Information and Communication Technology as an enabler for implementing Nonlinear Pedagogy in Physical Education: Effects on students’ exploration and motivation

In the twenty-first century the Physical Education (PE) landscape is ever changing, with students being immersed increasingly in technologically driven learning environments. Therefore, there is a need to understand how Information and Communication Technology (ICT) are impacting learning opportunities. Specifically, how pedagogical practices could benefit from the development of ICT. This study investigated the effect of using ICT in PE when it is accompanied by a pedagogical innovation to promote students’ motivation. Thirty participants from 5 different indoor climbing PE classes were involved. Three experimental conditions were used: (1) Control, a regular climbing lesson, where traditional climbing holds are used, (2) Placebo climbing lesson, where participants climbed on an instrumented climbing wall with electronic climbing holds but the content of the lesson was similar to the regular condition, and (3) Nonlinear Pedagogy climbing lesson, where participants also climbed on the instrumented wall but with technology used in this context to implement innovative tasks routed on Nonlinear Pedagogy concepts (i.e., fostering motor exploration). Participants were involved in all three conditions and at the end of each condition, and they completed a survey set on their experiences in the climbing lessons. Compared to the control and placebo conditions, external regulation and tension scores were significantly lower and enjoyment scores were significantly higher during the Nonlinear Pedagogy climbing lesson. These results indicated that when integrated with a clear pedagogical purpose, ICT could positively impact learners.