BATESVILLE — A video of students playing Jitterbug at West Magnet Elementary School of Visual and Performing Arts has gone viral with more than 90,000 likes, 41.2 million views and hundreds of shares.
The plethora of responses has engaged the students globally and taught them the phenomenal impact about a simple Facebook post can produce.
PE teacher Laura Keller, who shares physical education duties at West Magnet with TJ Stroud, said the game was first posted on PE Central, a site for teachers of physical education. Jitterbug is like dodge ball, but rather than students throwing a ball at each other, they throw a ball at virtual bugs that appear on the wall from a projector.
“It’s an app called Jitterbug by Friskie that’s actually for cats,” she said. “I project it from my iPhone using an Apple TV connected to the projector. You control when the bugs disappear by tapping on the phone, but the kids don’t have to know that. They love playing the game.”
Keller and Stroud teach kindergartners through sixth-graders, a total of 515 students, Keller said.
The Jitterbug game is ideal, Keller said, because it initiates physical activity while enhancing hand-eye coordination and proper techniques and encourages teamwork.
“The use of technology is a plus because it shows that technology can be utilized and implemented in any classroom setting,” she said.
Recording the game on video was meant to create evidence of specific teaching goals and a means of reflection, Keller said, which is done as part of Arkansas’ Teacher Excellence and Support System.
“The students showed extreme engagement with the activity, and I instinctively recorded a few seconds of their 40-minute class time,” Keller said. “Each PE block begins with stretching and a warm-up, and then progresses into an activity with a specific goal. I also manage the West Elementary Facebook page and uploaded the video so parents and others in the community can see a glimpse into our classroom. With that one simple step, the video went viral.”
Not only has the video gone viral, but the West Magnet Elementary Facebook page has gone from 500 followers — mostly parents and family of students — to more than 63,000 followers from around the world.
The response hasn’t stopped there. More people are commenting on the page, and people from the opposite side of the world are involved in West Magnet’s students’ learning and sharing.
“It has also given our students a real world example of how a simple post can have a reach all around the world,” Keller said. “One post and one share can multiply exponentially. With the viral post, we have been able to discuss internet safety and posting responsibilities.”
Keller noted that company LUMO PLAY viewed the video and began developing a game that features objects that actually respond when hit by a ball.
“LUMO PLAY has allowed West Magnet to download the game to use. We are in the process of discovering and obtaining the equipment that will allow the game to function properly.”
The school’s library media specialist, Ashley Cooksey, has created a temporary game using Google Slides, Keller added.
“The slides include automated flashes and looping from one slide to the next to create the game. This has been developed for use in our baseball/softball unit for older students,” she said.
“Parents and faculty members at West have all responded positively to the viral post,” Keller said. “Amazement about the overwhelming response to such a simple 17-second video is the most popular response. With Google Hangouts, Skype Classroom and Virtual Field Trips, our students are very much part of a global learning environment.
“We can’t be more thrilled for our students being able to share and learn from people worldwide. The students have enjoyed being part of such a large-scale phenomenon.”