Primary School Pupils' Perceptions and Experiences of Wearable Technologies.
Georgina K Wort, Gareth Wiltshire, Simon Sebire and 2 others
PMID 39502018WHAT IT FOUND
Some pupils said activity trackers could motivate them, but others reported skin irritation, broken straps, distraction and shame when steps were compared.
They preferred individual teacher feedback over public class comparisons.
Key findings
01Pupils described practical problems with personal wearable devices, including forgetting to charge them, skin irritation, broken straps and cost.
02Goal setting and feedback were seen as motivating by some pupils, while others disliked being measured or felt ashamed when step counts were low.
03Pupils were concerned that sharing activity data with the whole class could embarrass children with lower step counts, and some preferred teachers to give feedback individually.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study included only 41 pupils who consented, and one withdrew, from five schools in the South-West of England, so it cannot represent all school children. Pupils self-rated their activity as 8 out of 10 on average, with scores from 5 to 10, suggesting the sample saw itself as more active than average. The schools had fewer pupils eligible for free school meals than the UK average of 22.5 in 2022, and lacked representation from marginalized communities and children with disabilities. Pupils knew the researcher was interested in physical activity, and they were in groups, so answers may have been shaped by wanting to look active or by group norms.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The work was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read pupils' reported motivation as evidence that wearable devices increase physical activity. The study described perceptions and experiences; it did not test whether devices changed activity levels.