Online gym class: Fitness or fakery?
A cyber school uses the honor system. Critics say there's no substitute for the real thing.
GREENSBURG, Pa. - Hundreds of teens in the Pittsburgh region are taking cyber gym courses, despite critics who say there is no substitute for real physical education classes.
About 600 students are enrolled at Pennsylvania Learners Online, a cyber charter school where online gym is a requirement. Twelve others are enrolled in a program called e-Cademy to make up a failed credit.
Rich Campsie, who teaches phys ed at e-Cademy and at Pennsylvania Learners Online, said he works with students one-on-one online to teach concepts ranging from lifelong physical activities and exercise to game strategies.
They report back to Campsie via worksheets and written reports. He acknowledges there is no way to know if a student is completing the physical requirements of the course.
"If a teen is giving me nothing but one-word answers, chances are they aren't doing what they claim they are," Campsie said. "No, I don't know how physically active they are. Students who do that are not hurting me as much as they are hurting themselves."
The state Department of Education requires high school students complete a phys ed program and accepts an online credit to fulfill the mandate.
But "nothing can replace the face-to-face interaction with a role model," said Mark Gartner, a middle school health and phys ed teacher in the Hampton Township School District in Allegheny County.
"It's important for phys ed teachers to be that role model and practice what they are asking the kids to do," Gartner said.
Some students take phys ed online to free up time in their course schedule or to replace the credit after failing gym, said Patty Kardambikis, program director of e-Cademy. For others, changing in a locker room or having to meet certain requirements in a room filled with classmates makes traditional gym impossible.
After one semester of online gym, student George Hunt III found a new passion - Frisbee throwing. Since being required to complete an activity involving a Frisbee for the course, Hunt has begun tossing the disc in his spare time with a niece.
His father said the activity has helped Hunt get in better shape, something that never happened in his brick-and-mortar gym class.
"I learned more in one semester than I would have in four years of high school," said Hunt, 19, of North Union.