Digital technology in game-based approaches: video tagging in football in PE

Background: The use of digital technology in physical education (PE) is widely debated. PE is influenced by children’s everyday lives and by changes in society, including the powerful presence of digital technology. However, there is little research on using digital technology in the context of invasion games in primary school PE. The possibility of combining video tagging and the didactic-methodical staging of PE to cover the content of football is investigated in the present study.Purpose: The study aims to (1) investigate student’s perspectives of the emerging role of a camera child (video tagger), and (2) assess how students interact with video products created in a game-based football approach in primary school PE. The focus is on the communication and interaction processes among students. Processes of movement education, general education and media education are all of interest.Method: In six Grade 4 classes in Germany, a football unit was taught over three lessons of 90 min each using the Teaching Games for Understanding method, preceded by one 90-minute media education lesson on various media pedagogical topics. In the lessons, the students were divided into teams of four and presented with football in the context of three-versus-three games. The fourth child on each team took on the camera-child role and tagged important game situations with an app on a tablet. The lessons were then evaluated based on the research approach of focusing on the students’ perspectives. For this purpose, 104 guided interviews with students were conducted and analysed using grounded theory.Findings: Based on the interview analysis, the phenomena that students experienced when using tablets were classified as: (1) ambivalent position of the camera child (with the subcategories of the camera child’s limited influence on the game and limiting and facilitating phenomena for the camera-child role), and (2) conserved and stored movements (with the subcategories of media-supported conflict management and slow-motion distorting reality). The results showed that physical activity was more important to students than using tablets.Conclusion: The use of digital media offers a greater variety of methods and allows children new and expanded access to invasion games like football. In the process, (sports) pedagogical and didactic goals also change and are expanded to include media pedagogical aims. Social learning is also important in this context. In orchestrating digitally enhanced instruction, new opportunities open up in terms of learning and experiencing movement and learning about media and the media products created.