Context

The use of big data and new technologies in sports and training settings is well established. However, the digital transformation has been slow to arrive in educational settings like schools and universities of teacher education. For example, compared to other school subjects, physical education is the subject in which digital tools are least used. More recently, the Covid pandemic led to increased digitalization efforts, which are supported by numerous educational and digitalization initiatives in the cantons. In this context, digitalisation efforts in physical education teaching were mostly limited to using video analysis tools to conduct qualitative assessments of movement sequences; or to using remote learning technologies in an effort to shift to distance learning and establish hybrid, higher education teaching-learning environments.

School and university approaches to physical education will have to undergo significant reforms in the coming years if they want to continue to fulfil their social mission: to prepare children, adolescents and young adults for a rapidly changing sports world. Innovations in sports education are therefore urgently needed. The interplay between educational technologies (EdTech) and sport technologies (SportTech) offers great economic and educational potential to develop new tools and create new learning environments that will improve the learning and teaching processes of students and teachers, as well as the training and coaching processes of trainers and exercise instructors.

Based on these observations, the main questions of the challenge are:

  • How can modern sports use digital opportunities for learning and teaching in Physical Education (PE) and sports?
    • How can XR technologies (VR, AR) be used successfully for teacher training and sports coach education? What’s the additional value of building immersive or complex learning environments in teacher education or in sports coach education?
    • How can we successfully and efficiently use digital tools to analyse, document and report the learning progress of students and athletes (e-portfolios etc.)?
    • How can performance and learning progress in sports be measured efficiently, reliably and cost-effectively with the help of digital testing tools?

 

Theme Leader
St.Gallen University of Teacher Education