American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance - AAHPERD

Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance

Issue: January 2008

Online Health-Related Fitness Courses
Lynda B. Ransdell, Kerry Rice, Chareen Snelson, & Josh DeCola

Abstract:
Distance education is growing rapidly at the collegiate and secondary levels. Online courses, which deliver information via a computer, are a form of distance education that has been both praised and condemned. Those skeptical of online courses maintain that learners have to deal with technology problems, low motivation, isolation, and lack of contact with teachers. Those in support of online courses maintain that these courses facilitate more engagement with the content, increase collaboration with the instructor, increase responsibility for learning, and lead to computer-skill development. Furthermore, students like online courses—especially the freedom of setting their own pace of learning. At the college level, online courses have been used to teach health-related fitness (HRF) content. At the high school level, online HRF courses are rare, but increasing. The purpose of this article is to discuss the growth of online education, delineate the pros and cons of online courses, describe how online HRF courses can be used in physical education, and provide some suggestions for developing, implementing, and evaluating online HRF courses.

Article category: Technology