Mapping the Digital Transformation in Physical Education. A Scoping Review of Innovative Teaching Approaches

The adoption of the latest generation of digital technologies is spreading across all sectors of society, including education, with varying degrees of pervasiveness. The debate surrounding the use of digital technologies in physical education focuses on analysing the opportunities and limitations presented by these digital devices, suggesting that they are not merely neutral, technical, or ‘objective’ tools, but rather complex elements. Given this complexity, understanding the relationship between technology, sport, and physical education requires adopting a perspective of mutual shaping, acknowledging how social, cultural, and technological factors mutually influence one another. This paper aims to explore the potential and limitations of digital technologies in sport and physical education training. The ultimate objective of this paper is to contribute to the ongoing reflection on a still underexplored field, where numerous hypotheses remain open about the impacts of digital technologies on pedagogical methods that guide sport and physical education. The goal is to define research directions and analytical methods better, outlining guidelines for future studies. This study is part of a larger European project on innovation in teaching with digital technologies, titled Quality of Virtual Auditorium (ERASMUS-EDU-2023-PI FORWARD-LOT1 - Smart Nest).