Aussie Kids are Switching off from Physical Activity and turning to Screen Time

There is no doubt that the increase in technological advances has helped improve academic outcomes. It has opened up so many engaging learning opportunities for children both at home and in the classroom. Teachers and parents now have easy access to an abundance of educational information and entertainment outlets at their fingertips.

Research shows that the number of children and parents that are choosing to engage in screen-time activities, opposed to active, physical activities is significantly increasing. Over the last decade especially, the increase in technological advances has become incredibly sophisticated, with many people becoming heavily reliant on their devices. Moreover, research indicates that many people Australian children are spending excessive amounts of time on screen-based activities. These screen-based activities are sedentary behaviours that are not educational activities (Australian Parents Council, 2016). They include watching TV, social media, playing video games or using a computer or laptop for entertainment purposes (Australian Parents Council, 2016).

A big concern that health professionals have with this is that these screen-based activities are being substituted with other physical activities, that could potentially be better for the child’s mental and physical wellbeing.

This begs the question, is there a correlation between the excess amount of physical activity and the lack of physical activity?

Has society become too reliant on our devices?

Many parents have candidly admitted that they rely on TV as ‘a safe and affordable distraction and rely on this for them to complete chores’ (SA Government, 2007). Many parents utilise the many benefits and convenience that screen devices give them as most of them are ‘time-poor, working long hours’, leading to ‘using small screen recreation as a proxy-babysitter’ (SA Government, 2007).

The Australian Curriculum (ACARA, 2014) recognises this dilemma stating; ‘in an increasingly complex, sedentary and rapidly changing world it is critical for every young Australian to not only be able to cope with life’s challenges but also to flourish as healthy, safe and active citizens in the 21st century.’

This rational affirms that due to media and technology changing our we live our lives, health issues will rise and people need to understand how this might impact their mental and physical wellbeing (ACARA, 2014).

Due to the convenience and accessibility technology has become, health professionals have come up with guidelines. These were created due to research indicating that people while spend too many hours in front of screens are ‘more likely to have poor physical, social and intellectual development’ (Department of Health, 2012).

So where do where draw the line?

Health professionals state that children aged between 5-17 should engage in less than 2 hours per day (Australian Institute Family Studies, 2015). However, research has shown that many children in Australia are spending more than the recommended limit for screen time with 5–13 years olds spending an average of three- four hours per day (Australian Institute Family Studies, 2015).

As more children are becoming hooked to these devices, they are becoming less active. Health professionals affirm children aged 5-12 years should engage ‘in at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity every day’(Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2018).

However, coincidently Australian children are not meeting these guidelines. In fact, only 30% of children aged 2-17 years old are meeting these recommendations (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2018). Due to this rise in screen dependency and decrease in physical activity, more research and information has been established. Heid (2018) states that parents who allow their children to spend more than the recommended time in front of screens are ‘more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression or anxiety than those who use screens for an hour a day.’ (Heid, 2018).

Also, a substantial Chinese study acknowledged that more than two hours of screen time a day led to ‘psychological problems such as: non-clinical depression, anxiety, and school life dissatisfaction’ had a correlation with adolescents who spent more than two hours of screen time a day (Cao, Qian, Weng, Yuan, Sun, Wang, & Tao, 2011). Comparably, US studies found a significant link between excessive screen-time and obesity-related health problems, social isolation, and reduced academic performance (Martinez-Gomez, et al, 2010., & Sharif & Sargent 2006).

Moreover, the Australian Health Institute of Health and Welfare that that ‘participating in regular physical activity and limiting the amount of time being sedentary can have significant health benefits—it reduces the risk of chronic conditions and other disease risk factors such as overweight and obesity.’ (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2018).

Ironically, research shows that the reasons that children are falling short of their guidelines is like those for exceeding screen-time. The reason for this is; time restrictions and work commitments (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2018).

This balancing act can also be emulated into the context of the classroom. How much focus should teachers have on implementing technology into the classroom?

Teachers can help students become aware of the risks of spending too much time being sedentary, while also correspondingly facilitating a healthy excitement for technology as a subject. A start to this could be to show students learning resources, like the infographics displayed. Teachers can help students educate themselves and their families about the benefit of engaging in ‘Screen vs. Lean time’.

