The Effects of an Intervention Programme Using Information Communication and Technology on the Teaching and Learning of Physical Education in Singapore Schools

Abstract

This study examined the impact of an Information Communication and Technology (ICT) intervention program on teaching and learning in Physical Education (PE). The research involved 47 PE teachers from 47 Singapore schools and 838 students across primary and high schools. Teachers with little or no ICT experience (n = 24) and their students (n = 430) were placed in the intervention group. Data were collected using accelerometers, the Activity Perception Questionnaire, a K-12 rubric assessing psychomotor, cognitive and affective domains, an ICT integration rubric, and lesson videos. A two-way repeated measures ANOVA was conducted to analyse the intervention’s effects. The results showed that ICT use did not reduce students’ physical activity time or motivation levels. However, teachers’ ability to design meaningful ICT-integrated lessons significantly improved, as did students’ affective domain. The findings underscore the importance of incorporating both theoretical and practical components in PE teacher training, using contextualised examples and flexible learning modes. School leaders and policymakers should enhance professional development opportunities and support teachers in integrating ICT effectively, thereby improving student engagement and learning outcomes.

1. Introduction

The rapid advancement of Information Communication and Technologies (ICT) has transformed the world (Soparat et al., 2015), particularly with the current generation of young learners who have been exposed to technology from their infancy (Mustafaoğlu et al., 2018). ICT refers to an array of digital tools and software (e.g., mobile phones and heart rate monitors) that leverages various online applications and websites (e.g., Dartfish, Edmodo) (Sargent & Casey, 2020). In education, the impacts attributed to advancements in ICT have highlighted the need to find ways to integrate technological tools to meet desired educational goals optimally (Casey et al., 2017). Indeed, educational systems worldwide are integrating digital competencies in curricula and assessments to foster 21st-century skills such as communication and critical thinking (Casey et al., 2017; Nowels & Hewit, 2018; Roure et al., 2019). Such an impact has prompted educational organisations to urgently transform teaching practices to adequately prepare their students for the digital world while meeting the learning preferences of these digital natives (Vitvitskaya et al., 2022).

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has had a profound impact on teaching (UNESCO, 2020), especially in physical education (PE). One significant concern is the global decline in health and overall physical activity (PA) when countries implement lockdowns (Dunton et al., 2020; UN, 2020). The lack of PA due to COVID-19 has significantly affected the individual’s overall well-being (UN, 2020). PE teachers also had trouble using ICT to conduct lessons effectively (Varea & González-Calvo, 2021). In response, scholars argued that pre-service and in-service teacher training must be redesigned to improve the well-being of teachers (O’Brien et al., 2020).

With an ever-growing number of ICT tools available for teaching and learning, PE teachers may have explored various ways to integrate technology to enhance their lessons. While studies highlighted the benefits of effective ICT implementation that can enhance instruction and promote a healthy lifestyle, challenges such as curtailing PA time and reducing students’ interest in learning are also reported (Sullivan et al., 2024).

1.1. Motivation for Learning Physical Education

Students’ motivation to learn is crucial in achieving the intended learning outcomes of education. Specifically, motivation in PE influences positive learning outcomes such as concentration, intentions to exercise, and physical fitness in leisure time (Sevil-Serrano et al., 2022), and more desirable cognitive, behavioural, and affective development (Wallace et al., 2023). In contrast, students may perceive using ICT as being against their expectations of having fun (Fairclough et al., 2017), curtailing PA time and negatively influencing teachers’ attitudes and readiness, and students’ acceptance level of such a teaching approach (Villalba & González-Rivera, 2016; Seah & Koh, 2021). With technological advancement, greater affordability, accessibility, and simplification in ICT tools, scholars argue that ICT has great potential to enhance students’ learning experiences and achieve the desired outcomes in PE (Koç & Mutlu, 2022). However, despite the numerous benefits reported in the literature, there is a lack of empirical evidence on successfully integrating ICT into the PE curriculum and using multiple measurements to evaluate its effectiveness (Wallace et al., 2023). These concerns have contributed to the lack of buy-in of PE teachers to embrace ICT in their lessons (Sargent & Casey, 2020). Given the wide-ranging impact that ICT might have on motivation and learning, it is critical to examine how PE lessons can incorporate the appropriate ICT tools to achieve the desired education outcomes (Lai & Smith, 2018).

1.2. Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge (TPACK)

The technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK) framework has been widely used to guide the design and implementation of ICT lessons to encapsulate teachers’ knowledge concerning integrating ICT into the instruction of particular topics within a discipline area (van Hilvoorde & Koekoek, 2018; Mishra, 2019). Studies showed that teachers may perceive that technology could enhance their teaching effectiveness, but this might not translate to the actual application of technology in their lessons (Wallace et al., 2023). Indeed, some PE teachers still use ICT as a replacement for the lack of pedagogical and content knowledge, which saves time during teaching or delivering specific activities (J. H. L. Koh, 2013). Greater emphasis on training PE teachers in this area is needed to advance their knowledge and confidence in the meaningful integration of ICT into the PE curriculum successfully.

