‘Virtual’ Gym Class Appeals to Many, OK With State
By Daveen Rae Kurutz, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Jul. 6–Gym class has always been a yawn for George Hunt III. A star athlete, he is not.
But after one semester of an online gym class, Hunt has found a new passion — Frisbee throwing.
“It was the same stuff over and over again each year,” said Hunt, 19, of North Union. “I learned more in one semester than I would have in four years of high school.”
Teaching physical education over the Internet may sound counterintuative, but hundreds of teens in the region are enrolled in cyber gym classes, either through e-Cademy, a program offered by the Allegheny Intermediate Unit, or through cyber charter schools.
Students study sports and fitness, but are expected to put what they learn into practice. Physical activity is completed on an honor system, said Rich Campsie, who teaches physical education at e-Cademy and at Pennsylvania Learners Online, also called PALO, a cyber charter school operated by the intermediate unit.
This year, about 600 students are enrolled at PALO, where online gym is a requirement, and 12 others are enrolled at e-Cademy to make up a failed credit.
Some critics say there is no replacement for the activity of gym class.
“In certain situations (online physical education) can be beneficial, but nothing can replace the face-to-face interaction with a role model,” said Mark Gartner, a middle school health and physical education teacher in the Hampton Township School District. “It’s important for phys ed teachers to be that role model and practice what they are asking the kids to do.”
The state Department of Education requires high school students complete a physical education program and accepts an online physical education credit to fulfill that mandate.
The online course focuses on promoting fitness and leisure activities rather than competitive sports.
“Obviously from a cyber school viewpoint, we can’t play dodgeball, we can’t play team sports,” said Campsie, 41, of Franklin Park. “We talk about how they felt about the assignment and why they chose particular activities.”
Students work one-on-one with Campsie through an online interface to learn about concepts ranging from life-long physical activities and exercise to team mascots and game strategies. They report back to Campsie via worksheets and written reports. He admits there is no way to know for sure if a student really is completing the physical requirements of the course.
“If a teen is giving me nothing but one-word answers, chances are they aren’t doing what they claim they are,” Campsie said. “No, I don’t know how physically active they are. Students who do that are not hurting me as much as they are hurting themselves.”
Keeping students active and away from a computer is a challenge for many gym teachers, Gartner said. His gym classes have begun to focus more on lifestyle and leisure rather than team sports as a way to ingrain fitness into young minds.
That change is taking place in the classroom as well, said Donald Teti, assistant superintendent for high schools with the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh. Teti, a former principal at West Mifflin Area High School, said schools are looking at different ways to offer physical education.
“Gym classes for years have been trying to get away from the old concept of rolling a ball and playing dodgeball,” Teti said. “Physical fitness has gone into the area of yoga and dance and away from the idea of dodgeball and competitive sports.”
Students take physical education online for a variety of reasons, including a desire to free up time in their course schedule or replacing the credit after failing gym, said Patty Kardambikis, program director of e-Cademy. For some students, changing in a locker room or having to meet certain requirements in a room filled with classmates makes traditional gym class impossible.
“That half-a-credit is holding them up from graduating,” Kardambikis said. “It goes back to body images, not wanting to compete or dress in front of others.”
After Hunt was required to complete an activity involving a Frisbee for his online class this spring, he has taken to tossing the disc in his spare time with a younger niece. His father said the activity has helped Hunt lose weight and get in better shape, something that never happened in his “brick and mortar” gym classes.
“I never got into it growing up, but it’s different when you have a teacher just working with you instead of a gym teacher telling a whole class to do something and half of them not listening,” Hunt said. “It’s something different than your normal gym class.”
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