A Lesson in Physical Education for Active Gaming

An article by Examiner.com interviewing Mark Manross, the Executive Director of PE Central, was recently released discussing the active gaming section of the PE Central website. See what Mark had to say about the new section:


A Lesson in Physical Education for Active Gaming

The newest trend in fitness is getting kids moving in their own homes by engaging them in healthy play. The trend, that gained most of it's momentum from Nintendo Wii, is called Active Gaming, or exergaming, and is now increasingly being used in schools.

This month the award winning website "PE Central" has launched a new section to help guide and advise physical education teachers in the increasing use of Active Gaming in school. Examiner caught up with the Executive Director of PE Central and former phsycial education teacher himself, Mark Manross.

Mark was awarded the Presidential Citation from the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) in 2004 and in the following year one of the most prestigious awards given by NASPE, the Joy of Effort Award, for his work with PE Central. Mark explains the rationale behind adding this technology genre into his premier website resource.

EXAMINER: What is the purpose of PE Central and why was it started?
Mark: The purpose of PE Central is to provide the latest information about contemporary physical education programs for children and youth. We wanted a place for K-12 physical education teachers to get and exchange lesson ideas and other information that was pertinent to professional physical educators. The site began 14 years ago.

EXAMINER: Where do you get your lesson ideas from, are they free for teachers?
Mark: Lesson ideas are submitted and shared by visitors (bulk of which are practicing K-12 physical education teachers) to our site. They are then reviewed by our Managing Editors and Advisory boards who are all volunteers. If an idea is chosen for publication on the site the authors name and
affiliation is listed on the idea and they receive a $50.00 gift certificate from our sponsor, S&S Worldwide.

EXAMINER: What or who first drew your attention to Active Gaming (AG)?

Mark: Dr. George Graham, our company President and Co-founder began studying these types of activities at Penn State and he shared his interest with us. Then we heard that the state of West Virginia gave many DDR's to teachers and we began hearing more and more about this type of educational activity. Lisa Hansen, a professor at the University of South Florida, then contacted us about doing a section. Lisa represented this technology in NAPSE PIPELine with Active Gaming and Interactive Fitness workshops and we are proud that it has debuted and that Lisa is taking care of the section.

EXAMINER: Why do you think it is important to have a section on PE Central dedicated to AG?

Mark: Mainly because it is so new and so many teachers are now starting to embrace the concept and the technology. We want to share quality educational practices with the teachers who wish to include this in their physical education programs and we think this is going to grow in the future.

EXAMINER: Who will benefit from the AG section, is it just K-12 PE teachers?

Mark: It is designed for the K-12 physical educator but we heard from a reviewer of the section that she thinks it will be great for after school programs and organizations like the YMCA and the Boys and Girls clubs as they now have access to active gaming. We hope it is beneficial to anyone who is offering active gaming experiences to students of all ages and in many different settings.

EXAMINER: Some teachers fear Active Gaming will take over and run class, could this happen?

Mark: Professional physical educators would never let that happen. We know that our main job is to guide youngsters in the process of becoming physical active and healthy for a lifetime. A piece of equipment or system cannot do that. The teacher will always need to be there to guide, motivate and inspire.

EXAMINER: If you could only chose one page, what is the most valuable content in the AG section?

Mark: At the time of this writing I really like the Teaching Active Gaming page. Lisa has done a nice job in explaining how to properly incorporate active gaming into a developmentally appropriate physical education setting.

EXAMINER: AG is expensive compared to traditional PE equipment, how does PE Central address this?

Mark: For now we have a Fundraising/Grants resource page as teachers will need to use a fundraiser or find a grant to help raise money for some of the equipment that is involved in active gaming.

The PE Central website is http://www.pecentral.org and the Active Gaming section can be found at http://www.pecentral.org/activegaming/