ISTE Article 3

Exergaming: Cardiovascular Fitness In Immersive Virtual Environments
Daniel Nadler

This article explores a revolutionary take on physical education at the West Virgina Department of Education. Dance Dance Revolution is an arcade game that originated in Japan and about three years ago, one video game was added to every single school in West Virginia. Dance Dance Revolution incorporates fast beat songs with dance steps. Arrows on the floor light up corresponding to the beats of the song. Every time a students steps on the arrow at the correct time, their score increases. I think it is so funny that they have this in schools because I grew up in San Diego where the majority of our school was Asian. So I grew up with Dance Dance Revolution, or DDR, as we liked to call it. It was an "Asian" thing to do and I just think it's funny that this was implemented in West Virginia, where the Asian population is pretty small. Although this seems untraditional, if it's working, then why not support it? This is making children eager and excited to work out. I figure that if even Physical Education classes are able to incorporate technology in the classroom, how much easier would it be for me in an actual class room?

Q1)How expensive would it be to do something like this in California?
There are hundreds of schools in California and with the never-ending budget cuts, it's crazy to even think of implementing something like this. I think it would be impossible to even just installing these video games in a single district. Then again, West Virgina experiences all four seasons so they have to be creative when thinking of alternative exercises during snow/rainy days. California is lucky to have such good weather to be able to run and play outdoors for the majority of the school year.

Going the Distance: E-mail from Norway
Donna L. Pasternak
A teacher from Norway wanted to use E-mails as an oppurtunity for her Norwegian students to learn about their U.S counterparts while at the same time practicing the English they learned. I think this is a great idea because E-mail is pretty much internet basics. If a student can type, they can contact anyone all throughout the world.

Q2) Will my math students be able to learn from children or other classes in other countries?
While not every country requires children to learn English, they are all required to learn some level of math. Addition is the same here as it is in Asia as it is in Europe. However, I am curious to see in which ways teachers overseas present their lesson plans. As opposed to e-mail, I think it would be interesting to web camp with a math class overseas to see how students in other countries learn the same math concepts my students are learning.