Blog Articles

Case Study on Exergaming for Kids with Behavioral Issues – Preliminary Report

by Dan Lawler, Ph.D. on May 6, 2013 at 3:43pm

In schools today students who engage in antisocial behaviors are a real challenge for teachers and administrators.  Too often these behaviors diminish a student’s ability to learn and often interrupt the education of others.  Many times teachers and schools apply restrictions to privileges, more seat time, anger management strategies, and suspensions as a remedy for these behaviors.  A few months ago I assisted a middle school with initiating an alternative to...

AAHPERD Driving Toward a Healthier Generation Through Technology and Exergames

by Jeffrey Dammann on Apr 16, 2013 at 10:28am

The 2013 AAHPERD National Convention and Exposition being held in Charlotte, North Carolina, is coming up fast!  The convention takes place April 23-27th and over 5,000 health, physical education, recreation, dance, and sport professionals are expected to attend the show. AAHPERD, which stands for the American Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance has over 20,000 members and is the largest organization of professionals involved in physical...

Exergame Fitness Educates the World at the Exergame Education Workshop 2013

by Ashley Staley on Feb 26, 2013 at 1:02pm

On average, children spend three to seven hours a day parked in front of a television.  Whether it’s watching after school cartoons, the Disney Channel, or playing video games, the rate of child obesity has had a drastic increase throughout the course of the past 20 years.  Let’s Move!  a campaign launched by First Lady Michelle Obama, has an ambitious but important goal: to solve the epidemic of childhood obesity within a generation.  This nationwide...

Case Study on Exergaming for Kids with Behavioral Issues

by Dr. Dan Lawler on Feb 21, 2013 at 5:07pm

In schools today students who engage in antisocial behaviors are a real challenge for teachers and administrators.  Too often these behaviors diminish a student’s ability to learn and often interrupt the education of others.  Many times teachers and schools apply restrictions to privileges, more seat time, anger management strategies, and suspensions as a remedy for these behaviors.  A few months ago I assisted a middle school with initiating an alternative to...

The ExerGaming Lab As an Effective Tool to Help Students With Behavior Issues

by Dan Lawler, Ph.D. on Jan 17, 2013 at 11:27am

The ExerGaming Lab As an Effective Tool to Help Students With Behavior IssuesSocietal and clinical concern of antisocial behavior in school-aged children is significant. Students engaging in antisocial behavior represent a major challenge in the school system (Cihak, Kirk and Boon, 2009) and account for a large proportion of placements in special education classes (Knitzer, Steinberg, and Fleisch, 1990). Despite significant support and interventions, issues involving anti-social behavior...

First Care For Then Educate

by By Dan Lawler, Ph.D. and Bev Bachman, M.Ed. on Nov 26, 2012 at 3:50pm

Peter Senge, in his 1990 book entitled The Fifth Discipline, talked specifically about well-intentioned goals and aspirations often leading to unpredicted outcomes that even the best leaders and thinkers could not have anticipated.  Certainly a 1981 government document release called “The Nation at Risk” intended to bring attention to the need for education to improve for all kids.  What evolved over the years was a tightening of curriculum, the development...

Integrating ExerGaming with Instruction: One Model

by By Dan Lawler, Ph.D. on Oct 9, 2012 at 12:12pm

By Dan Lawler, Ph.D. This school year a Title I teacher in Colorado will be integrating into her teaching both effective practices in literacy instruction and current research on how exercise prepares the brain for learning.   She is a strong literacy teacher, long grounded in strategies that have been supported by research in reading instruction.   This year she is excited to add this new dimension to her literacy lessons by having her classes participate in 5...

Motivation Through Exergaming

by By Dan Lawler Ph.D. on Aug 14, 2012 at 10:07am

By Dan Lawler Ph.D. Every teacher in every classroom eventually faces the dilemma of how to motivate the uninspired student.   Often teachers look to utilizing positive rewards as a means to increase desired behaviors.  Some traditional strategies, especially at the elementary level, include longer recess, special seats, positive phone call home, lunch with the teacher, and positive verbal feedback.  Extrinsic motivators, in the form of rewards, can encourage...

BrainBike: Exercise for the Brain and the Body by Dan Lawler, Ph.D.

by by Dan Lawler, Ph.D. on Jul 24, 2012 at 1:28pm

Most often wellness programs focus on improving employee fitness levels along with emphasizing good nutrition.  Seldom is any specific attention given to retaining and improving the functions of the brain. “A life-long commitment to stimulating brain activity contributes to quality of life, especially in the later years. Exercises that promote brain health vary widely and include physical activities such as walking and intellectually stimulating activities....

What Makes Early Morning Physical Activity Helpful for Students

by Dan Lawler, Ph.D. Education Consultant on Jun 7, 2012 at 1:57pm

Several schools across the country have adopted early morning physical education classes in order to assist students with learning.  In Naperville, Illinois, District 203 has been conducting a Learning Readiness Physical Education program for years.  Their approach has received national attention because of the positive impact it has had on literacy scores.   More and more evidence points to the reasons why this intervention is so successful.  Primarily, when...