Minneapolis scores with online physical education course.

When she was first asked to create an online physical education class, Jan Braaten laughed. I thought it was a ridiculous idea, says the head of health and physical education for Minneapolis Public Schools. The district wanted to offer an alternative for students having trouble fitting gym into their schedules and for kids who were uncomfortable with traditional gym class due to health issues like asthma or obesity.

Since Braaten had already designed an online health course, she thought she'd step up to the plate. The biggest obstacle was that 60 percent of a student's grade is based on physical activity. How do you replicate that online? So Braaten collaborated with the district's top curriculum writers to see what they could devise.

"We've been spinning physical education away from sports to a fitness and wellness model," says Braaten. To that end, the course is called "Fitness for Life" and requires three 30-minute workouts per week. Students can select any activity as long as they measure their heart rate, study the activity's health benefits and keep an online journal. To ensure that no one cheats, a parent or coach must sign off on the workouts and students must show improvement on the fitness test they take at the end of the semester.

So far, the course is a success. There's a huge waiting list because the online department has not had time to train additional teachers. Renee Jesness, online learning coordinator for the district, is pleased with how it's working out. "We've had the highest success rate of students completing this course," she says. In their exit interviews, students say that the self-monitoring and ability to know where to find the knowledge about fitness is crucial, says Jesness.

Next up? Braaten's team hopes to put this program into a package and sell the framework to other districts. www.mpls.k12.mn.us