The TPACK constructs have been widely adopted as a theoretical basis for developing survey instruments to assess teachers’ ICT integration competencies (van Hilvoorde & Koekoek, 2018; Mishra, 2019). However, these surveys assess teachers’ self-reported perceptions of TPACK, which may not accurately reflect their TPACK in practice. The rubrics for TPACK assessment of ICT lesson designs are not directed at the pedagogical aims of meaningful learning that engages learners in inquiry, knowledge construction, and collaboration. The criteria that assess how lesson activities address technology standards, content standards, and content transformations are also lacking (J. H. L. Koh, 2013). Hence, having an appropriate rubric for assessing TPACK for meaningful learning is paramount to addressing the pedagogical challenge that teachers currently face. It can also enhance teachers’ TPACK understanding when applied to subject-specific lesson activities.

1.3. Benefits of Information Communication and Technology and Professional Development

The benefits of using ICT in PE have been uncovered in areas such as cognitive and affective learning enhancement (Palao et al., 2015), facilitating better instructions and applications of knowledge learned (Villalba & González-Rivera, 2016), supporting communication and collaboration, and providing feedback (Sullivan et al., 2024), facilitating critical thinking (Hinojo Lucena et al., 2020), and performance analysis to enhance students’ performance (McGann et al., 2020). This is particularly pertinent as the practical nature of the subject often reduces opportunities for reflection and peer or self-assessment tasks to be included. Indeed, tasks incorporating ICT devices effectively could give students the autonomy to take charge of their learning, create a sense of competence, and improve intrinsic motivation (Tou et al., 2020).

Despite the progress in understanding the effective use of ICT in PE (Roure et al., 2019; Wyant & Baek, 2019), the implementation of ICT in PE only focused on specific ICT tools, limited sports or games, and improves the traditional outcome of bodily movement and practice (McGann et al., 2020). The literature still lacks insights from students and their learning within the specific PE contexts (Casey et al., 2017; Wallace et al., 2023). Indeed, ICT in PE has the potential to achieve deep learning through the development of new pedagogies (Casey et al., 2017). This would profoundly impact how effectively educational institutions can achieve students’ desired 21st-century skills and competencies, such as creativity and critical thinking (K. T. Koh et al., 2022).

The importance of teachers’ training was also highlighted by K. T. Koh et al. (2022), who found that teachers faced difficulties ensuring quality when incorporating ICT into their PE lessons. Moreover, teachers were not exposed to ICT training and did not have sufficient resources and knowledge to decide on appropriate ICT tools. The authors also highlighted that teachers’ perceptions of ICT competency could affect their confidence, motivation, and willingness to use ICT in their lessons. Hence, training for all teachers, regardless of experience, is paramount. Studies also showed that greater TPACK competence of teachers correlates to reduced technostress and higher competency in technology integration (Dong et al., 2020; Özgür, 2020). Hence, the TPACK framework is useful to help teachers incorporate appropriate ICT into their lesson design and practices for meaningful learning (Krause & Lynch, 2020; Sargent & Calderón, 2021).

1.4. The Singapore Schools Physical Education Curriculum

The Singapore Physical Education (PE) curriculum for schools aims to develop students holistically and bring about a nation of physically competent and confident individuals who enjoy a lifetime of active and healthy living safely and responsibly. The PE curriculum is underpinned by the belief that movement is fundamental and essential to life, work, and play. Hence, developing movement competence is an integral part of an individual’s holistic education. It facilitates participation in physical activities, through which the individual discovers the joy of movement, learns about themselves and their bodies, and develops the physical, cognitive, and affective competencies that will contribute to their lifelong well-being (MOE, 2024, p. 2). An individual’s development and lifestyle behaviours are also shaped by their interactions with the environment. Ensuring that students have meaningful and authentic learning experiences in school is critical to prepare them to contribute to the community and adapt to different life contexts, and PE teachers play a pivotal role in achieving the desired outcomes of the PE curriculum.

1.5. The Present Study

Tou et al. (2020) highlighted the importance of developing appropriate intervention programmes to enhance PE teachers’ competencies, confidence, and motivation in integrating ICT into their lessons. They also suggested the importance of investigating students’ motivation and learning in such an environment to understand its impact on teaching and learning outcomes. Although numerous studies have investigated the use of ICT in PE, methodological limitations exist in using subjective or simple designs such as observations, participants’ perceptions, and experiences (Sargent & Casey, 2020; Sargent & Calderón, 2021), or only focusing on enhancing health or motivational variables instead of curriculum learning outcomes (Wallace et al., 2023). Considering PE lessons’ complexity and dynamic nature, using multiple measures to collect objective data is required to examine the effects of planning and delivering effective ICT lessons. The findings will be useful in guiding pre-service and professional development programmes to prepare future-ready educators who are responsive and relevant to the changing global education landscape (Bozkurt et al., 2022). The present study also addresses the gap in the literature by exploring the effective ICT integration strategies in PE using a comprehensive, multi-measure approach, while also considering the specific contexts of PE and student experiences. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of an ICT intervention programme on the teaching and learning of PE, using Singapore schools as a research context. Specifically, this research is guided by the following questions:

(a)

Compared to traditional PE lessons, does the intervention programme improve PE teachers’ competency in planning ICT lessons?

