Technology and Physical Education Brandon Asbury Boise State University

Technology and Physical Education Physical Education (PE) is defined as, the process by which changes in the individual are brought about through movement exercises (Body Fitness Health, n.d.). The transformation of PE has gone from a class of students performing in activities such as running, swimming, strength training, and stretching; to adding forms of technology into the class in addition to the fore mentioned. With time came the progression of technology; technology took off with positive and negative effects. Computer companies grew with the popularity of technology and began to create games. Health officials found a new relationship between television and video games with an increase in obesity rates among teens. With gaining popularity of video games and a need for active games, companies in the world heard the call and saw the potential for economic gain. In Physical Education gyms around the United States, P.E. teachers are taking steps to regain student activity using video games as well as pedometers, heart rate monitors, and music devices. Obesity Obesity is a growing problem in the United States. Among children ages 219, 23.4 million are overweight and obese (AHA, 2009, para 2). Different factors attribute to the fact; portion sizes have grown since the 1950s, foods are processed and not as natural and, technology at home is replacing outdoor activity. According to Anderson and Butcher, no one factor that has led to increases in children's obesity; rather, many complementary changes have simultaneously increased children's energy intake and decreased their energy expenditure (Anderson & Butcher, 2006, para 4). With obesity rates in children growing the need to help children become active is a necessity. P.E. is one way of combating obesity. In some cases P.E. is the only time some children receive any form of activity for the week. Technology

The introduction of technology resulted in a decrease in physical activity; video games became a direct correlation to lack of activity and obesity. To increase activity and interest in P.E. classes technology is currently used in P.E. classes across the nation. Teachers are incorporating video games, pedometers, heart rate monitors, and MP3 players. Technology is progressively changing from detrimental to beneficial in the physical education world. Video Games- Over the past two decades the progression of video games have gone from a hand held controller to full body interaction. Options for people are increasing to sports, strategy, action adventure, fantasy, and role-play games. Linking obesity rates to different factors, the main target is video games. Video game companies are continually designing new gaming experiences to meet the needs and wants of consumers and health officials. The recent introduction of exercise games or exergames, is revolutionizing the gaming world. Walking and exergaming resulted in elevated energy expenditure in children (Graff, Pratt, Hester, & Short, 2009 p. 537) Appropriate steps incorporating video games into a P.E. curriculum can be successful. Excergaming is comparable to walking in elevating energy expenditure, helping meet the goal for P.E. teachers; to have students expend as much or more energy than the student is consuming. Station work is one way to incorporate video games into the gym. Teachers set up a circuit training unit with one to three stations of exergaming, engaging students and meeting the goal of increasing student activity. When a students only activity is in P.E. and the student has no interest in exercise, video games can help the teacher and students find a common ground. Pedometers- As teachers are progressing in classrooms with technology so are P.E. teachers out on the field and in the gym. Current P.E. teachers have resources previous P.E. teachers did not; such as Pedometers. Pedometers count the steps of an individual at one time calculating a daily total of steps and calories burned. In a study done on children and pedometers, research found that 8-11 percent of total steps taken in a day came from the P.E. classroom (Tudor-Locke, Lee, Morgan, Beighle, & Pangrazi, 2006). Students have the ability to reach a benchmark; if the goal for one student is 10,000 steps in a day, the student can visually see the amount of steps taken and calculate

whether or not to increase activity. Pedometers are a tool for students and teachers with the ability to see how many steps a student has taken, P.E. class can now be a measuring stick for students when outside of school. Heart Rate Monitors- Heart Rate (HR) is an accurate way to measure an individuals HR (Sanders, n.d.). HR monitors also allow a person to evaluate whether or not to increase or decrease activity with the immediate feedback a monitor releases. In a P.E. classroom a students would first determine max heart rate, which is 220 age = max HR. Once a student has determined max HR the student or participant can determine which zone to work in. Five HR zones exist, Z1 is 5060% of max HR, Z2 is 60-70% of max HR, Z3 is 70-80%, Z4 is 8090% and Z5 is 90-100% of max HR. In P.E. class Z1 or Z2 is the goal for the student.. Teachers enjoy the convenience of HR monitors because class does not have to stop to take HR, the student can look at the display and see the result. Another benefit, the HR monitor is an accurate way of determining target HR zone than the finger on the pulse method. MP 3 Teachers are using MP3 players in P.E. to help motivate students. Students are allowed to listen to MP3 players to help focus on a run. From experience certain beats can increase or decrease running speed. Coaches use certain types of music to help motivate players in the weight room. Music is also used as a tool during aerobic activity, meditation and yoga. Music has been part of the P.E. setting for years, with the progression of technology students and teachers have the ability to individualize a his or her preference. Negative effects of technology With all the positive effects of technology in the P.E. gym there are negative effects too. Not everyone has the resources to purchase a HR monitor, not all schools can afford game systems to supply the classrooms. Although pedometers are a cheaper form of technology for teachers to use, in most cases the student have the device in his or her hand the whole class resulting in the possibility of the student to alter the device if a step program is implicated in class. With the continual use of technology a students can become dependent and get a false sense of accomplishment when referring to a skill set, even with the

success of becoming active. In different types of video games students will compete in sports, students may feel as if he or she is good at baseball because he or she can hit a homerun every time on the Wii, or shoot a bow and arrow because they have mastered the technique on PlayStation. With the false sense of mastering a skill set on a game does not substitute mastery on the field or court. Conclusion Technology is consistently changing. Better options become available every six months, and it is irresponsible for educators not to jump on the technology train. With the vast amount of options educators can evolve curriculum to educate our students. In P.E. technology is becoming prevalent, and teachers are incorporating newer technology to gain interest and activity. With the ever-growing popularity of technology and the obesity epidemic P.E. teachers have found a common ground with students who would rather play video games. Technology has found a home in a functional P.E. setting. Students have the capability to put a pedometer on and have step count by the end of a P.E. class, or put a heart rate monitor on to determine if he or she needs to increase or decrease activity. Technology is proven to be beneficial to students in the educational world whether it is video games or a heart rate monitor teachers and students can both benefit from forms of technology. Even with negative effects of technology the positives outweigh the negatives. The goal of the P.E. teacher is to get students active and possibly interested in an activity outside of school and technology.

Reference
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