This healthy balance is important because ultimately, technology can significantly enrich our lives in so many different aspects. It is vital that technologies are taught efficiently in Australian schools so that we create innovative and enterprising citizens who ‘can independently and collaboratively develop solutions to complex challenges and contribute to sustainable patterns of living.’ (ACARA, 2019).

It is important we generate a sustainable pattern on living, by adhering to the recommendations set by health professionals. This will lead to young children and the general public enjoying the enrichments that technology brings, while also maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

References

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. 2018. Physical activity across the life stages. Retrieved from https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/physical-activity/physical-activity-across-the-life-stages/contents/summary

Australian Institute Family Studies. Children’s Screen Studies. 2015. Children’s Screen Time. Retrieved from https://aifs.gov.au/publications/childrens-screen-time

Australian Parents Council. (2016). Screentime. Retrieved from https://austparents.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/screentime.pdf

ACARA. (2014). Health and Physical Education. Retrieved from https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/health-and-physical-education/rationale/

Department of Health. 2012.Inactivity and screen time. Retrieved from https://www.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/gug-indig-hb~inactivitiy

Heid, M. (2108). There’s Worrying New Research About Kids’ Screen Time and Their Mental Health. Retrieved from http://time.com/5437607/smartphones-teens-mental-health/

SA Government. 2007 National Australian Children’s Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey – South Australian Findings. 2 Armstrong CA, Sallis JF, Alcaraz JE et al. Children’s television viewing, body fat and physical fitness. Am J health Promotion 1998, 12(6):363-8

This was the challenge that I was the most nervous to do! The concept of “coding” is something that I have always been nervous about. When I was in the later years of my primary school journey (about 12 years ago), technology applications were not yet sufficient enough in educating students about coding and game design. So unfortunately, I was not lucky enough to be exposed to this type of education at a young age, like students today are!

However, now that technology has advanced and has become more accessible, most primary schools are now being able to provide their students with one-to-one laptops/iPads with keyboards or computer labs. The Australian Curriculum has emulated this development and have progressed their learning guidelines to ensure all student are given the opportunity to learn about contemporary and emerging technologies that make up the society that we live in! ACARA (2014) states, ‘in an increasingly technological and complex world, it is important to develop knowledge and confidence to critically analyse and creatively respond to design challenges.’

The curriculum links that relate to the game design challenge are:

Level 6: Design, modify and follow simple algorithms involving sequences of steps, branching, and iteration (repetition) (ACTDIP019)

Implementing

Level 4: Implement simple digital solutions as visual programs with algorithms involving branching (decisions) and user input (ACTDIP011)

Level 6: Implement digital solutions as simple visual programs involving branching, iteration (repetition), and user input (ACTDIP020)

Evaluating

Level 6: Explain how student solutions and existing information systems are sustainable and meet current and future local community needs (ACTDIP021)

Collaborating and managing

Level 6: Plan, create and communicate ideas and information, including collaboratively online, applying agreed ethical, social and technical protocols (ACTDIP022)

(ACARA, 2014)

Prior to starting this challenge, I had a pre-conceived notion of “coding” being one of the most puzzling technological areas to grasp, and to be honest when I read the directions for this challenge, I thought that my assumption was correct! I will admit that this pessimistic attitude and fixed mindset that I had towards the challenge heading into it, may have impacted my enjoyment and overall success towards the challenge. In relation to this mindset, in my personal experiences, I have noticed that during my Praxis placements and my work as a teacher aid, young people don’t have this same attitude technology.

In general, they are more confident and willing to embrace the newness and challenges that modern technology offers, as they know no different! They are able to adapt to the constant changes and growth, because they have been brought up with it and only know the creativity that it offers. Thus, they are not afraid to be creative and teach themselves along the way. They have such an open and growth-mindset and just keep on trying! I know that myself and other people my age (although not everyone) are very rigid, perhaps because we haven’t been reared with it since we were born or exposed to it at a young age.

