Child obesity rates in Canada are soaring to an all new high.  From 1979 to 2004, obesity rates among students aged 12 to 17 years have doubled from 14 to 29 percent (Curbing Childhood Obesity: A Federal, Provincial and Territorial Framework for Action to Promote Healthy Weights, 2012).  This stat is correlated to the amount of screen time students are getting on a daily basis, leading directly to a decrease in daily physical activity.  We live in a day and age where we are entirely surrounded by technology through various engaging platforms.  Technology is everywhere we look and there is just no getting away from it.  We are seeing an increasing use of mobile devices (tablets, smart phones) and often observe that these mobile devices are becoming a distraction for students trying to complete work (Froese et al., 2012).

Students are dialed into their phones, often behind their teacher’s back, as a means of staying connected with their friends and everything else in the world.  The problem with these mobile devices is that they are essentially becoming little mobile computers that allow students to keep distracted for extended amounts of time (Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, Vine, and Blogs).  In 2015, I was able to sit in on a seminar done by Steve Janzen regarding how we as educators can incorporate technology into the physical education classroom.  I remember thinking about how difficult this might be to incorporate as it just didn’t seem practical.  How can students be using technology and still be achieving their physical activity goals all at the same time?

“Technology use in schools has influenced the way educators plan, design instruction, and assess their students.  Innovations in educational technology have changed systems of communication, learning resources, lesson ideas, and professional development”

(Gibbone and Rukavina, 2010)