Jackson-Milton Elementary School gym class uses new technology
Jackson-Milton Elementary school gym classes use
By Bruce Walton
NORTH JACKSON
Times have changed for classrooms in the 21st century.
Teachers have replaced their 20th century chalkboards with Smart Boards in the past 16 years.
Physical education classes, however, haven’t changed much – until now – thanks to Jackson-Milton Elementary School’s new technology.
Daniel Crish, the physical-education teacher for Jackson-Milton Schools, has implemented a new technology for his gym classes.
Since Oct. 17, the school has been using the Interactive Health Technology Spirit System and the Adidas Zone wrist-heart monitors approved by the Jackson-Milton Board of Education.
The technology, specifically designed for physical education and assessments in school classrooms, incorporates 28 small wristbands that monitor heart rates and calories burned over the school year.
So far, the data have shown his students have burned 19,654 calories.
“I’m very lucky to be in a district that has administrators who are so progressive and willing to support these kinds of technologies in the classroom,” Crish said.
At the beginning of class, Crish’s students from grades four through six take a monitor and begin their workout. When the class ends, students remove, scan and return the monitors to the recharging station.
Each monitor scanned will log the data of each student in a graph spanning the time the child wore it. This data is logged in a larger data base and emailed to the students and parents.
Their heart rates are categorized into three intensity colors: blue for 60-90, yellow for 100-175 and red for 175-plus beats per minute, which also are displayed on the monitors while in use.
Additionally, several students in the school have asthma and Type 1 diabetes that Crish said can keep them safe from over-exerting themselves in class.
Justin Whitacre, a sixth-grader, said gym is his favorite class, and said the heart monitors are better than the pedometers – an instrument used for estimating the distance traveled on foot by recording the number of steps taken – they used before.
“I like them because you can cheat with [pedometers],” he said.
Crish took on this project last year when schools Superintendent Kirk Baker proposed the idea of implementing a new technology for students in physical education. From there, he researched 35 different companies with any sort of devices such as a Fitbit as Baker suggested until he discovered the IHT and Adidas technology in February.
The system and monitors cost the school a total of $4,500 with $250 covered by the local parent-teacher association.
Baker said he’s happy with what Crish brought back and hopes it helps motivate students in gym class to reach their fitness goals.
Crish hopes to expand the equipment to more grades and the rest of the schools in the future.