Scratch Challenge

Despite my fixed mindset heading into this challenge, I was surprised and happy that I found the beginning of it very easy. I was able to create the Shark costume and the sprite behaviour easy. I also found the part with adding the fish for the shark to eat relatively easy aswell.

However, the next part is where I first started to become pretty challenging and when I needed to re-read over the instructions a bit to understand my next move. I have to note that I printed the instructions off in black and white ink in order to try to save money! When I started to delve into the coding part, I realised I definitely needed to print into colour so I could follow the “motion, looks, sound, events, control, sensing and operations” easier.

Adding the code so that when the shark eats the fish was when I really started to struggle. I had to fiddle quite a bit for it to work and start again a few times, because I was trying to rush through it and didn’t code it properly. This is when I learnt that it is so important to complete the steps properly, because if you skip a step (even if it is very minor) the final product will not work! This takes patience, but as stated I think students love being able to problem solve and work collaboratively to manage challenges. This can be explicitly linked to content description: Collaborating and managing: Level 6: Plan, create and communicate ideas and information, including collaboratively online, applying agreed ethical, social and technical protocols (ACTDIP022)

This was most noticeable when I came to the part of adding the poisonous pufferfish and when the shark touches it and gets shocked! This part took me a while, as I failed to include an “if else” control and included an “if” control instead. After I attempted the game a few times, I realised that this was the mistake and changed it!

Overall, I think the most difficult part was just getting use to the layout and terminology of the website. After I got use to the different codes and the colours that they were, I began to develop an open mindset and wasn’t scared to trial and error my way out of tricky situations.

I still think that this is an area that I will need to have more experience and exposure with prior to teaching it in the classroom. However, this challenge has taught me to just have a go and learn along the way by making errors!

Lastly, I made some minor modifications. I added more fish, as I knew how to code them easily, so I just had to copy how I coded for the first one! I also changed the colour of the pufferfish to purple.

Reference

ACARA. (2014). Design and Technologies. Retrieved from https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/technologies/design-and-technologies/

The topic I chose to collect relevant data for is a pertinent issue currently facing Australian society. It is the issue of balancing the right amount of screen time and active play for children. It is hard for parents to know when their child is having too much screen time, so I thought that an infographic aimed at giving children, parents, teachers or the general public information about guidelines, and if we are meeting these heath recommendations! The idea was just to compare the recommended guidelines with the percentage of children who meet those guidelines. I thought the combination of images and text would be efficient in highlighting the difference between them.

The first site I used to create one of my two infographics was www.easel.ly. At first, I found it hard to work with because there weren’t many font options to choose from and it was delayed when I tried moving the text boxes. There also wasn’t a big range of photos to choose from, but you could pay to upgrade to have a greater selection. However, I figured out how to upload my own images.

After I played around for a couple of hours, I got use to changing fonts, text colours, sizes, moving the text box around to fit into the image. I would have liked to of kept a better relationship between all the texts and images, to make the overall graph look more succinct. When I researched other screen-time infographics, they all have images that are all similar in graphics, style and colour. It makes the graph look more professional and synced.

I spent a lot of time of this and I still wasn’t overly happy with the outcome. I did try really hard to make it look good, but I just think it doesn’t look very professional. But, I realised that the aim of the challenge is to get use to graphic design and technology. The aim of the challenge was not necessarily to create the most professional looking infographic, but rather get use to different websites and digital technology that is used to present data.

I can say that I would be comfortable in teaching a class about the basics of infographic design and how to utilise images and text. When teaching this skill to children, the pedagogic approach to take is to let them explore different styles themselves and let them be creative, while giving them the basic skills. I found when I was completing my own, it took a bit of time to get use to the layout of the website, but once I did I became more confident and wasn’t scraed to try different things. I think I would keep reinforcing that mindset to students when engaging in digital design. Overall, I really enjoyed deigning it! It is an area that I think I would like to learn more about, as I think it can be very useful in various aspects of my personal and professional life. I can see myself now creating an infographic for school newsletters and parent information.

The second infographic I created was through Canva. I found this website relatively easy to work with. I found there wasn’t any lag time and the font selection had more variety. It also had a great range of templates to choose from, which I think students could use a stimulus when brainstorming their own design layouts. There was one template that I got a great idea from. It is shown below. My main concept was comparing the two types of activities, so I thought I could use this as my starting point.

