Digital Technology in Physical Education

Global Perspectives

Jeroen Koekoek, Ivo van Hilvoorde, Jeroen Koekoek, Ivo van Hilvoorde

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781351336963
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Pedagogía
• Subtopic: Educación física

The rapid development of digital technologies has opened up new possibilities for how Physical Education is taught. This book offers a comprehensive, practice-oriented and critical exploration of the actual and potential applications of digital technologies in PE. It considers the opportunities that are offered by new technologies and how they may be best implemented to enhance the learning process.

Including contributions from the US, UK, Europe, Canada and New Zealand, this international collection reflects on how digital innovations are shaping PE pedagogy in theory and practice across the globe. Its chapters identify core pedagogical principles – rather than simply discussing passing digital fads – and offer practical narratives, case studies and reflections on how PE practitioners can introduce technology into teaching and learning through the use of social media, video gaming, virtual reality simulation, iPads and Wiki platforms.

Digital Technology in Physical Education: Global Perspectives is a valuable resource for students, researchers and practitioners of PE looking to integrate digital technology into their work in a way that does justice to the complexity of teaching and learning.

Chapter 1

Next generation PE

Thoughtful integration of digital technologies

Ivo van Hilvoorde and Jeroen Koekoek

Many physical educators and youth sport coaches are eager to incorporate digital technology in their teaching practice. This motivation to innovate can be seen as a consequence of digital technology’s huge impact on how people nowadays experience games and sports. The use of smart phones, tablets, video feedback and serious games influence how children come into contact with sport, how they acquire movement skills and how they evaluate their movement skills on video recordings. The rapid development of digital technologies expands the prospects and promises for its application within the context of PE and sports. Physical educators are becoming increasingly interested in technology, but often remain inadequately equipped to effectively integrate these technological resources in their daily practice or lack the practical knowledge about the potential of these digital tools.

There are critical voices on the use of digital tools in physical education that need to be taken seriously (e.g. Gard, 2014; Lupton, 2015; Pluim & Gard, 2016). Gard (2014) critically discusses how digital technology may contribute to the “worldwide trend towards measurability, accountability, performativity and standardization” (p. 833) and how questions of pedagogical process and effectiveness may soon struggle for relevance in the digital future of PE (p. 827). Furthermore, the increasing growth and progress of new technologies in physical education contexts may limit the time that is available to reflect on implementation routes. There are also claims that digital technology is part of the problem (of obesity for example) instead of a tool to enhance the quality of PE. Most professionals will be familiar with the general discourse on obesity, sedentary behavior and the negative role that digital technology can play on sport participation or on education in general. However, the authors of this book are not primarily interested in the potential negative impact that digital technology may have on our health or sport participation. Instead, with this book we aim to illuminate the positive potential (in terms of motivation and motor learning for example) of digital innovations in PE (e.g. Casey, Goodyear, & Armour, 2017).

The central foci of this book are the pedagogical implications of incorporating technology in PE. Especially, we are interested in the question how technology is reshaping the context and content of educational practices, and how we can use new tools to reach the goals, that remain crucial for the PE context. Digital technologies are increasingly used and integrated within the context of PE. It is often claimed, not only through physical educators themselves, that the kind of technological innovation that we are dealing with at the moment, is revolutionary. In order to better understand the dynamics and revolutionary character of this process of integrating digital technology in our daily behavior, we think it is also crucial to include a historical perspective. Such a perspective tells us that we have always, since the early days of institutionalized education, been struggling with the integration of new technologies.

This history also teaches us that earlier innovations, such as the introduction of TV in the classroom, were more or less top-down initiatives. This meant that technology and innovation often dominated or overruled the traditional didactical structure of a lesson without taking the pedagogical aims into account. According to Cuban: “Claims predicting extraordinary changes in teacher practice and student learning, mixed with promotional tactics, dominated the literature in the initial wave of enthusiasm for each new technology. Seldom were these innovations initiated by teachers” (Cuban, 1986). Within the context of PE, we are witnessing pioneering activities by teachers worldwide. Although in many cases this seems to be developments initiated by professionals themselves, we have to remain critical regarding each new kind of innovation.

