Dance-Dance revolution, rock climbing walls, and other interactive applications highlighted the classrooms in this Miami-based PE program.
I think this is great for the young people and worth the investment if grants can be obtained. It should improve the quality of their education and make students excited about not only PE but being part of a school that takes such interest in their well-being. I believe that parents also will appreciate this kind of effort from administration, and take notice more than other academic areas of spending that are hard to monitor. If you watched the video, you can see how PE is so easy to monitor and gain appreciation for. Children are being physically active and learning how to be healthier individuals.
Do you think this kind of technology is worth investing in? Will it inspire children to be engaged in lifelong physical activity?
How fun! When you go to places like "Boomers" you'll see kids dancing on the Dance-Dance Revolution machine for long periods of time. They love it. I'm all for making workouts fun. If its fun, they'll stick with it. I would have loved to have a P.E class that incorporated all the features in the video. Dressing out to "walk the track" is about as uninspiring as it gets. Especially when the teacher is standing on the sidelines watching the kids walk/run! I'll bet discipline problems are way down at that school in the video, too. When we ask kids to sit still in classrooms for long periods of time, they will use their energy one way or another. Some use it getting into mischief. After a good workout, their energy is expended, and their focus is back on learning. We can spend the money now, getting our kids in shape, or we can spend it later, paying for health-related issues such as diabetes, high blood pressure, the effects of obesity, and so on, and so on...
ReplyDeleteThat looks like a fantastic program. If the school can secure the funding this would absolutely be a worthwhile investment. Using DDR is a really good way to get kids moving. At my job even the kids that put up a fight to do any sort of outside game will jump on a DDR tournament. This sort of program will give the students good experiences with PE and exercising, giving them more incentive to continue applying what they learn outside of the classroom and living a healthier lifestyle
ReplyDeleteI also really liked this program. I think it is great when technology and fitness can be combined, especially since so often they seem isolated from each other. I do not think working out became fun for me until I was able to do it on my own terms. However, even as an adult I would love to go into that classroom and experience rock climbing, bike video games and DDR.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a really cool idea! Like Barbara said, I love that technology and fitness are integrated with each other! This looks like a beneficial program because it really give students an incentive to exercise!
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great subject because many of children in schools are overweight and unhealthy. Healthier lifestyles with better food choices in the cafeteria and activity within the schools during PE class could help this issue. This type of technology can be expensive as you mentioned. There are many inexpensive ways for students to be engaged as well, like playing kick ball. Exercise is important no matter what form we create.
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