Education, Sport, and Technology

In recent years, technology has taken a primary role in our lives. For students, technology is even more than that. It has become a tool and a means of life. Be it socializing, playing, or studying, learners use technology.

However, we argue that technology occupying a major role in students’ life is not a healthy way of living unless it is integrated into the whole education process alongside mind, soul, and body care. Thus, we reach a point of defining the educational process as a holistic integration of acquiring knowledge, physical training, and using technology as a tool.

Students in the US spend approximately 7 hours per day using technology, mainly for leisure, but with recent global events, we can predict that students nowadays spend much more than 7 hours in front of a screen. This increased amount of time has proven negative effects on the physical health of young children.

Studies show that children’s brain performance is visibly reduced due to spending too much time in front of screens. In order to prevent technology from becoming a dramatic injury for students, schools and any educational institutions should include a physical training session or playing sports.

As we become more dependent on technology, the more we should play sports.

Why Should We Insist On Children Playing Sports?

We have known for centuries that physical activity is beneficial for the endurance of muscle tissue, joints, and proper functioning of metabolism. Besides this, sports have positive effects on our brains and social skills, as well.

Here Are The Beneficial Effects Of Sports On Brain Performance:

• Increase the ability to focus and reduce background noise, read the study;
• Improve blood flow to the brain;
• The brain releases endorphins during workouts, which improves mood, here is the info;
• Reduce stress through the elimination of adrenaline;

Continuing in the same tone, we can say that “Mens sana in corpore sano“ (Healthy mind in a healthy body) because sports also improve mental health and develop social skills.

Benefits Of Sports For Mental Health & Social Skills

• Improve self-confidence
• Help combat addiction
• Promote teamwork and collaboration
• Develop leadership skills
• Improve communication skills

Various studies have shown that practicing any form of sports, but especially team-based sports enhances social skills due to the need to organize peers, manage time, delegate roles and collaborate intuitively, thus maintaining a certain community responsibility among sports-doers.

Showing that sports have various and proven benefits on general health, schools should maintain a 60-minutes per day of sports in the mandatory curriculum. Usually, the best time to do sports is either in the morning or after classes, in the morning to boost performance or after classes to relax and reduce stress. However, teachers should discuss the exercise regime with students in order to find out the right time for all types, be it morning persons or night owls.

Now that we have seen the importance of sports in the daily regime of students, where does technology fit in?

The Link Between Technology And Sports

Given the fact that technology has become a part of our daily regime, we have to learn to live healthy around it. The need to pay more attention to physical exercise as we use technology, even more, has emerged from the lifestyle of video gamers.

Gaming has become a professional occupation and spending long hours in front of the screen brought tremendous health issues for young people. From cardiovascular problems to heart attacks, gamers are predisposed to lead an unhealthy and risky lifestyle. However, some people found the cure to this challenging game.

Gaming communities have started to integrate episodes of physical exercises into their routine and the results are irrefutable. Not only did they improve their body functions, but they also increased their gaming performance.

A full day in the life of a professional gamer includes education, gaming tournaments, and sports. In order to maintain a positive attitude towards sporting, gamers are finding fun and group exercises that combine relaxation with workouts. Some of them can opt for an individual sport, depending on their personal needs.

The Most Fun Sports For Tech-Savvies That All Students Should Try

Schools could integrate a list of fun and challenging sports that students can find appealing, this way more students will want to participate and they won't perceive physical exercises as a boring chore. While some exercises like stretching or aerobics can burn the fun out of young people, the next sports can improve their social skills and make use of their competitiveness in a positive way:

1. Indoor wall-climbing

While it is preferable to take the children out in nature, indoor wall-climbing can be the second-best. It is fun, challenging, and relatively safe under the supervision of a trainer or experienced adult. It improves muscle resistance and development, joint training, and helps out with mental stress. If the school can afford it, wall-climbing can also be installed in the courtyard so children can also benefit from fresh air.

2. Obstacle course

For sure, all children have dreamt of becoming a superhero or super-spy so building up an obstacle course will give them the opportunity to test how ready they would be to save the world from evil. This kind of sport improves critical thinking and develops strategy skills.

3. Ping-Pong

A game as old as time, but very helpful in training hand-to-eye coordination, ping-pong is one of the funniest games in history. It requires standing for long periods of time which counters the long sitting hours spent in front of a screen. Ping-pong has actually become a competitive sport and students can participate in national tournaments, known at that level as table tennis.

4. Dancing

This is a useful and social exercise because it combines music therapy with movement. There are different types of dancing, from something formal such as valse, tango, or salsa, to something more structure-free such as a combination of dance and games.

Dancing has been known for a long time as a healthy exercise that not only trains the muscles and reduces stress, but also improves balance and body position heavily affected nowadays by the long hours sitting on a chair. It also boosts self-confidence and empowers body-anxious people. Dancers learn how to respect and explore their bodies in order to create something beautiful.

These are only a few options that can challenge and also entertain students. However, schools can facilitate children’s access to swimming pools, basketball courts or soccer fields, running courses, and even weekly or monthly field trips.

To Sum It All Up…

Integrating sports in formal education as a must-do activity while we use technology more and more as the main tool is an obligation of responsible and efficient educators.

Parents and teachers need to work together in order to provide children with the best possible environment for a healthy learning process and that doesn’t exclude sports even though the promise of an IT job is more secure for a child’s future.

Technology is only offering us the incentive to create a more inclusive, more holistic type of education.