(b)

Compared to traditional PE lessons, does the ICT intervention programme improve students’ psychomotor, affective, and cognitive learning?

(c)

Compared to traditional PE lessons, does the ICT intervention programme affect students’ physical activity time?

(d)

Compared to traditional PE lessons, does the ICT intervention programme improve students’ motivation to learn PE?

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Participants

2.1.1. Teachers

Forty-seven PE teachers (Mage = 42.2 years, SDage = 8.12 years) participated in the study. They must have at least five years of teaching experience to be included in the study. The teachers were from 16 schools (Primary = 7, High School = 9, males = 73.5%) in Singapore. Of the 47 teachers, 24 (Mage = 40.8 years, SDage = 8.02 years, males = 84%) from the bottom 33% based on a survey result of teacher’s ICT knowledge (i.e., with little or no knowledge) in PE were placed in the intervention group. The other 23 teachers (Mage = 43.7 years, SDage = 8.13 years, males = 66.7%) were placed in the control group. The teachers in this study have an average of 13.1 years of teaching experience (SD = 8.23). There was at least one intervention group and one control group per school.

2.1.2. Students

A total of 838 students (Mage = 11.7 years, SDage = 1.95 years, boys = 53%) taught by the 47 PE teachers involved in the present study were recruited. Four hundred thirty students (Mage = 11.7 years, SDage = 1.98 years, boys = 52.7%) were in the intervention group, and 408 students (Mage = 11.6 years; SDage = 1.96 years, boys = 52.9%) were in the control group.

2.2. Procedures

Before the data collection, ethical clearance from the university’s review board (IRB-2022-1027) and permission from the Ministry of Education’s (MOE’s) data management branch were obtained. The participants were recruited using the research team’s contact, word of mouth, and snowballing sampling techniques. School principals and heads of PE departments were contacted via email or phone by a full-time research assistant. They were asked to invite their PE teachers to participate in the study voluntarily. Student participants were recruited based on the recommendations of the PE teachers who were involved in the study. All the participants were informed about the study’s purpose, commitments, and rights to confidentiality and withdrawal. A consent form was signed by all the participants before the study began.

2.3. The Five-Week Intervention Programme

A five-week ICT intervention programme (

Table 1. Outline of the five-week intervention and list of ICT tools introduced.

Week	Focus	In-Class Activities	After-Class Activities
1 Online workshop (90 min)	Affordances of ICT Introducing TPACK	Group discussions and reflection on the current adoption of ICT Understanding TPACK principles through practical examples	Design and conduct a PE session to teach a specific sport skill using TPACK guidelines Submit lesson plan for feedback
2 Online workshop (90 min)	Sharing and reflection on the lesson conducted Introducing SAMR	Sharing of successes and difficulties in conducting lesson planned using TPACK Understanding SAMR principles through practical examples Examples of planning a PE lesson using TPACK and SAMR	Modify previous lesson plan and incorporate SAMR principles Submit a modified lesson plan Conduct lesson
3 In-person workshop (90 min)	Sharing and reflection on the lesson conducted Demonstration of how selected ICT tools can be used in lesson	Sharing of successes and difficulties in conducting lesson planned using TPACK and SAMR PE teachers play the role of students to instructors Clarifying doubts with instructors relating to ICT adoption Introduced ICT tools: 1. Formtime and Visualeyes for form correction. 2. Augmented reality fitness games such as Active and Bekids Fitness, and 3. Instructional videos for flipped classrooms on learning basketball skills	Modify previous lesson plan Submit modified lesson plan Conduct lesson
4	Application and consultation	Not Application	Conduct lesson planned Remote consultation with instructors when needed
5	Application and consultation	Not Application	Conduct lesson planned Remote consultation with instructors when needed

Note: Workshops took place at the start of each week, and teachers were advised to devise and deliver lessons incorporating ICT in their lessons after the workshop for all five weeks.

) was designed and implemented for teachers in the intervention group. Given the teachers’ busy schedules, it was decided together with the participants that the intervention duration would be ideal to help enhance their knowledge and skills for technology-mediated learning. The aim was to share best practices on using ICT tools and pedagogies gathered from empirical findings and experienced PE teachers from Singapore with the participants. The workshops were designed and delivered using a blended approach. A blended learning approach was adopted to demonstrate the use of technology through both the physical and online mediums.

