off excess energy, especially on days when the weather precludes outdoor play.

Option 3 – Cross Academia
Most computer based exergames can be used in IT lessons (computer classes) to add physical activity to IT learning. The addition of exercise has a positive effect on learning, stimulating the mind of the user through physical activity. Both computer and console based exergames can be used in math, history, geography and many other academic disciplines by the appropriate choice of game played. A simple example would be card games used in math lessons, powered or controlled as exergames.

Option 4 – Special Events
From time to time unique opportunities arise for your exergaming equipment. School open days are an excellent chance to showcase the equipment and generate interest. Children trying the equipment will look forward to joining the school while the physical wellbeing of students is clearly demonstrated to the parents. Competition days can also be used to widen the use of your exergaming equipment. These events can be used with inter-school events and alongside traditional sports days.

Option 5 – Employee Wellness
The children should be considered first, but also the health and wellness of the staff is a school priority. During teacher training days or after school, when the children have left, teacher’s use of the exergaming equipment improves employee health and can be used for team building.

The options for exergaming are limited only by the imagination; please feel free to add your own experiences and share new applications in the comments below.

News: foundation started to promote exergaming and deskercise

We have been lucky enough to secure sponsors for our blog from the Active Gaming and Working Foundation. This will enable us keep giving free and impartial advice for physical education professionals in the use of exergaming for health and fitness.

The Active Gaming and Working Foundation seeks to reduce sedentary screen time including, but not limited to, video game play, computer game play, television watching and use of desktop and laptop computing for online internet and general offline office working. The AGWF objective is to add physical activity to existing inactive screen time to promote health, fitness and weight control to individuals, places of education and work. The AGWF seeks to fund, implement and facilitate the addition of fitness technology to existing screen based pursuits.

Read more about exergaming and deskercise from the AGWF here.

Research: Exergaming 6 times more popular than exercise alone

In this blog we will be sharing research that is relevant to the adoption of exergaming in physical education at school. Common sense tells us that children are engaged by exergaming, the combination of exercise with video games. This post reports on this assumption under test.

This research was completed in July 2007 and set out to determine the free choice in activity of children aged between 7 and 11 yrs, when given three activity stations:

• Traditional games with no physical activity


• Exergaming stair step and cycle fitness machines on PlayStation 2


• Stair step and cycle fitness machines with no games connection

Upon arrival the children were told they could use anything they wanted to. Water was provided as the only drink and the children’s parents were asked not to interact or influence their child’s choices.

As the chart above shows, in unstructured play, children aged 7-11 years choose exergaming over traditional games and exercise. For those teachers who start each PE lesson examining a handful of excuse notes, it is useful to know that children can be engaged in exercise - by adding video games.

Given free choice the children were 6 times more likely to engage in physical activity if it is combined with games.

The exercise station and the exergaming station have the same cardiovascular equipment and the same calorific burn. The time spent on each station showed lack of motivation to exercise being a key factor in obtaining fitness benefits. It was also observed the rate and consistency of exercise was much lower on the exercise station, although this has not been reflected in the chart above.

The summary we can take from these observations is that children are engaged by exergaming, and in using exergaming we get significant physical effort from the children.

For further reading download the report in pdf format.