By Matthew Bassett
A new trend has started to creep into education–online classes. Some schools have tried to save some money and increase enrollment by opening online classes. We are in an age where teachers have to compete with the entertainment of the internet. Maybe online classes are a way to reach out to students who rather learn at their own pace and use their computer to learn. But, how does it stack up for online physical education?
One estimate suggests Minnesota is one of just 12 states of offer online gym, but many in the physical education world expect that number will keep increase, and probably has already. –Minnesota Public Radio, August 26, 2009 Read the rest of the article here.
I think that students who do not like traditional physical activities would benefit from being able to work out on their own. The future of physical education really needs to be in helping students to develop their own fitness skills. This is one way that our country can handle the obesity epidemic. Students who take online courses are required to purchase expensive equipment like heart rate monitors. The expense on this type of equipment makes it difficult to purchase enough equipment for an entire class or even a small portion of a class.
I’m not sure an online physical education program would be all that beneficial. Looking at the state content standards for physical education shows a list of motor skills that every student would have to learn. Online classes focus on individual activities and thus cannot help a student master a skill that is team based. This online learning program would cut a large percentage for the grade specific standards from the learning environment. Social skills are another area in the content standards for California physical education. It is the only subject that teaches social skills in K-12 education. Online courses will not help a student learn how to take turns, share, cooperate or learn to work with another person.
I don’t think online physical education classes are the answer. Schools are always looking for ways to save money. Physical education seems to be one of those subjects that is not valued. Part of this issue comes from hiring teachers who are not qualified or do not care about teaching. The key is to hire physical education teachers who are qualified to teach and who are motivated to work hard and actually teach physical education. We can learn some helpful ways to motivate our students from the online courses but it is our responsibility to teach.
Tags: online physical education, physical education, Standards