YOGA POSES LEARNING

LEARNING CORRECT YOGA POSES

Educational technology, as a field, has changed drastically since the first definition of the term was created in the early 1960’s. The field of educational technology has grown from being defined as a way of controlling learning to the most recent definition of the term which defines it as a “study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technology processes and resources. (Molenda, Robinson, 2004) While studies in early educational technology were mainly focused on learning that happened inside physical classrooms, the advent of distance learning enabled technology to aid in learning almost any topic from anywhere. It has also allowed for education to reach places and people who were not previously reached by traditional education. Multimedia modules allow for this learning to be easily created, modified, and distributed for interactive self-paced learning. This review of literature attempts to summarize current findings related to the potential for an online module in the self-paced learning of psychomotor skills, especially Yoga. Comfort level with technology, cost, motivation, and the challenges of teaching psychomotor skills to adult learners delivered with a multimedia module are evaluated as well.

Yoga and Injuries

 The concept of Yoga has changed from being a path to spiritual enlightenment to more of an aerobic activity since it’s arrival from India to the United States in the early 1970’s. (Douglass, 2007) In the East, a student would have a private lesson with a Yogi, which could last for many hours per day. However in the West, students will most likely attend a 1-2 hour Yoga class lead by a single instructor a few times a week or practice at home with the aid of videotape. While videotapes have the benefit of being convenient, they lack the feedback necessary for any new participant to evaluate whether or not they are performing the poses properly. (Benjamin, 2008) Practicing in large groups can be a cost effective way to obtain a Yoga workout, but with this comes drawbacks. The ratio of students to teachers is often too high to get personal attention and there is very little time for explanation of the individual poses and the associated risks when the pose is done incorrectly. When done properly these poses can have many health benefits, but when they are done incorrectly they can lead to pain and long-term injuries. (Lamb, 2006)  When a student is unsure of what they are doing or do not know the goal of performing Yoga, they can attempt to force themselves into positions that can actually do more harm than good. (Deas, 2005)

There are also safer alternative poses that can be performed in the event the participant has disabilities or other injuries. If a participant attempts a commonly taught pose before they are ready or they are not capable of doing properly, injuries can occur.  For example, sitting cross-legged instead of performing full Lotus pose takes pressure off of the knee joints and can assist in the prevention of potential injury. If done incorrectly or before the participant is ready, performing Lotus can damage the knees. In addition to alternate poses, there are also training exercises, such as doing wrist curls to prepare for supporting ones body weight on their wrists for poses like Downward Facing Dog, that can be done independently. (Guthrie, 2005) These tips and alternatives are not often explained in classes due to the lack of time and to maintain the flow of the class during instruction.  Classes are also taught to participants with varying skill levels, making it difficult to ensure the class is moving at the right pace for all of the participants.

Benefits of Exercise and Yoga

Daily exercise has been shown to help aid in weight control, stronger bones, lower blood pressure, and improved heart function. (Ward, 2006) In addition to providing these health benefits, when done correctly Yoga can provide many rehabilitative benefits. Yoga has been found to be effective in treating chronic back pain. Practicing Yoga over a 6-month period showed back-related function improved and less pain in patients who had previously had chronic back pain. (Sherman, Erro, etal, 2007) Practiced regularly over a period of time, Yoga has also been found to be helpful for people suffering from other serious medical conditions such as scoliosis, asthma, carpal tunnel syndrome, and multiple sclerosis. (Guthrie, 2005) While Yoga is not a substitute for conventional care it can provide tremendous benefits to people with debilitating diseases when practiced in addition to a doctors treatment plan. It is important to note that Yoga is not a quick fix and must be practiced regularly over a period of time to realize the benefits. (Guthrie, 2005)

Technology Introduction into Psychomotor Skills

            Psychomotor skills are activities that you perform, such as tying your shoelaces or riding a bicycle. Typically these skills are taught by doing the task repeatedly until it is perfected. Psychomotor skills are not typically associated with technology mediated learning. Epstein, Beecher, Graf, and Roemmich (2007) maintain that when attempting to introduce technology into something that is not traditionally taught with the aid of technology it is important to note participants’ comfort and knowledge level of using devices such as computers and video. Benson and Mekolichick (2005) found that people who do not identify as technology users, tend to shy away from its use for either personal or professional uses. 

One reason that people might not be familiar or comfortable using technology is because they cannot afford it. Atkinson, Billing, Desmond, Gold & Tournas-Hardt (2007) maintain that technology would be useful in educating a low-income population about the benefits of good nutrition and exercise. The low-income women who participated in this study indicated that they would like to have access to the Internet to help them make better nutrition and exercise decisions if it was affordable. Cost not only plays an important role in access to technology, but also plays an extremely important role in determining whether people get the proper guidance when they embark on learning a new skill.  According to a website that lists information for average Yoga class costs, a typical group class can run from $12.00-$16.00 for a 1 -2 hour class. (Yoga Classes Cost, 2007) With the cost of classes being unaffordable for some, students may opt for a less expensive method of instruction such as videos; or stop practicing altogether losing the physical, psychological, and intrinsic value associated with daily exercise.

Motivation in Physical Exercise

            Whether people choose to exercise, and continue to make exercise a part of their daily lives ultimately depends on the motivation of the subject themselves. Betker, Desai., Nett, Cristabel. Kapadia, & Szturm (2007) found that even when an exercise was presented to a person that can aid in the recovery after a serious injury; people will not necessarily follow through with doing the exercise correctly if they think of it as just a tedious task. People are much more likely to continue to do exercises that are challenging to them and are intrinsically motivated to do them. This is consistent with Epstein et. al. (2007) findings that people are more likely to participate in activities that, even while beneficial for them, are not perceived as exercise. Current research, however, has found that motivation is very difficult to understand and even more difficult to measure reliably. Ploncynski (2000) found in his research consisting of twenty-two published studies on exercise motivation that “a lack of accurate measurement has been identified as limiting the progress in the field of exercise research.”

Technology use in Psychomotor Skill Education

        There has been a good deal of research showing that technology can be a positive aid in the learning process of exercise and other psychomotor skills. Gallaway and Lauzon (2006) found that video games, such as Dance Dance Revolution were extremely helpful in getting sedentary children to perform physical activity. The game, also used in research by Epstein et al. (2007) was found to be more effective than a stationary bicycle for getting children to exercise. These findings show the importance for the experience of exercising to be engaging in order for people to want to continue participation. A research study conducted by Salyers (2007) found that nursing students taking courses that taught psychomotor skills delivered on a web based system outperformed the students that did not have access to the web based tool. The study found the web based system to be more engaging and the participants found the material to be more interesting when presented in an online multimedia format. These participants were also better able to transfer the skills learned in the modules to real life situations better than students who were taught by the traditional lecture format.

            Another study showing participants videotaped introductions to new exercises versus still images of the same exercises showed that the participants’ motivation and retention period and enjoyment was greater when the participant watched videos compared to the images.  Using a dynamic model was found to be more effective than a static model when participants were asked which method would motivate them to perform these exercises on their own. (Weeks, Brubaker et al., 2002)