A student at Kanawha Elementary School practices with the Sworkit app, which is being used to deliver physical education lessons remotely.

Kanawha Elementary uses app to teach remote PE lessons

Nov. 16, 2020


DAVISVILLE - As educators tackle remote learning and instruction, many are coming up with creative ways to keep students engaged and active while attending classes from home.

Jessica Ashley, a physical education teacher at Kanawha Elementary School, is using a fitness app to keep her kids moving and growing. 

“As we began a unique school year in a blended model, I was looking for ways to engage students in physical activity and fitness at home while still addressing both West Virginia and national content standards for Physical Education,” she said. 

Ashley said both blended and remote instruction models presented challenges. Students needed activities which didn’t require equipment or support from a parent or guardian, something that could work in varying time frames, and a program which could introduce new content and grow with the student. 

Ashley said an app called "Sworkit" filled that need.

“Sworkit is a top fitness app that means ‘simply work it,” she said. “Sworkit is free to all West Virginia students and physical education teachers via the Sworkit Youth Initiative.”

The app allows students to create an account and customize a program to their grade level and level of fitness. Ashley spent a week during blended learning preparing students to use the app. 

“Over the course of two in-person classes, each student navigated their own iPad, found the code in a PE Schoology assignment, and went through the steps to create their personal account,” she said. “Then, each student learned how to navigate the app, finding their free workouts, how to adjust the length of their workouts and how to include music and track their progress in the app.”

Ashley said she originally intended the app to be used on Fridays, which are remote learning days for all students during the blended model.

“Now, Sworkit has become a staple in our full remote instruction model,” she said. “I feel confident that as they complete at least one weekly Sworkit, they are learning new exercises and learning more and more what their body is capable of, all while taking personal responsibility for their own physical activity and health.”

For more information on Sworkit and the Youth Initiative, visit https://sworkit.com/youth-initiative.