In "Fitbit One Teaches Students Benefits of Healthy Living", Ken Felker, a physical education teacher, explores the ways to incorporate a technology driven society and staying fit into his class for his students. He used the Fitbit one to record each of his students' physical activity and made a behavior change project out of it. Students were able to collect data about themselves and analyze it. They found the project to not only be fun, but very useful and accurate. The device logs the students' physical activity, sedentary activity, sleep, and nutrition. It is able to be synced to a computer to upload the data and to display the data in a way that is easier to understand and analyze. This tool has a lot to offer students, and it helps them to learn the very basics of nutrition and how important it is to be physically active. It teaches them about weight gain and the importance of sleep as well. If students decide to purchase one for at home, they are also able to access meal plans and fitness plans with the permission of their parents, and for an extra cost.
I think this is a great idea for teaching students the importance of a healthy diet and lifestyle. Many schools skip the part about nutrition, which is key to being healthy. I personally own a Fitbit and love it! It makes tracking your activity and sleep super easy. I could definitely see how the results could be used for students to collect and analyze data. This is a great project for students in middle or high school levels. The only bummer about the Fitbit is that you have to go onto the computer to log in food consumed, and not all students have access to computers after school hours, so some arrangements or alternatives would definitely have to be made. The other cool thing about the Fitbit that I could see some students using and enjoying is that you can share results with friends and make a competition out of the amount of physical activity you have completed per day. So it will send you a notice saying that you need to do more cardio, or something physical, in order to beat your friend for the day.
This use of the Fitbit in the classroom demonstrates standard #1 where students explore complex systems and issues through technology. It also correlates with standard #3, research and information fluency. The projects that you can do with this activity tracker would work standard #4 with decision making based of analyzed data to complete a project.
Felker, K. (2013). Fitbit one teaches students of healthy living. Learning & Leading with Technology, 40(6), 32-33.
Kendyl,
ReplyDeleteThis was a super interesting post and I enjoyed reading it because I was looking into getting one was well! I agree with you and think it is very important that kids understand how to eat healthy, get enough exercise and sleep, and just live an overall healthy lifestyle. I think that some children might not be getting this education at home due to different reasons, and it is awesome that this teacher found a way to implement this into his classroom. Because of the rising obesity rates, endless unhealthy fast food joints, video games, and tons technology that results in less physical activity, it is even more important for our generation and ones ahead to educate children on a healthy lifestyle!