The Sunday Telegraph recently featured an article titled ‘This is the future of sport in schools – Wii instead of PE’. The article talks about the inclusion of the Nintendo Wii console and several of its sports related games as part of the curriculum in several NSW schools. It highlights the concept of students now being able to opt to play Wii Fit in some PE classes.
Sure to encounter controversy, some NSW schools are trialing the technology as an alternative to other outdoor activities. Students are still able to choose those more traditional sports; the choice of Wii activities is now an extra option. Several parents interviewed were very opposed to the idea surprised that the Education Department would endorse such an act.
As mentioned in my previous post Game Changer, researchers have recommended Wii as a tool in helping students to develop in their physical fitness and general sports skills and techniques. Wii Sports, Wii Fit and many of the other sports related games do require physical activity and engage students in new and motivating ways. It is important for schools to be providing students access to these sorts of popular culture products, the question remains however, how far do schools/ teachers go in providing this sort of access to students? At what expense does all this come?
I agree with sports commission consultant Melinda Turner’s comment in the article that anything that gets children interested in sport is a good thing. I would be concerned however, if these new technologies replace students engaging in sport and physical activity outdoors. I love playing games such as Wii Sports and Wii Fit; they have provided many a night’s entertainment. In a small group setting Wii is fabulous. In a large class setting, I would be interested to see how the whole class can remain engaged in activity, particularly when it is not their turn with the controller.
In conditions when the weather is bad and outdoor sport is not an option, Wii would be a fantastic solution! There are definitely great benefits to the inclusion of this popular product within the school curriculum, just hopefully not to the detriment of classic schoolyard antics such as kicking the footy around!
2 comments:
What an interesting and controversial topic. I recently purchased a Wii, which came with Wii Sports and Wii Fit, and until reading this article, I had never contemplated integrating such a tool into the curriculum, let alone using it as an alternative to PE. But, since reading James Gee’s research on video games and learning and observing the capabilities of the new Xbox 360 Kinect, my eyes are now wide open to the possibilities of gaming in education, in this case, PE.
Pursuing this topic further, I went to the PE teachers at my school to investigate whether or not they would consider using Wii Sports or Wii Fit in their lessons. Interestingly, both had opposing opinions. One would use it only for wet weather because they strongly believe that students need to be outside, getting involved in physical activity, whilst the other would consider using it alongside sports lessons. They also believed that anything technological, that might engage disinterested students and offer enjoyable sporting experiences, is a bonus.
Only time will tell as to how games, like the Wii, will impact on student’s physical fitness and general sports skills and techniques. I wait in anticipation.
This is a very interesting topic. The idea of video games in physical education is difficult to get your head around. It certainly changes the focus of them contributing to sedentary lifestyles!
I think video games do have a place in the physical education classroom. In America a school has been trialling the use of videogames to combat obesity amongst its students (Hellmich 2010). They found that student engagement and attendance improved once they started implementing them. However, the report later explained that the amount of physical activity involved in the virtual sports was less than the original sports.
Providing students with choices is important and some of the exer-games have other potentials too. For example some can monitor heart rates, teach students about how their bodies react and some teach and record skill development; and in some cases these games can do this better than the traditional methods.
My biggest concern with these games is the way they are implemented. I don’t like the idea of students sitting around waiting a go or rote learning where everyone does the same thing every day. I think if this is the case the students’ engagement is just as likely to shift as it perhaps has with traditional methods. Hopefully teachers are being creative when implementing them!
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