Britain to use Wii’s in schools for P.E., critics cry foul
It looks like the British government has decided that putting the Wii in schools is a great way to get students into exercising and physical fitness. They have announced a pilot scheme is in the pipeline that will do just that, make the Wii a part of the National Curriculum as reported by The Independent.
But not everyone is so enthusiastic about that idea (and I’m willing to bet none of the critics are gamers themselves either. Just a hunch). The chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, for example, has stated that the group claims it is “concerned about falling standards and damaging changes in state education . . . being forced through without any evidence to support them” and Nick Seaton added, “Pupils would be far better doing serious competitive sports and games than this sort of thing. It looks like another gimmick. It’s pandering to the views of the physically idle.”
The physically idle, eh? Since all of us gamers are nothing but that, right? We’ll just forget about my recent forays into racquetball and the very physical game of basketball I played today.
Ahem. The scheme was put into place by the Droitwich and Worcester City School Sport Partnership, and apparently was such a success that it had pupils queuing up during their lunch break just so they could get some play time on the Wiis, this at five different schools. Heart monitoring showed that the pupils became fitter after repeated use of the Wii.
As for the government’s reaction to the criticism, a Department of Health representative said”We welcome the positive impact that innovations like these can have as a first step towards getting people to participate in a range of physical activities and to enjoy the many benefits of an active lifestyle”.
A spokesman for Droitwich and Worcester City School Partnership commented, “The use of computer games to increase physical activity levels and raise attainment to some would seem contradictory but with rigid structures in place and by using specific games students soon found themselves being active and engaged almost without realizing it.”
The label that’s been tossed around, “Virtual P.E.” is also a bit misleading because the Wii will not REPLACE, traditional sports and physical activities, it would just be there to compliment them as well as to inject some, for some kids, much needed fun into it. And let’s face it, some kids are so discouraged by their inability to play sports as good as others that it actually will prevent them from doing physical activities or playing sports on a regular basis. And I think definitely for those kids, that using video games is an excellent way to get them on track to be more physically fit in their adult lives.
Check out this news clip talking about how the Wii can help you burn calories.
— Via Spong
Comments:
There are pros and cons for the school to use Wii as an aid to conduct the courses. However, it seems to me that the portion of the pros are more than cons, if the teacher just uses the Wii properly.
My point of view is that I agree with the outlooks for both of the critics and other authorities. Some critics point out “Pupils would be far better doing serious competitive sports and games than this sort of thing – Wii” I think it is true that playing Wii can not totally replace the function of the real sports and games. To do the real sports and games are much better than playing Wii as far as physical gains and the feeling of the fun is concerned.
As to the reaction to the criticism such as:“ We welcome the positive impact that innovations like Wiis can have as a first step towards getting people to participate in a range of physical activities and to enjoy the many benefits of an active lifestyle”, I also think it is a very reasonalbe concept on the using Wii in the classroom.