After I found this template, I played around with different colours and graphs and came up with the product below. I was pretty happy with this and I noticed it took me a shorter amount of time because I had already become more familiar with the design process.

Reference List

Martinez-Gomez, D., Eisenmann, J., Gomez-Martinez, S., Veses, A., Marcos, A., & Veiga, O., (2010). Sedentary behaviour, adiposity, and chardiovascular risk factors in adolescents. The AFINOS study. Retrieved from:  https://www.elsevier.es

Yu, M., &Baxter, J. (2016). Australian children’s screen time and participation in extracurricular activities. The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children Annual, Statistical Report. 2015. Melbourne: AIFS.

Identifying a need/interest and potential product

My journey on this challenge began when I noticed how fascinated my nephew, who is 4 and a half years old (he begins Prep next year) was with putting bird food into our bird feeder and filling up the bird bath! One of his favourite things to do is watch birds come into our yard and eat from the feeder or use the bird bath!

Like all inquisitive children, while watching the birds fly into our backyard, he always asks so many questions. Thus, the activity turns into a great opportunity for some informal learning and discussions! Some of the questions he asks while observing the birds are:

• What type of bird is that?
• Why is the bird feeder green? How do the birds see the feeder, if it is the same colour as the tree?
• What do birds eat?
• What is in the bird feeder?
• Do birds have predators?
• Did Pop build the bird feeder? Did he buy it from the shops? 

From this conversation and seeing how interested and engaged he was, I knew I wanted make this the basis for my potential product! I also love the idea of using this fun, engaging design activity to facilitate discussions about ethical and sustainability issues with young children, like I did with my nephew. When he asked me what was in the bird feeder, I went and got the packet and looked at the ingredients on the back.

When I was looking at the ingredients in the bird mix, I saw on the packet that it stated the package was not recyclable, prompting my thoughts on sustainability and how I could further relate the concept to discussions surrounding ethics and sustainability.

After I decided I wanted to make a bird feeder my design product, I began looking at the Australian Curriculum content descriptions and achievement standard for the early years and how the design task could be integrated into other learning areas. I knew this design project would appeal to students who were of similar ages to my nephew (4 and a half) as I know how much he is interested in the idea.

The Australian Curriculum: Science Achievement Standard for the Foundation Year is:

By the end of the Foundation year, students describe the properties and behaviour of familiar objects. They suggest how the environment affects them and other living things.

Students share and reflect on observations, and ask and respond to questions about familiar objects and events.

(ACARA, 2014)

The Foundation Year Content Descriptions that can be related to the design project are:

Biological sciences

Living things have basic needs, including food and water (ACSSU002)

Chemical sciences

Objects are made of materials that have observable properties (ACSSU003)

(ACARA, 2014)

Australian Curriculum: Design and Technologies

Links to Curriculum (F-2):

Identify how people design and produce familiar products, services and environments and consider sustainability to meet personal and local community needs (ACTDEK001)

Explore the characteristics and properties of materials and components that are used to produce designed solutions (ACTDEK004) 

Explore needs or opportunities for designing, and the technologies needed to realise designed solutions (ACTDEP005)

Use materials, components, tools, equipment and techniques to safely make designed solutions (ACTDEP007)

Use personal preferences to evaluate the success of design ideas, processes and solutions including their care for environment (ACTDEP008)

(ACARA, 2014)

The design thinking process begins!

I researched some different approaches to design thinking. There were many well regarded and credible options to choose from, such as:

• The Five Phases Process from IDEO, International Design and Consulting Firm
• Google Design Sprints (which also looks at how to design a product in 5 steps)
• Design Council UK, Charity for Strategic Design (essentially a 4 step process)

I noticed all approaches were very similar. They all began with understanding or defining a need, followed by creating a prototype and then testing the product to know what refinements should be made to validate the product. Overall, the design cycle that I found to have the most information on was the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford. The components of the cycle are shown in the image below.

After I had an outline of the approach I could take, I constructed a technology design cycle concept map using Mindomo.

