Preservice Physical Education Teachers’ Digital Literacy

Introduction and theoretical framework
Teachers play a central role in the process of digitalizing education (Wohlfart & Wagner, 2022). However, international studies confirm that teachers in Germany have low digital skills and rarely use digital tools in teaching (Eickelmann et al., 2019). Therefore, this study investigates how digitally competent trainee teachers in the subject of physical ed-ucation assess themselves and analyzes the interdependency of digital literacy, role modeling by university lecturers, and intended integration of ICT in future teaching. The Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework guided the study (Mishra & Koehler, 2006).
Method
A 50-item questionnaire based on Schmidt et al.’s (2009) validated TPACK questionnaire was administered to a subject-specific sample of all 185 pre-service physical education teachers in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The survey included questions on de-mographics, education-specific information, content- and context-related information as-sociated with the TPACK model (scale from 1=disagree to 5=agree fully), and role model-ling of ICT integration in higher education and in respondents’ own intended practice.
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Results
The results show that the pre-service physical education teachers feel better prepared in terms of content knowledge (CK; m=4,25, SD=0,53) above pedagogical knowledge (PK; m=3,81, SD=0,55) for an increasingly digital educational environment. While they feel confident in conveying content knowledge in a pedagogic manner (PCK; m=3,96, SD=0,59), the integration of technology highlighted both lower values and more variance in the self-assessment (TK, TPK, TCK, TPACK; m=3,30-3,57; 0,63-0,76). The correlation analysis of the knowledge domains shows significant correlations between the seven knowledge domains with moderate to large effect. Finally, the results of the regression models show a positive effect of CK and PK on overall intent to integrate ICT in teaching (R2 = 0.178, adjusted R2 = 0.163, p < .05) and the results further indicate that the effects of role modeling depend on the choice of ICT.
Discussion
PK and CK (rather than self-assessment within the technology-specific dimensions) had a positive impact on the intent to integrate ICT in PE. While the consideration of ICT in the classroom still represents a barrier, specific support for the pedagogical implementation of ICT (TPK) may have a (subject-specific) positive influence on TPACK. Further, the results confirmed the positive effect of teacher educators' role modeling on digital literacy and general ICT integration intent, including specific types of ICT. We discuss the potential implications of inadequate role modeling on pre-service teachers and PE instruction.
References
Eickelmann, B., Bos, W., Gerick, J., Goldhammer, F., Schaumburg, H., Schwippert, K. & Vahrenhold, J. (2019). ICILS 2018# Deutschland. Computer-und informationsbezogene Kompetenzen von Schülerinnen und Schülern im zweiten internationalen Vergleich und Kompetenzen im Bereich Computational Thinking. Münster.
Mishra, P. & Koehler, M. (2006). Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge: A Framework for Teacher Knowledge. Teachers College Record, 108, 1017-1054.
Schmidt, D. A., Baran, E., Thompson, A. D., Mishra, P., Koehler, M. J., & Shin, T. S. (2009). Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK). Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 42(2), 123–149. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/15391523.2009.10782544
Wohlfart, O., & Wagner, I. (2022). Teachers' role in digitalizing education: An umbrella review. Educational Technology Research and Development. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-022-10166-0