One clear example of these worldwide initiatives is the incorporation of video images in PE. The central idea behind the current use of images in PE is not revolutionary. One of the first scientific articles on the use of images in schools is written in 1924, in the British Journal of Psychology, with the title “The didactic value of lantern slides and films” (Révész & Hazewinkel, 1924). Already in 1924, the authors state that images can be most valuable when movements, vision and imitation are central elements of the educational context. This insight is still crucial for our perspective today, since images and imitation remain central elements of learning within PE. Teaching physical education implies that the learning processes and learning objectives are directly visible, for both peers and teachers. This visibility and transparency is a crucial aspect of creating a rich learning context, and can be used or adapted for several pedagogical and didactical reasons.

Without a doubt, the process of integrating technology in education is being stimulated by the omnipresence of technology in our everyday existence. What is new in our digital age is the pervasiveness. Digital technology permeates our entire being and merges with all our daily activities. Digital technology is changing our behavior in many ways, including our motor skills. Virtual spaces open up new worlds. Digital literacy is a necessary condition in order to become a full member of most societies. At the same time, it creates new types of inequalities. “Digital illiteracy” is not merely a matter of not being interested in technology. It becomes an urgent societal issue, related to injustice and unequal distribution of resources and opportunities (Hendrix, 2005).

Digital technology is not just a freely chosen extension of our human capabilities or desires. It is not just about introducing the tablet or mobile phone (with their opportunities of making images and videos) into the PE classroom. It becomes urgent to understand the way we select from all the information and digital technologies, without losing our main pedagogical and educational goals out of sight. In other words, physical educators, scholars and policy-makers increasingly face the challenge and need to create a digital pedagogy for physical education.

PE teachers who want to develop a digital pedagogy for PE classes often rely on their pedagogical content knowledge. The TPACK model (see Figure 1.1) is a framework that can be used to illustrate some of the main challenges that are characteristic for digital innovation in PE (Mishra & Koehler, 2006). Shulman (1986) defined “pedagogical content knowledge” (PCK) as the knowledge that deals with the teaching process, including “the ways of representing and formulating the subject that make it comprehensible to others” (p. 9). It represents the blending of content and pedagogy into an understanding of how particular topics, problems, or issues are organized, represented and adapted to the diverse interests and abilities of learners, and presented for instruction (Shulman, 1986, p. 8). With the concept of PCK, Shulman stressed the importance of integrating pedagogical knowledge with content knowledge. “At the heart of PCK is the manner in which subject matter is transformed for teaching. This occurs when the teacher interprets the subject matter and finds different ways to represent it and make it accessible to learners.” (Mishra & Koehler, 2006, p. 1021).

Figure 1.1The TPACK model as framework. Reproduced with permission of the publisher, © 2012 by tpack.org.

Mishra and Koehler extended the work of Shulman and included technology in the model, to stress the importance of technology in modern education. TPACK draws our attention to the question how technology is used in education, instead of just looking at the technology itself. The framework offers an analytic and conceptual lens that helps to focus on specific developments of teacher knowledge, on new technologies and the integration of that knowledge in an educational context.

When trying to integrate technology in PE, physical educators also need to have Technological Knowledge (TK). For PE relevant TK could be knowledge on apps that are available, on the hardware that can be used, skills how to get a wireless connection between a tablet, external camera and TV screen, how to display video images to a large screen or how to tag important moments. These skills are crucial, for example, for teaching and practicing tactical skills.

PE teachers could ask themselves the question what kind of apps and other technologies children could use best in an educational context. But more than knowing how the technology works, the model stresses the argument that integrating those knowledge areas requires new skills. TPACK draws our attention to the importance of understanding the technology before being able to integrate this knowledge with the content we want to deliver in a specific context, with specific pedagogical and didactical aims. The framework “emphasizes the connections, interactions, affordances, and constraints between and among content, pedagogy, and technology” (Mishra & Koehler, 2006, p. 1025). Technological Content Knowledge (TCK) draws our attention to the question how technology and content are related. “Teachers need to know not just the subject matter they teach but also the manner in which the subject matter can be changed by the application of technology” (ibid., p. 1028). “In this model, knowledge about content (C), pedagogy (P), and technology (T) is central for developing good teaching. However, rather than treating these domains as separate bodies of knowledge, this model additionally emphasizes the complex interplay of these three bodies of knowledge” (ibid., p. 1025).

