Information and communication technologies in physical education: Exploring the association between role modeling and digital literacy

Teacher educators should serve as role models in terms of information and communication technologies (ICTs) use to promote digital literacy of future teachers. To analyze the association between role modeling by teacher educators and preservice teachers’ digital literacy and ICT integration intention in their classrooms, 185 physical education (PE) preservice teachers in the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg completed an online questionnaire of self-assessed technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK) and ICT integration. The results of regression models revealed a positive association between content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge (PK) and overall intent to integrate ICT into teaching. The results further indicated that the impact of role modeling on preservice teachers varies depending on the chosen ICT. In this paper, we discuss the implications of these findings for higher education in general and for PE in particular.