The participants attended three weekly workshops for about 90 min each session. The first two workshops were online and delivered by the 4th author, focusing on the meaningful integration of ICT in PE, guided by the TPACK framework, and writing of ICT lesson plans, and tapping on the student learning platform provided by the MOE in facilitating digital and online learning before and after lessons. The workshops were designed intentionally to be conducted virtually to role model the use of technology to enhance the participants’ learning experiences. The experience provided a good starting point for the teachers to think about designing technology-mediated learning for their students. The last workshop was a face-to-face practical session delivered by the first and fifth authors. Relevant free technology tools for self and peer assessment (e.g., FormTime—video delay for form correction, Visualeyes—video coaching app, Active Arcade and Bekids Fitness—augmented reality fitness games) and instructional videos for flipped lessons (e.g., basketball skills) were used to allow the participants to experience the tools so that they could use the tools and replicate the pedagogy in their lessons immediately.

The workshops were purposefully planned and conducted at the beginning of the week so that participants in the intervention group could start to design and conduct ICT lessons with their students for the rest of the week to reinforce learning. They were given time to share their teaching experience with their peers before receiving new information at the start of the second and third workshops. Such non-formal learning has been proven useful and effective in enhancing participants’ learning (K. T. Koh et al., 2020). After the third workshop, the participants were required to continue the ICT lessons for another two weeks to complete the intervention programme. Teachers in the control group were given the same training materials received by the intervention group but were told to proceed with their PE lessons as usual.

2.4. Data Collection

Pre- and post-test data were collected from the participants in both groups two weeks before the commencement of the study and one week after the completion of the study, respectively. Tools were used to measure teachers’ competency in planning and delivering meaningful ICT lessons, students’ performance in psychomotor, cognitive, and affective domains, physical activity time, and motivation to learn in ICT lessons.

For pre-test data, PE teachers were requested to submit their lesson plans to the research assistant 2 days before their lesson. On the day of the lesson, their students were asked to wear a hip-worn ActiGraph accelerometer to track their physical activity time. The lesson was recorded from a distance from the participants to adhere to the ethical requirements. Each lesson lasted for about 60 min. After the lesson, students were asked to complete an online Activity Perception Questionnaire survey to understand their motivation to learn ICT lessons. The survey lasted for about 10 min. Post-test data collection was conducted using the same pre-test protocol.

2.5. Measures

2.5.1. Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge (TPACK) Assessment Rubric

The TPACK assessment rubric is useful for assessing the fit between technology, pedagogy, and content in teachers’ activities in ICT lessons (J. H. L. Koh, 2013). J. H. L. Koh (2013) previously reported a Kappa coefficient of at least 0.8 (active: 0.93, constructive: 0.93, intentional: 0.89, authentic: 0.85, cooperative: 0.92). Two PE teachers with more than seven years of teaching experience coded the videos independently. The inter- and intra-rater agreement was achieved with more than 85%, which was acceptable (Lacy & Darst, 1989).

All the lesson plans collected from the teachers were scored across five domains by one of the research team members—active, constructive, authentic, intentional, and cooperative based on the meaningful use of ICT principles (see Appendix A). To ensure reliability, an inter-rater reliability check was conducted between two research team members. Each of them coded two lesson plans individually, achieving 85% agreement.

The TPACK tool has also been validated by an expert panel of scholars, the Ministry of Education specialists, and experienced PE teachers. First, an online survey was used to obtain feedback from an Expert Review Committee (ERC) consisting of eight members with at least 10 years of experience and who had taught a range of sports and games in the PE syllabus. Next, four experts with the same criteria as the ERC were selected and asked to rate the importance and relevance of the five domains in the rubric. If the four experts disagreed on any item, feedback was discussed at the ERC level to ensure the content validity of the tool was unbiased and rigorously assessed. Third, pilot tests were conducted using the validated tool to code four PE lessons (two for primary and secondary schools each), each lasting 50 min.

2.5.2. Psychomotor, Affective, and Cognitive Assessment Rubric (PACAR)

The PACAR tool (Appendix B) is based on the PE K-12 metrics, which assess students’ engagement in the psychomotor, cognitive, and affective domains during PE lessons (Chepko et al., 2019). The tool has been modified to meet the objectives of the Singapore PE syllabus. Content validity was established following a validation procedure similar to the TPACK assessment rubric. As the PACAR tool was modified to be contextualised to the local setting, previous reliability data was not available. However, based on our pilot study using six PE teachers (three from primary and secondary schools each) to code a 50 min lesson video, the percentage error values were below 10% between raters for the same lesson video, which was considered acceptable (Lacy & Darst, 1989). Additionally, each PE teacher was required to code the same lesson video thrice, at least one week apart, to achieve the acceptable level and ensure the coding was consistent.

Lesson videos were scored using the PACAR rubric to assess the impact of incorporating ICT in PE lessons on students’ learning across the three learning domains. The raters scored each ‘indicator’ on the rubric based on the number of ‘critical elements’ observed that best represented the lesson. For example, the rater first observed the students from the left side of the class and switched to the right side to have a good understanding of the student’s involvement during lessons. Each domain had three indicators, each with three critical values. A score for each domain was derived by tallying the total number of critical elements observed. This score ranged from zero to nine.

