Ollie Bray.com

Depute Headteacher at Musselburgh Grammar School, East Lothian, Scotland. Find out what life is like at the end of the bottom corridor as I share my thoughts on School Leadership, SQH, Outdoor Education and New Technologies for Teaching and Learning.BETT 2009 – Cyber Coach (Dance Mats and Exergaming)

Computer Games in Education and Exergameing is a big interest of mine at the moment. At Musselburgh Grammar School we are currently conducting a research project with Herriot Watt University into the use of Dance Mats and Electronic Dance for cardiovascular fitness and increased participation in physical exercise. At BETT 2009 I was interested to see a new exergaming product called Cyber Coach.

It was interesting for three reasons:

The first reason is that this dancemat system seems cheaper than other dancemat systems currently on the market and it also looks very robust.

The second reason was as well as the traditional electronic dance game that you get with most systems. Cyber Coach also has a number of other multi player games that up to 32 people can play via the wireless dancemat system.

These games included fun games such as ‘Space Blaster’ where you, ‘Blast your way though deep space eliminating your opponents one by one. Take on your friends in an all action multiplayer battle’.

Some of the games were educational designed to test your memory such as ‘Follow Me’ where you, ‘Follow the steps on screen. The more steps in a row, the more points you win’.

There were also strategy games such as ‘Soccer Sevens’ where ‘Players take to the field and show their football skills, taking on friends or playing as a team to compete against the computer.’

But the best thing about all these games was that they all required rapid movement and exercise outside the normal confines of traditional PE. I instantly though that this could be a really interesting evolution of dancemat technology.

The third reason why I liked what Cyber Coach had on offer was because of their virtual fitness instructor. The idea behind this was that a virtual fitness instructor is projected onto the screen and gives the class instructions. I was really impressed with the quality of the filming and the way that all of the professional athletes conducting the routines were really child centred and motivating.

The virtual Instructor fitness lessons included street dance, aerobics, disco dancing, pilates, yoga, boxing, cheerleading, step and lots more. Although I don't believe that virtual fitness instructors should ever replace classroom teachers. I do think a Cyber Coach might make an interesting addition to any PE department.