Credit goes to ripten for the image.
Gym teacher Don Prorok has recently convinced his school to approve of purchasing seven Wii consoles for his gym class, citing that “after playing his brother’s Wii and realizing the potential it has to get kids moving.”
While the author of the blog (and its readers) quickly jumped on board saying that kids should be outdoors more and experience ‘real physical’ sports, they also realized how much technology is changing the way we live, and we cannot avoid the change.
I’m sure that this would not be an isolated incident, and that more schools will attempt to use game consoles such as the Wii to promote more physical activity for students. One reader commented that it would be beneficial to introduce new sports to students via the Wii, games such as ping pong, bowling etc, and then alternate between the real sport and the Wii version. I agree with this reader’s statement, as it was Wii bowling that rekindled my interest in real bowling. However, many readers are still rather conservative about the change (possibly because the blog was written for a more conservative site), saying that children should not have an excuse to play computer games, and should always experience ‘real’ sports.
There is no denying that technology is changing our lifestyle, and in this case with the debate between ‘real’ and Wii sports, we need to carefully balance and compromise. Convincing children to play computer games will no doubt be easier than convincing them to play outdoors, but if they were to be allowed to only play the Wii, negative effects are sure to follow. The challenge now will be for schools to decide how and when to integrate the technology, and find a way to incorporate real physical sports and activities with it.
3 comments:
WOW! I can't believe that Wii's are actually being used in a P.E. class now, that is crazy! I do have to admit that I am a bit skeptical and worried about how this might end up; however, I do agree that it could be a good idea to try and incorporate these into gym class. This is because technology is continuing to change and advance, as well as being incorporated more and more into students lives. It might be a good idea to have a balance between the two (the Wii and real games). If this is not monitored correctly, then many negative results could occur. But, wow I just can't believe that this is actually being placed in a school gym class-if this would've happened in my school, I would have been super excited! I will be interested to see how many schools now get these and to hear how it goes!
Thanks for this post-very interesting!
As crazy an idea as this sounds, I can see the benefits of having the balance of "real" and Wii sports. In this day and age, it is extremely difficult to get kids to do physical activities. It is a scary reality that we as only college students can have stories beginning with "when I was your age" about playing outside because there was nothing else to do. Times change fast. The main problem that I can see with this whole setup is the problem of finding the balance between virtual sports and reality. I can see the slippery slope of giving in slowly and giving up completely on the integration of the two. What is there to stop a complete shift to the Wii with kids never using a real ball again. That would be pretty sad if you ask me. I see the integration of the Wii as just a band-aid quick fix to the problem of laziness in America.
I don't think that Wii sports should be used in PE classes. Although it may seem like a good idea to balance the "real sports" and Wii sports, it will lead to more and more time spent staring at a TV screen that actually getting some fresh air. Video games should stay in their rightfull place...home.
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