2.5.3. Students’ Physical Activity Level

Students’ physical activity (PA) level was measured using a hip-worn triaxial accelerometer, ActiGraph GT3X-BT (ActiGraph LLC, Pensacola, FL, USA). Measurements were taken from the start till the end of the scheduled PE class time. Non-sedentary time and moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were subsequently computed using the ActiLife software Version 6.13.5 (ActiGraph LLC, Pensacola, FL, USA). According to Freedson et al.’s (2005) algorithm, activity level is considered sedentary when the number of counts per minute is below 150; light when the counts per minute falls in the range of 150 to 499 counts per minute; moderate when it falls in the range of 500 to 3999 counts per minute; vigorous in the range of 4000 to 7599 counts per minute; and very vigorous if above 7600 counts per minute. Using the MVPA level data, students’ activity levels, such as non-sedentary time and MVPA, could be determined upon analysis to establish the impact of the ICT intervention programme on students’ physical activity time during PE class. The use of the ActiGraph accelerometer has been previously shown to be able to discriminate the intensity of PA in adolescents (Romanzini et al., 2014). As this study aimed to ascertain the levels of PA incurred during PE lessons, inter-rater reliability measures were not taken for this study.

2.5.4. Activity Perception Questionnaire (APQ)

The APQ can examine students’ motivation to learn across three areas—perceived choice, enjoyment/interest, and value/usefulness (McAuley et al., 1989). It consists of 25 statements, eight related to interest/enjoyment, eight related to perceived choice, and nine related to value/usefulness. Students had to provide a response from one to seven, with one being ‘not true at all’, four being ‘somewhat true’, and seven being ‘very true’. A link to the APQ survey was given to the teachers and disseminated to the students after each PE lesson. They were told to complete the questionnaire within two days. The students’ responses were anonymous. This tool provides valuable insight into how incorporating ICT in PE lessons might/or might not affect it. Previously, the overall reliability of the APQ was found to have a high Cronbach’s α coefficient of 0.78 (Ostrow & Heffernan, 2018).

2.6. Data Analysis

All data collected were analysed using JASP (version 0.18.3, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) and presented as Means ± Standard Error, unless otherwise stated. As the outcome measures of this study consisted of both ordinal and continuous datasets, a mix of non-parametric and parametric statistics was used. First, the TPACK scores (ordinal data) were analysed using the Friedman test, a non-parametric equivalent of the repeated measures analysis of variance (rmANOVA), to determine GROUP (intervention vs. control) and TIME (pre vs. post) differences within the five domains. Conover’s post-hoc test with Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons was used to determine where significance was observed.

Second, for measures of PACAR (subdivided into affective, psychomotor, and cognitive domains), physical activity level (MVPA), and APQ (subdivided into perceived choice, enjoyment/interest, and value/usefulness) where the data variable was continuous, a two-way rmANOVA was used to determine main effects for GROUP (intervention vs. control), TIME (pre vs. post), and the GROUP × TIME interaction. Third, to determine if the datasets violated the assumptions of performing a two-way rmANOVA, homogeneity of variance and normality were assessed using the Levene’s and Shapiro–Wilks tests, respectively. Cohen’s d effect size was used to determine if the differences between groups had small (small (d ≈ 0.2), medium (d ≈ 0.5), or large (d ≈ 0.8) effects. Finally, a post-hoc student’s t-test with Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons was applied if significant main and interaction effects were detected. An alpha value of p < 0.05 was used to indicate significance.

3. Results

3.1. TPACK Assessment

A total of 25 and 23 sets of lesson plans from the intervention and control groups were analysed, respectively. A non-parametric Kruskal–Wallis test was used to determine if there were significant differences between groups. The results (see Figure 1) show that the intervention group was significantly better than the control group across all five domains—active (K = 26.31; p < 0.00001), constructive (K = 24.78; p = 0.00002), authentic (K = 24.62; p = 0.00002), intentional (K = 26.11; p < 0.00001), and cooperative (K = 25.78; p < 0.00001)—suggesting that with proper training, PE teachers can integrate technology, pedagogy, and lesson content in their lessons effectively.

3.2. Psychomotor, Affective, and Cognitive Assessment

Figure 2 shows the changes in PACAR scores before and after the intervention in both groups. Two-way rmANOVA showed a significant main effect for TIME for affective (F1,43 = 15.287, p < 0.001), psychomotor (F1,43 = 36.08, p < 0.001), and cognitive (F1,43 = 24.397, p < 0.001) domains. However, no effects for neither GROUP (affective, F1,43 = 0.045, p = 0.883; psychomotor, F1,43 = 0.051, p = 0.822; cognitive, F1,43 = 0.080, p = 0.778) nor GROUP × TIME interactions (affective, F1,43 = 3.075, p = 0.087; psychomotor, F1,43 = 0.241, p = 0.626; cognitive F1,43 = 0.361, p =0.552) were found. Levene’s (affective, control p = 0.12, intervention, p = 0.1; psychomotor, control p = 0.08, intervention p = 0.06; cognitive, control p = 0.06, intervention p = 0.08) and Shapiro–Wilks tests (affective, control p = 0.09, intervention p = 0.11; psychomotor, control p = 0.09, intervention p = 0.08; cognitive, control p = 0.08, intervention p = 0.09) did not reach statistical significance.

