Polar watch fitness tracker motivates middle and high school students to do remote PE at home or with family
Five years ago, Neenah School District in Wisconsin and Edina Public School in Minnesota were among the first middle schools to use Polar Heart Rate Monitors that helped students get motivated with PE workouts.
The polar fitness device was first introduced in 2013. The Finnish company, Polar Electro Oy, created the Polar H10 Heart Rate Sensor, perfect for monitoring athlete training or patients doing therapy. But it’s equally beneficial for students in PE, as it turned out.
Fitness trackers have become a necessity
During the lockdown in 2020, schools using this type of product made it easier for their students to do their PE.
However, schools that haven’t adopted this decade-long technology had difficulty forcing their students to do their PE at home.
During the pandemic, it was taxing for PE teachers to conduct small classes using video calls because monitoring each student took time. In addition, some kids weren’t following directions, and there was no way to monitor their progress.
That all changed with heart rate monitors like the POLAR tracker.
However, it also has its downside. Initially, the heart monitor belts had inconsistencies. It spikes and holds for miles but suddenly dips low for a half mile. Some users said the battery drains quickly or broke after a year of using it.
Polar Watch and GoFit App in 2022
In 2022, POLAR announced that its GoFit app is now compatible with Google Chromebook. Life has just gotten easy for middle school students who use Chromebook.
But there is better news yet, which is the POLAR UNITED.
In the school year 2023-2024, the Glenbard District introduced the POLAR UNITED Fitness Tracker during the second semester. The results were amazing!
High school students’ workout daily workout activities were personalized. The heart rate and activity tracking motivated them to complete their physical education anywhere they were.
Hence, the best part was doing PE in the comforts of their own homes. One parent said she was amazed and happy that her kids were jogging around their neighborhood.
