Using ICT to enhance student engagement in physical education: The effects of visual feedback displaying the students’ HR on a monitor during endurance running

The purpose of this study was to examine a physical education class utilizing information and communication technology (ICT). In particular, it aimed to clarify the effects of visual feedback displaying the participants’ heart rate (HR) on a monitor during endurance running. The participants comprised 45 (boys = 20, girls = 25) fifth-grade students enrolled in a Japanese elementary school in Osaka prefecture. The study compared the participants’ HR when it was displayed on a monitor during their running and when it was not displayed. Their HR was measured using a wearable device (Polar A360). The participants’ rating of perceived exertion (RPE) and responses to the feeling scale (FS) were measured after their endurance running. The results showed that when the participants’ HR was displayed on the monitor, it was significantly higher (p < 0.01) than when it was not displayed. In the case of the girls, their RPE was also significantly higher (p < 0.05) when their HR was displayed on the monitor. In the case of the boys, even when their HR was significantly higher as a result of being displayed on the monitor, their RPE was maintained. These results raise the possibility that a more challenging learning environment was created, whereby the students tried to increase their HR, even though their RPE was already strong. The responses to the FS showed that negative feelings were not aroused, even when HR increased for both the boys and the girls. Therefore, the visual feedback during the endurance running may have been effective. In this way, physical education classes using ICT can be effective in enhancing children’s endurance and motivation for learning.