Hop.Skip.Jump.Games: The effect of “principled” exergameplay on children's locomotor skill acquisition

Abstract Sedentary past‐times such as video gameplay are cited as having a negative effect on children's Fundamental Motor Skills (FMS) acquisition. Conversely, “exergames” utilise 3D sensor control systems (eg, Kinect ® ) to offer full body interactive user experiences in which FMS outputs are often part of the game “play” experience. This study evaluated the impact that participation in (1) commercial exergames and, (2) purpose‐built exergames had on user locomotor skill outcomes (run, hop, skip, jump and slide) when both sets of games were deployed with a “principled” human‐in‐the‐loop personalisation process. Typically developing children aged between 5 and 6 years were divided into two groups; a control group ( n = 20; 45% girls) exposed to commercial exergames and, an experimental group ( n = 20; 50% girls) exposed to purpose‐built exergames. Gameplay was delivered daily, in the classroom, over a period of 8 weeks. The Test of Gross Motor Development‐2 was utilised to assess children's locomotor skills at three time points (pre, interim and posttest). A mixed analysis of variance with repeated measures on time was conducted to evaluate results of the experimental group in comparison to the control group. A significant interaction effect was observed relating to Time × Group. Pairwise comparisons with a Bonferroni adjustment demonstrated that the experimental group made significant improvements for each locomotor skill (run, hop, skip, jump and slide) from pretest to posttest while the control group made significant improvements in only one locomotor skill (the slide) over the same timeframe. Results indicate that principled design and deployment of purpose‐built exergames support high quality locomotor outputs and, improved outcomes over time. Practitioner Notes What is already known about this topic A majority of modern children do not possess proficient locomotor skills and cannot hop, skip or even run properly Teachers typically target motor skills in the Physical Education setting but these skills require regular personalised practice to improve performance 3D sensor controlled exergames provide a potential platform to target locomotor skill acquisition in the classroom, but currently lack the necessary design principles to improve user locomotor skill outcomes What this paper adds A suite of “principled” exergames with adaptable features to target locomotor skills in the classroom A human‐in‐the‐loop deployment process that empowers the teacher to be a crucial component of the learning experience Empirical evidence to support the effectiveness of purpose‐built exergames for locomotor skill acquisition purposes in the classroom Implications for practice and/or policy Educators can work with a gaming system to effectively deploy “short bouts” of 3D sensor exergameplay in the classroom and facilitate significantly improved locomotor skills in children. Design and development of educational technology could consider the teacher as a valuable “human intelligent system” capable of making decisions about the user and user experience that the system cannot. This could potentially transform effectiveness of educational technologies from both the teacher and learner perspective.