The post-hoc analysis showed a significant improvement in the affective domain only in the intervention group (3.82 ± 1.10 vs. 4.82 ± 1.22, p < 0.001, d = 0.5) which was unexpected, while both the control (psychomotor, 3.57 ± 2.50 vs. 5.38 ± 2.39, p = 0.003, d = 0.9; cognitive, 2.95 ± 2.48 vs. 4.81 ± 2.44, p = 0.002, d = 0.9) and intervention group (psychomotor, 3.50 ± 1.60 vs. 5.68 ± 1.21, p < 0.001, d = 1.1; cognitive, 3.00 ± 1.63 vs. 4.46 ± 1.68, p = 0.021, d = 0.7) within the psychomotor and cognitive domains significantly improved from pre- to post-intervention.

3.3. Physical Activity Level

Figure 3 shows the changes in %Time spent in MVPA in both groups. Overall, a significant main effect was observed for TIME (F1,798 = 10.30, p < 0.001) and the GROUP × TIME interaction (F1,798 = 11.09, p < 0.001). Levene’s (control, p = 0.14; intervention, p = 0.83) and Shapiro–Wilks tests (control, p = 0.08; intervention, p = 0.09) did not reach statistical significance. No significant main effect was observed for GROUP (F1,798 = 2.012, p = 0.156). The post-hoc analysis showed a significant increase in % time spent during MVPA in the control group at post-intervention (38.8 ± 9.5% vs. 42.5 ± 9.8%, p < 0.001, d = 0.8), compared to the intervention group (41.5 ± 12.4% vs. 41.5 ± 12.5%, p = 0.523, d = 0.09).

3.4. Activity Perception Questionnaire (APQ)

The two-way rmANOVA showed no effects of TIME (interest/enjoyment, F1,704 = 2.300, p = 0.130; value/usefulness, F1,704 = 0.300, p = 0.584; perceived choice, F1,704 = 1.65, p = 0.322), GROUP (interest/enjoyment, F1,704 = 0.658, p = 0.418; value/usefulness, F1,704 = 0.116, p = 0.734; perceived choice, F1,704 = 3.405, p = 0.065), or the GROUP × TIME interaction (interest/enjoyment, F1,704 = 0.336, p = 0.562; value/usefulness, F1,704 = 0.016, p = 0.900; perceived choice, F1,704 = 0.637, p = 0.425) for all three domains of the APQ. The results suggest that ICT PE lessons did not affect students’ motivation in PE (see Figure 4).

4. Discussion

The present study contributed to the literature by investigating the effects of an ICT intervention programme on the teaching and learning of PE, using Singapore schools as a context. Specifically, it looks at how teachers plan and deliver meaningful ICT lessons to achieve curriculum outcomes (Wallace et al., 2023) and how the students respond to such an approach using multiple measures to address the complex and dynamic PE environment (Sargent & Casey, 2020; Sargent & Calderón, 2021). Our findings suggest that the intervention programme benefited PE teachers’ lesson planning and ICT lesson delivery. More importantly, using ICT during PE lessons did not negatively affect students’ physical activity time and their psychomotor, cognitive, and affective outcomes. While no significant differences existed in students’ activity perception between groups, the meaningful use of ICT in PE did not negatively affect students’ motivation to learn.

4.1. Competencies in ICT Lesson Design and Delivery

Our results show that the intervention group was significantly better than the control group across all five domains. The TPACK framework and practical tips used in the workshop enhanced teachers’ competencies and knowledge in planning and delivering meaningful ICT lessons following the five key characteristics (J. H. L. Koh, 2013). For example, students use ICT tools to (1) actively engage in motor learning; (2) articulate their reflections on the subject matter (production); (3) investigate and propose a solution to game-like situations (authentic); (4) self-diagnose and fix learning gaps (intentional); and (5) work together with peers to express opinion/knowledge (collaboration). As a result, they were able to attract greater involvement from their students, improving their psychomotor, affective, and cognitive skills and learning experiences (K. T. Koh et al., 2022; Krause & Lynch, 2020).

When there is an intention to include ICT in teaching, technological knowledge becomes important in determining which tools to select and how to operate them (van Hilvoorde & Koekoek, 2018). In the present study, PE teachers were exposed to the framework and had the opportunity to see and experience how it was implemented through a practical lesson. The experiential learning approach expedites the transfer of learning to the actual context with positive outcomes. Hence, having an intervention workshop guided by the TPACK framework with an authentic learning environment could increase PE teachers’ perceived competence in ICT usage, which would motivate them to embrace ICT in their PE lessons (Sargent & Calderón, 2021).