Empathise/Define:

I wanted to create a product that can be easily created by students in the early year levels (Prep, Year 1, even Year 2). The idea would be that they design a bird feeder that can be taken home and put into their own backyards. It is an object that can facilitate learning in other areas, most specifically Science. It could be useful for the wildlife in their area and help them earn about the importance of sustainability and ensuring we protect animals and our environment. By creating a product that they could take home also encourages them to take pride in their work and be able to show their families and display their designs in their own backyard.

The materials will all be recyclable, so students will also be engaged in learning about sustainability in regards to both recycling environmental sustainability in  talking about how we can help our  wildlife.

Ideate:

After I knew what concept I wanted to design, I began researching different ways bird feeders could be created. There are many great examples online, however many were too advanced for the classroom and wouldn’t be safe to create in a classroom context. Also, many methods were not age appropriate and unreasonable for younger primary students to design and create.

I really liked the idea of recycling an old letter box/number plates, however this is an example of being unsuitable for the classroom and would be hard to get those materials for all of the students. Also, the metal would need to be screwed or drilled, which is clearly not within the scope of a classroom.

The following images are the ones I liked the best, as I thought they were achievable to create. I like the use of the soda bottle, however the tin cans stood out to me as I know students would love to paint the cans and be able to further design their feeders using cool colours/ patterns or they could decide to camouflage their feeder and paint them with leaves! I knew that I would have to modify it a bit so it could be achievable in the classroom (the one below has screws in it, so I would have to design it differently). I also knew I would have to put something coming out of the tin cans for the birds to sit on and eat the food.

From there, the gathered the materials I thought I needed and drew my concept design sketch. This is shown below!

My initial list of materials included:

• Cardboard
• Tin cans/lids
• Paint
• Hot glue gun
• String/ rope

Prototype

I began creating my prototype. I created it using these steps:

• Cutting out the cardboard to get the right shapes I wanted

• Gluing the roof on with hot glue gun

• Making a hole in the top/middle of the base with scissors (this is to put the string through and hang onto the branch)

• Paint the cans

• Let them dry for about an hour and then decorate them (in the classroom, teachers would have to paint the cans either at the start of the day and decorate them at the end, or complete over two days)

• Glue tin lids onto cans

• Glue the cans onto the base of the house with hot glue gun. Make sure to make them staggered so its easy for the birds to eat the food
• I didn’t end up using the rope as I researched that it wasn’t recyclable. I found this steel hanging device at home and I researched that it could be recycled so I used that instead (this could be a learning activity for students to engage in, by looking up items on the internet, so they can learn how to check if objects are manufactured out of materials that can be recycled)

• I put this through the hole I made and then went outside to start testing the prototype

Test:

The design had some flaws.

• The can lids were hard to stick on, plus I think it would be unsafe in a classroom. They are a bit of a safety hazard and could easily cut the students hands. I decided to change the bird’s perch by using recyclable pegs instead.
• The cans were too long and skinny, so I changed them to smaller cans but with the same width

• The design on the pattern was the wrong way. When they are hung up the flowers especially are facing the wrong way

I started to repaint the cans and then I glued them onto the base. I rechecked I was putting them on in a staggered way and then went outside to see the final result.

I was very happy with the product, so I started to add bird mix to my bird feeder! I went back into my backyard to re-test my product.

I was very happy with the product, so I started to add bird mix to my bird feeder!

I thoroughly enjoyed this process and I think students would enjoy it to! I think they would love the design aspect of it and be engaged enough to also learn about sustainability and how we can design products in an ethical way! Combining the elements of sustainability for both the enironemnt through using environemntally friendly products, while creating a product that is for wildlife in the environment, could be a fun learning activity for students that implenments different asepcts of the curriculum.

Lifecycle of Product– created on Canva.

