Exploring physical education teachers' willingness and barriers to integrating digital technology in their lessons

Abstract

The use of digital technologies to support learning in physical education (PE) has grown in recent years. However, little is known about what teachers think when PE meets technology in the digital era. The purpose of this descriptive study was to use a carefully constructed, face-validated, and pilot-tested web survey to identify PE teachers’ willingness and barriers to integrating digital technology in their lessons. A total of 265 PE teachers returned completed surveys. The results showed a widespread interest in the use of digital technology in the school context, as well as in promoting the transfer of learning to the out-of-school context. Also, PE teachers expressed some reasons for interest in its use related to (a) learning and assessment, (b) physical activity, (c) teaching support, (d) communication with families and (e) teamwork among students inside and outside the class. In contrast to these interests and attitudes, teachers identified five major barriers that might be limiting the introduction of digital technology in PE: (a) not having sufficient access to technological resources, (b) not having received the necessary training to use it effectively, (c) lack of institutional support, (d) lack of time to effectively introduce it and (f) students’ data privacy. The findings of this study suggest the implementation of measures that can address the identified barriers to facilitate the incorporation of digital technology in PE. Understanding teachers' perceptions regarding the delivery of digital technology in schools may help guide future research and policy to support digital technology in PE lessons.