Supporting Learning Activities with Wearable Devices to Develop Life-Long Skills in a Health Education App

摘要

80% of Australian children do not engage in recommended minima of physical activity levels, contributing to an alarming trend in obesity levels and associated diseases in adult life. We created iEngage, an innovative health education program for 10-12 year old school children that blends a learning app, wearable technology, feedback, goal setting and gamification with practical activities to promote knowledge and behavioural changes with regards to physical activity and to guide children at their own pace towards World Health Organisation's recommended minima of daily moderate to vigorous physical activity. We present how the activity trackers are used to provide objective feedback and support the learning activities and the individual goal setting. We conducted a controlled pilot study in two Australian schools. Post-tests using research-grade accelerometer devices reveal a significant increase in moderate and vigorous activities in the experimental group, compared to none in the control group.