Safety & risk assessment

When teachers engage in teaching technologies, it means they are allowing students to work with a wide variety of materials and creative tools. These tools could involve some potential risks and teachers need to be aware of this so they can always keep their classroom safe! The design cycle process allowed me to see how important planning is for design technologies. This project has some safety concerns that teachers need to be mindful of. These include:

• Hot glue gun: teachers needs should be the only ones operating the hot glue gun. They should clearly explain this to students they use it, as the top of the glue gun can get hot, so students should know the dangerous of touching the gun even if they are not using it. When teachers are using it, ensure it is in an area away from the students 
• Steel can lids: if parents or teachers who have donated the cans to the class have not already removed the lids- make sure students do NOT remove them. The lids are dangerous and can easily cut their fingers/hands
• Also, when using the cans, ensure that all waste is removed as some children could have allergies to the ingredients in the cans (e.g. peanut oil, nuts etc)
• When cutting the hole at the top: this was relatively easy, and the students could do this on their own but under the supervision of the teacher/school officer, so that they ensure the students’ fingers are out of the way

Aim: Explore a specific idea or concept through at least three different styles and/or art forms.

Concept: The beach. I chose the beach as I knew there would be a wide range of different art forms and styles artists have used when portraying the beach. Plus, I love the beach, as some of my favourite memories with my family and friends at the beach, so I love when artists can creatively show different meaning through their pieces. Representation: Due to there being countless different forms, styles and techniques to choose from, I decided to narrow it down and look at the Year 5/6 Australian Curriculum (I am in Year 5 for my praxis) and find pieces relevant to the art mediums they learn about in Year 5/6.

Style 1: Surrealism

“Surrealism’s goal was to liberate thought, language, and human experience from the oppressive boundaries of rationalism” (Mann, 2016).

This style was definitely my favourite. There were so many great examples to choose from. To be honest I had never heard of this type of artwork, but I love it! It demonstrates such great imagination by the artist, but also by the audience who can use their imagination and emotions to interpret it.

Style 2: 3D Art > Environmental sculpture > using environment, physical and conceptual properties of materials > cross-media > design, sculpture, photography

Washed up series, 2015 By Alejandro Duran

“By creating aesthetically pleasing landscapes from a disheartening medium, it’s Duran’s hope to create a harsh juxtaposition that draws attention to the global catastrophe of ocean pollution” (Jobson, 2015).

Again, I think this contemporary style of artwork is so creative. I love the meaning behind it and how the artist showed the two different elements, of the beach and the pollution, and how they are inter-related.

Style 4: Digital art

I love this type of digital art as I like that it incorporates drawing, photography and digital enhancement. I definitely would want to study this area further and I think students would be interested in this modern style.

Step 1: Try different ways to create a portrait

I decided to create my portrait using a semi-realist technique rather than an abstract/cubist portrait as I found the line drawing was easier and more straight forward.

The materials I used were white cartridge paper and a pencil, with a simple line drawing technique. If I had to draw another portrait of myself, I would love to explore other ways of drawing such as blocking, shading, contouring or using colour. I researched and looked at drawings online of other people’s work and I love the look of portraits that use shading techniques, particularly when highlight people’s facial features like high cheekbones or big eyes. I wasn’t confident enough to try that for my own portrait for my first go, so I stuck with a more straightforward technique!

Step 2: Take photos and explore different Apps for manipulating the image

To complete this step, I used the ‘My Sketch’ app. I decided to use this app as I found some of the other apps such as Snapseed difficult to work with or some others required payments or to sign up.

The effect I chose was called “pastel”. I chose it as I liked the rainbow colouring and I liked how it looks like pencil or drawing outlines and I thought that was fitting, as the book cover is about art creativity. I decided to make my face/the middle of the image less prominent, to portray my reluctance and hesitancy about art.

Step 3: Complete a river reflection and explore ideas of my arts/creative journey

After completing the river journey as a reflective tool, explored the key ideas of my arts/creative journey and brainstormed some ideas/words to use in my six-word novel. The words I decided to use relate to and describe my journey, beginning in primary school and ending in working in a primary school! The words are:

Enjoyable, willing to have a go…carefree

Reluctant, nervous, fear of failure, weary, preoccupied, disinterested

Re-engaged, re-immersed, full-circle, have a go

I think the main idea underpinning the words would be “full-circle” or learning to just “have a go” when completing art or creative tasks.

Step 4: Create a ‘six-word novel’ cover

I used software Canva to create my book cover!