The Seven Objections You Will Hear About PE Software, With Honest Answers

A Method for Any Objection

Objections are information. Each one tells you what the department cares about and what stands between them and a decision. Four steps handle nearly all of them:

1. Listen to the end. Let the person finish, then repeat the concern back in one sentence.
2. Clarify. Ask one question that makes the concern specific, such as "Which students worry you most?"
3. Answer with a published fact. Give the one fact that addresses the concern, with a link to the page where it appears.
4. Hand off when the question goes deeper. Technical, legal and accessibility questions go to eFit, with a promise from you to follow up.

Objection 1: "Our Students Already Pay Too Much"

Start by agreeing that student cost matters. Many departments review the total cost of materials for every course, and a chair who protects students deserves respect for it.

Then give the facts. Faculty accounts are free. Students pay $59 per student, per semester, and that covers the whole course platform: automated activity grading, the course eBook with twelve interactive 3D labs, eight course modules with narrated summary videos, pre and post fitness assessments, the PocketAI Journal, the Walking Journey and an Activity Tracker completion certificate. Ask the chair what students currently pay for materials in the same course, and let them make the comparison.

Finally, explain the three purchase channels. Students can buy direct from eFit. The campus bookstore can sell access codes alongside other course materials. Or the institution or department can buy in bulk, with a quote prepared per institution, which moves the cost off students entirely. Offer to connect the chair with eFit for a bulk quote if central funding is a possibility.

Objection 2: "What About Student Privacy and FERPA?"

This is the most important objection to answer well, and the answer has two parts.

The first part is about you. Associates never see, request or handle student records. Your role ends at introductions, demos and relationships. Say so plainly, because departments are right to ask who will touch their students' information.

The second part is about eFit. Privacy and FERPA questions deserve a direct, written answer from the company that holds the data. Point the department to eFit's privacy policy and security page, share eFit's guide to FERPA for PE technology, and offer to connect the department with eFit for anything more specific. Then follow up to confirm they got what they needed.

Resist the urge to summarize eFit's data practices in your own words beyond what those pages say. A precise handoff protects the department, eFit and you.

Objection 3: "We Already Use a Spreadsheet"

Respect the spreadsheet. Someone built it, it works, and it probably represents years of careful effort. Your clarifying question is: "How does each student's activity get into it?"

The usual answers are self-reported logs, screenshots from fitness apps or weekly forms. Each of those asks the instructor to collect, check and type in data for every student, every week. eFit reads steps and eFit Minutes from students' phones and trackers and grades activity automatically, then exports grades as a CSV file for the campus gradebook. The spreadsheet's job becomes unnecessary, and the instructor keeps full control of the course.

The spreadsheet also holds only numbers. eFit adds full course materials alongside the grading: the 3D labs, the narrated module videos, pre and post fitness assessments and the PocketAI Journal. Offer a demo so the instructor can compare the two workflows side by side.

Objection 4: "Some of Our Students Have No Fitness Tracker"

This objection has the simplest answer: a tracker is optional. eFit supports phone-only tracking through Google Health on Android and Apple Health on iPhone, so the phone a student already carries is enough. Students who own a tracker can use it, and any tracker that syncs to Google Health works, including Fitbit, Apple Watch, Garmin and Samsung devices.

If the department raises students without a compatible phone, ask how they handle device access for other course requirements today, and bring the question to eFit. Our blog post on choosing a fitness tracker for a PE course is a useful reference for instructors.

Objection 5: "Will It Work With Our LMS?"

Be exact here, because this is where overclaiming happens most. eFit exports grades as a CSV file that imports into D2L, Canvas, Blackboard and Moodle gradebooks. The instructor downloads the file from eFit and imports it into the gradebook when grades are due.

Describe that process in those words and show it in the demo. If the department asks about deeper connections, write the question down and pass it to eFit. The LMS page describes the export.

Objection 6: "Our Faculty Have No Time to Learn Something New"

Faculty time is scarce, especially for part-time instructors teaching across several campuses. Avoid promising a number of hours saved. Describe the workflow and let the instructor judge it.

The instructor creates a free faculty account, sets up the course, and students connect their phones or trackers. From then on, eFit grades activity automatically from steps and eFit Minutes, and at the end of a grading period the instructor exports a CSV file to the gradebook. The course materials, including the eBook, modules and assessments, are already built.

For multi-section courses, the coordinator is your ally. A coordinator who sets up the common course once gives every part-time instructor the same starting point. The twenty-minute demo described in our demo walkthrough is built to answer this objection.

Objection 7: "Is It Accessible for All Our Students?"

Accessibility questions come in two forms. Some are about the software itself, such as screen reader support or conformance with a standard. Others are about students, such as a student whose disability affects how they move.

For both, the honest answer is a careful handoff. Listen to the specific need, write it down in the department's own words, and bring it to eFit for a direct answer. Point the department to eFit's accessibility page in the meantime. You can also note that activity grading draws on both steps and eFit Minutes, and that the instructor's syllabus and the campus accommodation process continue to govern individual accommodations.

Conformance answers come from eFit directly, and "I will get you a direct answer from eFit" is always the right reply.

All Seven on One Page

Frequently Asked Questions About Objections

How should an associate answer a FERPA question about eFit?

Acknowledge that it is the right question, confirm that associates never see or handle student records, and hand the question to eFit, which answers privacy and FERPA questions directly. Point the department to eFit's privacy and security pages in the meantime.

What if students cannot afford another course cost?

Treat the concern as legitimate. Faculty accounts are free and students pay $59 per student, per semester. The department can list eFit through the bookstore alongside other course materials, or cover it centrally through an institution bulk purchase quoted per institution.

Do students need a fitness tracker to use eFit?

No tracker is required. A phone is enough: eFit reads activity from Google Health on Android and Apple Health on iPhone. Students who own a tracker that syncs to Google Health, such as a Fitbit, Apple Watch, Garmin or Samsung device, can use it.

Does eFit connect to Canvas or other learning management systems?

eFit exports grades as a CSV file that imports into D2L, Canvas, Blackboard and Moodle gradebooks. Describe it exactly that way.

How should an associate answer an accessibility question?

Listen to the specific need, write it down, and bring it to eFit for a direct answer. Point the department to eFit's accessibility page. Conformance answers come from eFit directly.