Research We Applaud
Since 2004, Judy Shasek has been dedicated to adding physical activity to the learning process. At first her purpose was to simply add more beneficial physical activity to the school day. Her method was to harness the delivery of that physical activity to the easy, plug and play availability of select exergames. With the support of RedOctane with the solid commitment of Charles Huang, Shasek's initial entry to this effort was the highly successful Generation FIT program. Harnessing the love of video games to the time, talent, and empowered leadership of students in grades 3-12, Generation FIT delivered more than we expected. Students, and their teachers, gained upwards of 100 extra physical activity minutes per week but learning benefits accrued that were not in the original plan. From that "aha" ExerLearning was defined and organized as integral to the combination of physical activity and cognitive success/learning readiness. In 2007, Shasek trademarked the word ExerLearning.
There is no way we couldgather all the relevant research in one place, but we continually attempt to do just that. If you would like to receive our most comprehensice ExerLearning research summary, please subscribe to FootGaming and make your request. If you have research to add to our collection, simply let us know by filling out the CONTACT form.
In 2006-2007 Dr. Ann Maloney of Maine Medical became one of the earliest researchers to study benefits of Generation FIT programs and ExerLearning. Exergaming and the resulting health benefits for youth are lucky to have a strong and innovative leader like Dr. Ann Maloney pioneering our path.
Phil Lawler and Paul Zientarski in Naperville, IL are solidly leaders in the effort we call ExerLearning. Unlike Shasek's programs that enter a K-12 school environment via the regular classroom, Lawler and Zientarski brought their students to a new type of PE class before the ExerLearning process was complete. Lawler founded PE4Life as a way to re-invent physical education for the 21st Century. Along the way, hundreds of challenged students gained academic success in their Learning Readiness PE program.
We never cease to be inspired by Dr. John Ratey's book, SPARK and Dr. John Medina's book, BRAIN RULES.
Most recently we have been studying the quantitative research on physical activity and conitive success done by Dr. Charles Hillman and the team from University of IL and Elon University.
