Developing digital competency in HPETE: a heuristic for and analysis of three programs in the Southern Hemisphere

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a heuristic tool that can be used to analyse and reflect on the inclusion of digital competences in Health and Physical Education Teacher Education (HPETE) programs. The tool is used to identify and compare how HPETE programs in three Southern Hemisphere countries address digital competency as an aspect of learning to teach Health and Physical Education (HPE). The results reveal that the tool provides an effective way of analysing the development of digital technologies through HPETE. While these programs are concerned with the need for technology education, they do not rely on suggested international frameworks and have a different focus related to future teachers’ digital competences. The lack of a systematic policy to improve digital skills in our data suggests that technology education has emerged from localised efforts. We suggest that our heuristic tool can support educators to refine the inclusion of digital competences in HPETE programs.

KEYWORDS:

• Digital competency
• media
• technology
• Health and Physical Education
• teacher education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 We are aware that the nomenclature of the curriculum area varies around the world. This paper uses the term preferred by this journal and used in two of the three countries in this study.

2 The document is called 2006 European Recommendation on Key Competences. Available: Official Journal L 394 of 30 December 2006.

3 Each national setting and institution use different terms, and we have standardised language whenever possible. Program is used to mean a coherent program of study leading to some qualification. Proposal is used to refer to the official documentation that proscribes each program of study.

4 Two authors of this paper are bilingual and can read both Portuguese (as in the Brazilian documents) and English (for the New Zealand and Australian documents).

5 The Media-Education theory systematizes three educational dimensions to the use of technology. In the methodological dimension, technology is used and viewed instrumentally, as a didactic tool. In the critical dimension, technology becomes an object of study to critically understand, interpret, and evaluate the content. In the productive dimension, technology is understood as a core means and language, enabling students to produce media content to express themselves (Araújo, Knijnik, et al., 2021).

Additional information

Funding

This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES) (Finance Code 001).

Notes on contributors

Allyson Carvalho de Araújo

Allyson Carvalho de Araújo is an Associate Professor in the Physical Education Department at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (Brazil). Lab head of studies in Physical Education, sport and media. Allyson’s overarching research interests focus on topics of media and technology related to education.

Alan Ovens

Alan Patrick Ovens is an Associate Professor in Physical Education in the School of Curriculum and Pedagogy, Faculty of Education and Social Work. His key research interests are in complexity, teacher education pedagogy and methodologies for self-study research.

Jorge Knijnik

Jorge Knijnik is an Associate Professor in the School of Education at Western Sydney University (Australia). He holds a PhD in Social Psychology by Universidade de São Paulo (Brazil). Dr Knijnik’s most recent books are: Tales of South American football: passion, glory and revolution (Fair Play Publishing); Historias Australianas: Cultura, Educação e Esporte do outro lado do mundo (Fontoura); Women’s Football in Latin America: Social Challenges and Historical Perspectives (Palgrave Macmillan) and The World Cup Chronicles: 31 days that rocked Brazil (Fair Play Publishing).