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Running, cycling, weight training, even horseback riding! Fourteen-year-old Marti Williams spent the summer doing all of these activities for her ninth-grade physical education class, a course she was able to take online.
How does it work? A monitor measures her heart rate while she exercises, and the results are downloaded to the teacher’s computer.
“The monitor looks like a wristwatch, and it goes on the arm,” explains Carol Call, the online course instructor, “and I monitor the length of time that they exercise in their target heart zone. And if they don’t exercise in their target heart zone, that’s affected in [their] grade.”
She says a lot of kids try online phys ed because it offers them choices they don’t get in a conventional gym class. “A lot of students enjoy rollerblading. Cycling is very popular with students. And swimming works some of the time,” says Call.
Marti combined horseback riding with more conventional exercises to get her heart rate in the target range. And she says just having the chance to saddle up, “made it more fun to do the class everyday instead of running. I hate running. But when I figured out I could ride a horse, it made it a lot more fun.”
Her mom, Pattie Williams, agrees. “I think the flexibility is a great advantage, to not be stuck into doing the same old games that they play in PE.”
Still, Ms. Call says, “Online learning is not for every student. Self-motivation has a lot to do with being successful in an online classroom. If a student has trouble organizing a regular day — much less adding in homework — will they be responsible enough to log into the course twice a day, check emails, check announcements and schedule their coursework for the week?”
“You have to do it everyday,” says Marti. “It’s not an option, or you get a really bad grade.”
Williams also noticed the workload. “She would have assignments due every night. Generally quizzes a couple of times a week. She had to write a short paper. So it was a lot of volume.”
Marti worked hard and got an ‘A.’ And even though the class is over, she says, “Now I’m going to keep doing exercises, because it made it more fun.”
Online physical education classes aren’t offered in every state, and there is usually a fee. Marti’s class cost $285. While the fee is non-refundable, students do have the option to drop the class without it showing up on their academic records.
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