Middle School

Do Wii need Nintendo?

By Tim ⋅ June 27, 2008 ⋅  Email This Post ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

Last night I finally had the good fortune of finding a Nintendo Wii in stock at our local Walmart and I bought it. The last time I played one with Emalee was almost a year ago and we had a blast, so I had no doubt that we would enjoy it. We stayed up until late playing a variety of games from bowling, tennis, and boxing to billiards and more. It was no doubt a lot of fun and time will tell if it continues to engage us in the same way. However it got me wondering if the Wii could be used as Yet Another Tool For The Classroom™.

One of the first reactions a lot of users get when playing with the Wii is how intensive it can become. Especially games like Boxing and Tennis can cause a player to start sweating. Games like Wii Fit and Dance Dance Revolution capitalize on this trend by marketing specifically to users that want to get fit, lose weight, or enjoy or more active experience. So could something like this be extended to the classroom, specifically physical education courses? I don’t think so, and here’s why.

Let me first point you to a study that confirms even active video games are no substitute for real exercise. The study compared a sedentary game played on an Xbox to an active game played using the Nintendo Wii and while they found a 51% increase in activity, it was not substantial enough to be considered true exercise. One caveat to this would be that Wii Sports as a whole is perhaps less engaging then games like DDR that can actually get very active and intense. The study did not examine those games.

The United Kingdom Department of Health has endorsed a trial use of Wiis in the classroom for physical education. They cite examples of instances where students are more motivated to participate with video games than perhaps with regular activities. However Nick Seaton, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education is calling this idea a “gimmick” and says that students would find far more benefit from serious competitive sports and games. The interesting argument here is the idea that engaging students is perhaps not as important as proper exercise (at least in Physical Education). It’s an interesting argument. Which is better, a student that walks the mile run because he’s bored, or the student that gets his heart rate up in a video game?

I think there is still much more studying to be done on the subject so I can’t say for certain that a Nintendo Wii will never be appropriate, however instinct makes me feel like this is a case of trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. The Nintendo Wii is suited as a fun game system and while the occasional video game might raise your heart rate a bit, the advantage gained from engaging your students in a more meaningful way is probably not as great as the loss of true exercise. In a P.E. class I think the purpose of your activities has to keep health and health education top priority and find ways to engage them through activities that accomplish those goals.

Tags: video games, wii