Participants in the present study had the opportunity to try some free ICT tools and experience a practical lesson with pedagogy before transferring their experience and learning to their students. Such a real-world training approach can enhance teachers’ ICT integration competence in PE and confidence and motivation in the teaching and learning environment. More importantly, making teachers competent in using ICT tools meaningfully is critical in facilitating transformative learning for students’ success (Wallace et al., 2023). Other scholars also echo our findings (Greve et al., 2022) that integrating ICT tools into teaching requires deliberate decisions about pedagogy and digital tools to meet learning objectives. Equally important is having a systematic approach that helps reduce the confusion or fatigue PE teachers face when they attempt to integrate ICT into their lessons.

4.2. Students’ Learning Outcomes

Results from the present study show that the psychomotor, cognitive, and affective domains of both groups improved over time. One reason could be the effective implementation of the PE syllabus in Singapore, as the teachers have ample opportunities to attend sharing sessions, professional development workshops, and learning communities organised by MOE to ensure they understand and adhere to the PE syllabus to meet the desired learning outcomes. Another reason could be attributed to the learning effect over time as the intervention started at the beginning of the school year when students were new to sports and games. It is worth noting that most PE classes used modified games—a common teaching approach in Singapore’s PE lessons to match students’ learning ability levels better and maximise their involvement and practice time. Indirect instructions and questions are also commonly used to elicit students’ understanding and promote independent and critical thinking (K. T. Koh et al., 2020). Hence, it is unsurprising that students progressively improved their psychomotor, affective, and cognitive domains (Farias et al., 2018).

One interesting finding of the present study is the significant improvement in the affective domain in the intervention group. One reason could be attributed to the meaningful use of ICT, which facilitates excellent student learning opportunities. For example, recording each other’s skill execution movement and using a simple motion analysis tool for diagnosis promote active, authentic, intentional collaboration experiences among students. It also allows them to show encouragement toward their peers and be more aware of their performance for faster improvement (Zulkifli & Danis, 2022). Another reason could be the emphasis by MOE on teaching Character & Citizen Education in recent years. Many professional development workshops were conducted to level up teachers’ competencies in teaching students 21st century skills, values, and character students (e.g., a safe learning environment, acknowledging each other’s efforts, and working together as a team) instead of just subject content knowledge. The result is consistent with previous research—when ICT is incorporated into PE classes with a clear pedagogical approach and learning outcome, students’ learning can be enhanced, and not just as a substitute for the teacher without functional improvement (Fullan & Langworthy, 2013; Sargent & Calderón, 2021).

4.3. Physical Activity Level

Overall, there were no significant differences in the physical activity (PA) level in PE class between the control and intervention groups. The result contradicts a previous study which suggested that PA time could be reduced when ICT is incorporated into PE lessons (Villalba & González-Rivera, 2016). Specifically, half of the students spent their time sedentary, while 30% to 33% performed moderately intense activity. Overall, MVPA was around 40% of their total class time. The reason could be that when the lessons focused more on skills development, the MVPA is expected to be lower (Harvey & García-López, 2017). As reported earlier, the data collected were at the beginning of a new year when the students learn new sports skills. Hence, more time is needed to provide instructions and feedback on the skills taught, which can contribute to higher sedentary, lighter PA, and lower MVPA. The same pattern was observed between the control and intervention groups. However, having a group of teachers with no ICT knowledge and who were able to deliver PE lessons that did not affect the MVPA levels compared with the control group is heartening. The present study demonstrates that with proper and short-duration training, teachers with no ICT knowledge and experience can also achieve the same PA level compared to non-ICT lessons (Sullivan et al., 2024; Quintas-Hijós et al., 2020). The key is to provide plenty of professional development opportunities or a community of practice for teachers to share their ICT teaching experience and interact with other teachers to advance their knowledge (Fairclough et al., 2017). Hopefully, students’ PA time can be enhanced, and the psychomotor, cognitive, and affective domains can be improved.

4.4. Students’ Motivation in Learning

Our findings show no significant differences between control and intervention in perceived choice, enjoyment/interest, and value/usefulness. This implies that using ICT appropriately did not affect students’ motivation to learn PE, which is consistent with previous studies (Szymkowiak et al., 2021; Trabelsi et al., 2022). Szymkowiak et al. (2021) suggested that technology plays an integral role in the lives of today’s students. Students are more open to embracing ICT in PE if they are actively involved in the authentic learning process with fun and engaging lessons. As evidenced in the present study, the effective use of ICT tools can positively impact students’ mindsets where there was no decrease in motivation in learning. This finding highlights the importance of equipping teachers with the knowledge and competencies to integrate technology into their lessons to provide a positive experience to their students, as negative experiences would deter students’ attitudes and acceptance of such teaching approaches (K. T. Koh et al., 2022). Indeed, ICT should be used to complement rather than the norm for PE lessons, guided by pedagogy rather than technology. Most importantly, the unique ability of ICT tools can provide a multitude of contexts and opportunities for students to take charge of their learning without their teachers (Trabelsi et al., 2022). This will ensure sustainable interest from the students instead of the ‘novelty’ effect (Szymkowiak et al., 2021).