The three circles of knowledge lead to three pairs of related knowledge (PCK, TCK, TPK) and one new triad (TPACK). “Technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK) is an emergent form of knowledge that goes beyond all three components (content, pedagogy, and technology)” (ibid., p. 1028). Since the recent, extensive growth of digital technology (Digitech), there is relatively little attention for the consequences and mechanisms of this triad for developing new PE pedagogies. The integration of technology into the teachers’ domain of pedagogical knowhow creates new thresholds and raises new questions.

The complexity of integrating technology can easily be ignored, by using the relatively uncontroversial cases, where the content is still leading and technology is serving the content. For example, social media offer many opportunities to ingrate sport related content with digital technology, without the complexity of immediately understanding how we should pedagogically adapt the technology to the specific pedagogical content. In a Sport Education project, the teacher wants to address the cultural significance of traditional games. The digital delivery of content, for example by using You Tube to actually show these traditional cultural games, would be a valuable contribution to the understanding of the content. The leading question here is rather straightforward, namely how and in what sense is the technology changing the content that is being taught.

The challenge remains, however, to select the most suitable images, tailored to the skills and motivation of the students. Stories of successful uses of videos on the internet can be inspiring, but may also obscure the more complex pedagogical issues involved. YouTube has become a powerful and sometimes successful instrument for self-regulation, as can be illustrated by the Kenyan javelin thrower Julius Yego, nicknamed “Mr. YouTube,” who learned how to throw by watching YouTube videos, becoming World Champion and silver medal winner at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. It becomes more complex when the digitalized content is clearly affecting the pedagogical and the teaching context itself. For example, when developing digital instruction cards for assigned learning tasks, we not only need the technological knowledge to develop, but also the skills to adapt the content to the new opportunities this digital instruction offers for teaching. In a teaching context it is crucial to know how children can learn skills displayed on a tablet pc screen in groups without the presence or support of the teacher. We need to know what kind of skills are required for the teacher and how the learning environment should be arranged where the children learn these kind of skills.

Merging technology with pedagogy

When technology is interrupting the processes of teaching and assessing, there is a necessity to reflect on the integration of Technological and Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK). TPK “is knowledge of the existence, components, and capabilities of various technologies as they are used in teaching and learning settings, and conversely, knowing how teaching might change as the result of using particular technologies” (ibid., p. 1028). The following example illustrates this merging of technology with pedagogical knowledge.

Many teachers want to make video images that are directly available in the learning process. Therefore, digital tagging seems to be a promising and valuable teaching methodology (Koekoek, Van der Mars, Van der Kamp, Walinga, & Van Hilvoorde, 2018). Using tablets for tagging situations in PE is less complex compared with the use of a video camera and computer. Less effort is needed for teachers to make these clips available for children due to the relatively simple editing process. More important now is the question, how to create the right tag panel, that suits the capabilities of the child and/or the educational goals of the teacher.

Teachers determine the kind of images they want to select and tag. But after the tagging process, they also need to consider which images could be useful for the learning stage of the children. Through the many software applications that are available for digital tagging, teachers can do more than just apply the technologies that are developed elsewhere. With the developing TPK, they can also become knowledgeable on the adequacy of the technology itself. TPK not only implies that technologies are pedagogically adapted to the specific context. It also means that the technology should be critically valued from a pedagogical point of view, also before it is used.

Once video images are brought into the context of a PE lesson, teachers may deal with another broad and complex issue, namely the digital assessment of children. New technologies can have a huge and immediate impact on assessment, but there are still many unanswered questions. For example, how can digital technologies be used for the assessment, recording and monitoring of children’s movement competence within PE? How can new technologies be used to longitudinally monitor the development of motor abilities of children? What data are needed for assessment tools? The educational system in many countries often requires that children’s cognitive and physical competences are monitored by generating clear and verifiable data. These data may inform the teachers about the progress or insights in (motor) skill levels of children. At the same time, these professionals may also seek for those technological innovations that meet a high level of user-friendliness. For an early adopter of the most sophisticated technology, there is always a risk for PE when not taking into account the appropriateness of...