Education Law

Virtual physical education

BoardBuzz never was a big fan of gym class -- dodgeball ain't for everyone. So this story from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review caught our attention.

It seems that some schools are offering virtual physical education classes. Now, we know what you're thinking—physical education over the internet seems counterintuative. Nevertheless, Pittsburgh teens are enrolling in online gym classes. The story goes on to say:

Students study sports and fitness, but are expected to put what they learn into practice. Physical activity is completed on an honor system, said Rich Campsie, who teaches physical education at e-Cademy and at Pennsylvania Learners Online, also called PALO, a cyber charter school operated by the intermediate unit.

This year, about 600 students are enrolled at PALO, where online gym is a requirement, and 12 others are enrolled at e-Cademy to make up a failed credit.

The program promotes fitness and leisure activities rather than competitive sports. And it seems this approach is becoming more common in actual physical education classes. With almost three-fifths of American households owning a personal computer, keeping students active and away from their computer is a challenge. Mark Gartner, a middle school health and physical education teacher in the Hampton Township School District, focuses his classes more on lifestyle and leisure rather than team sports as a way to ingrain fitness into young minds.

That approach is becoming the norm. "Gym classes for years have been trying to get away from the old concept of rolling a ball and playing dodgeball," says Donald Teti, assistant superintendent for high schools with the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh. "Physical fitness has gone into the area of yoga and dance and away from the idea of dodgeball and competitive sports."

Perhaps virtual phys. ed. is just the next progression in trying to ingrain fitness and active lifestyles into our youth. On a related note, eSchool News recently covered the "New P.E." coming to schools in the form of video games. This "exergaming" encourages students to use video games such as Nintendo's new Wii Fit and Dance Dance Revolution to exercise. Kids who would normally show no interest in sports find this kind of exercise appealing.

Wii Fit is intended to combine fun and exercise. The Wii Balance Board is an innovative peripheral that can read your real-life movements and bring them to life on screen. Just like the Wii Remote it's intended to get the user off the couch and active. Wii Fit covers a number of activities such as yoga, strength training, balance games, and aerobics.

BoardBuzz is intrigued by these new trends in physical education. And, no, we're not sad to see dodgeball go the way of the dodo.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on July 09, 2008 (boomark / email).