Implementing new technologies in PE : The arduous path of a group of teachers

Nowadays, adolescents are totally integrated into the digital generation. Tablets, smartphones, and other apps belong to their normal life while most of their teachers sometimes try yet to discover what a computer is. In physical education, several authors showed that new tools can be used during practical lessons in a way to improve the learning environment and motivation of the students. As the videotape recorder in the past, current technologies represent resources that have to be adapted to the teaching strategies and not considered as miraculous tools that will solve all problems. On the other hand, one has to consider that youth are particularly attracted by digital tools that offers a growing range of possibilities to stimulate students’ critical thinking, autonomy, and involvement. This study aimed to help a group of PE teachers to use new technologies in their classes.

Considering that his colleagues and he (grades 10-12) were not effective in using new technologies, one PE teacher from a secondary school invited us to propose a series of activities in order to let them identifying a way to take benefit from available ICTs. An interactive process has been implemented in order to put the teachers in the center of their development. A four steps approach was designed: (1) identification of the perceived benefits of ICTs and of the available tools, selection of one objective and one tool (4 teachers/5); (2) organization of a focus group to identify a practical way to use the selected tool (2/3); (3) preparation of a model lesson (3/3); follow up after 6 months (3/3).

For several reasons, even if interesting projects of lessons were developed, they did not have been implemented. The study underlines the difficulties that PE teachers can meet when trying to innovate.