Utilizing Technology to Engage Students in Physical Education

Des Moines Public Schools has educated the students of Iowa’s capital city for more than 100 years. It is the largest provider of public education in the state, serving more than 30,000 students and employing nearly 5,000 staff members that span across 60 schools throughout the community. This district describes Des Moines as a “vibrant, innovative and diverse city.” A great example of how the district enables innovation took place when one teacher advocated for adding projection technology to gymnasiums to help revamp the district’s elementary school physical education program.

Updating the Gymnasiums

Although the pandemic created several challenges, one of the upsides the district found was taking advantage of the empty school buildings to efficiently complete routine maintenance work. This included a massive clean-up of all devices and updating systems, as well as updating classroom technologies. Additionally, the district took that time to add large venue projectors to four elementary school gymnasiums.

The district installed the Epson Pro L1490 laser projector and added a 20-foot screen in the gymnasiums. One of the physical education teachers was inspired to use projection in class after seeing videos of interactive games. “I brought the idea up to my school leaders because I wanted to create more engaging activities for my students,” said Zack Cole, a physical education teacher at Willard Elementary School. “The projector has been great. It’s bright and easy for my students to see even with open windows and LED lights.”

The district chose Epson projectors because of the district’s, “ongoing and successful relationship with Epson in supporting K-12 education,” according to Lisa Irey, director of technology for Des Moines Public Schools. The Epson Pro L1490 laser projector is a state-of-the-art, large-venue laser projector that displays crisp, luminous images at 9,000 lumens of color and white brightness1 .

Designed with ease in mind, the Pro L1490U’s virtually maintenance-free laser light engine and electrostatic air filter are rated for up to 20,000 hours2 . It also features a full range of inputs making it an ideal solution for gymnasiums, auditoriums and live events. Since installing Epson projectors, the district has seen more immersive and interactive learning in classrooms and other learning spaces, like gymnasiums.

Creating Engaging Activities

During remote learning, Cole would play videos for students that got them moving at home and found they really enjoyed those activities.

Now, at school, he is able to continue to project the same videos to use as warm up activities. After warmups, he reviews the curriculum standards with students and projects them on the screen so they can see and fully understand the goals they are aiming to meet during that class.

Students play various games and activities throughout class, and the projector is utilized to provide different engaging games. “One of the games students play is a duck hunting game, where they throw a dodgeball at the screen to practice their throw and aim,” said Cole. “This was one of my favorite games growing up, and it’s bee n great bringing it back to class and seeing students enjoy playing it.”

Cole continues to find ways to utilize the projector to teach different lessons such as throwing, catching, kicking, and dribbling. He also uses the projector on assessment days so students can see the standards and grading scale as they go through the different stations.

Other activities include projecting a soccer goal so students can practice kicking, as well as projecting a GIF on the screen for students to see demonstrations repeated. “GIFs are really helpful for visual learners,” said Cole. “For example, explaining opposite foot to kindergartners can be tricky, but having the visual aid really helps every student understand what I’m teaching.” 

Looking Ahead

In addition to engaging physical education classes, the school has been able to utilize the gymnasium for various after school activities and events.

This includes movie nights and video game tournaments where students play Twitch and Super Smash Bros.

With the success at Willard Elementary School and the other three elementary schools, the district is working on adding large venue projectors to all of their elementary school gymnasiums.