LA Times Article Inspires ExerLearning

A recent LA Times article by Denise Gellene reported on surprising findings about video games. "Worried that kids spend too much time playing video games? Take heart: They may become great surgeons.New research released Monday found that surgeons with the highest scores on "Super Monkey Ball 2," "Star Wars Racer Revenge" and "Silent Scope" performed best on tests of suturing and laparoscopic surgery.Doctors who reported having played video games at least three hours a week sometime in their past worked 27% faster and made 37% fewer errors on the surgical tasks compared with those who had never picked up a game controller, according to the study in the Archives of Surgery."For as little as three hours a week, you could help your children become the cyber-surgeons of the 21st century," said the study's lead author, Dr. James C. Rosser Jr. of Beth Israel Medical Center in New York."

The article reported on research that looked at 33 surgeons attending a course on laparoscopic surgery and found that their game-playing skill was "a better predictor of success on the surgical tests than years of medical practice or number of surgeries performed.Expertise with "Super Monkey Ball 2," which involves steering a ball containing a monkey down a serpentine track while simultaneously targeting bananas, was most closely linked with high test scores."

While surgeons need the fine motor skills and eye hand coordination necessary for surgery, the ExerLearning question is: Why not connect dance mat controllers to 'Super Monkey Ball 2" and let children exercise large muscles, generate aerobic training, balance, whole body coordination that suits the sort of academic success they need right now. Maybe later, they will become surgeons - or any other thing they aspire toward.

All the while - they will be using video game technology for fitness, the mind and body way. They'll be fit to play and fit to learn.

Standardized Tests Drive the School Bus

I recently read an article in the Orlando Sentinel by David Whitley.
It commented on the PE policies required in each county in FLorida. "Some are good and others are jokes, said Kathy Dowd, executive director of the Florida Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Dance and Sport." To implement this mandate, there's no plan to increase PE funding. One suggestion is for teachers to have their classes do jumping jacks three times a day.That's better than nothing, but not by much if you ask any PE professional. It would be like interrupting PE class to do quickie math drills.

The Florida Legislature actually did something last year. In response to the obesity epidemic, it cut the PE requirement.Now students need only one credit to graduate from high school, down from the previous 1.5. The reasoning was that PE and life-management courses take away from the real reason schools exist, which is to teach kids how to memorize FCAT questions."The FCAT is driving the bus these days," Dowd said.

The number of overweight adolescents in the U.S. has tripled since 1980. The World Health Organization projects that one-third of America's kids are either obese or likely to get there. If the thought of an entire generation catching Type 2 diabetes doesn't bother you, the prospect of paying for its health care certainly should. Until educators and policy-makers begin to understand the connection between rhythmic aerobic activity and academic success we'll continue to have this "either-or" argument between PE/activity funding and NCLB/test score funding.

A child is not a head coming to school to be filled with facts, answers, and some reading and math skills. A student must use heart, lungs, balance, coordination, rhythm and eye-tracking involved in many active pursuits in order to be best prepared to learn. At the same time, when the students themselves use today's technology to deliver consistent and valuable fitness interventions throughout their school day - new, healthy, active habits are formed.

How long will it take for Exerlearning to become the norm? Teachers are too busy already. Programs like Generation FIT harnesses the time, energy and expertise of students empowered to lead and manage the activity program in grades 3-12. Now we're talking wellness - and academic success.