5. Implications

Our study contributed to the literature by providing empirical evidence using multiple measures to investigate the effects of an ICT intervention programme on teaching and learning in PE. There are a few implications based on the key findings.

First, a professional development workshop design should include a theory and practice component using contextual-specific examples/tools and the students’ learning platform, writing lesson plans, and receiving timely feedback that can be related to and used immediately after training. The training mode should be convenient and flexible for the teachers because of travel distance, time, and various commitments they face. A blended training approach is recommended to address these challenges. The training sessions can also be recorded and shared with teachers who could not attend the training.

Second, when teachers are appropriately guided to integrate ICT into their PE lessons, they will be more proficient in planning and delivering engaging lessons to enhance students’ learning experience. The key is to give them confidence, competence, and motivation in ICT tools selection, integration, and implementation in their lessons. To achieve this goal, opportunities for professional engagement in developing PE teachers’ digital competency must be more readily available (Wallace et al., 2023; Wyant & Baek, 2019).

Third, teachers must create a positive learning experience for their students to change their attitude and perception of using ICT in PE lessons. Creating a culture of technology use in PE is the first step to preparing and changing students’ mindsets (Tou et al., 2020; K. T. Koh et al., 2022). In addition, involving students in the design of ICT learning activities will give them the autonomy and ownership to be more engaged and involved in a learning environment, ensuring the sustainability of interest over time.

6. Limitations and Future Research Directions

While our study provides useful insight into how an ICT intervention programme can improve teachers’ competencies in lesson design and delivery and enhance students’ learning outcomes in PE, some limitations are worth mentioning.

First, the five-week intervention may be too short to significantly improve all the learning outcomes in PE, such as the PA level, motivation, psychomotor, and cognitive domains. Future studies may want to consider having a longer intervention to examine the long-term effects on these domains. A follow-up study could determine whether extended interventions can lead to more significant improvements. Nonetheless, the five-week intervention was considered for practical reasons after teachers’ feedback, such as alignment with the school’s scheme of work, teachers’ commitments, and sustaining students’ interests. Even with the short duration, the intervention significantly impacted some areas of teaching and learning in PE lessons. It also helped maintain teachers’ commitment to the study.

Second, PE teachers’ perceived competence and confidence are critical to positively facilitating students’ learning (K. T. Koh et al., 2022). This study used a quantitative descriptive method that examined the impact of an ICT intervention programme on teachers’ competencies in lesson planning, lesson enactment, as well as students’ learning outcomes. Future studies may employ qualitative research methods, such as interviews and focus groups, to investigate teachers’ and students’ perceptions and experiences and delve deeper into how teachers design lessons, select appropriate tools, and implement ICT lessons, as well as factors that could further enhance students’ motivation to learn in ICT lessons.

Third, the class profiles and gender differences were not considered as these factors might differ between classes and individuals toward using ICT. Teachers’ and students’ skills and motivation levels in PE may also vary, thus affecting the overall results. In future studies, it might also be worth considering incorporating diverse class profiles by including more classes taught by the same teacher to see if similar results are found. However, given that different schools across different levels were involved in our ecological study design using real-world PE classes, this effect might have been mitigated as there would have been a good spread of students and teachers from various backgrounds and different schools.

Finally, our study only examined invasion sports and games involving students at the primary and secondary levels. As the compulsory PE curriculum includes net barriers and strike and field games, as well as at the tertiary level in Singapore, the types of sports and games, and profiles of students might yield different results. Therefore, future studies should expand the scope of research to include a wider range of sports, games, and educational levels to provide a more comprehensive insight into students’ perceptions of ICT integration in PE lessons.

7. Conclusions

The findings from the present study provide insight into how an ICT intervention programme for PE teachers can improve their proficiency in planning and implementing meaningful PE lessons. We also provided evidence that ICT lessons did not negatively impact students’ PA time, which is often a major concern for PE teachers. In the era where ICT predominates every aspect of our lives, PE teachers and their students need to shift their attitude and mindfulness on how PE lessons are designed and taught in the 21st century to keep up with the ever-changing times and educational landscape. Policymakers and programme designers can use these findings as a starting point for planning and implementing ICT PE lessons. Professional development workshops for PE teachers should combine theoretical knowledge with practical application, using context-specific examples and providing timely feedback. A blended training approach to accommodate teachers’ varying commitments and logistical challenges is highly recommended. Furthermore, increasing opportunities for professional engagement is essential for improving PE teachers’ digital competency. Creating a positive learning environment and fostering a culture of technology use in PE can significantly enhance student engagement and shift attitudes toward ICT.

Allowing PE teachers and their students to realise that using ICT can enhance teaching and learning for educational purposes is crucial for the success of its integration (Trabelsi et al., 2022). It is equally important to understand that time is needed to change the attitudes and behaviours of individuals (K. T. Koh et al., 2020), and using ICT could also generate some distractions for teachers and learners (Sargent & Calderón, 2021). Hence, teachers and students should embrace uncertainty and imperfection when integrating ICT and pedagogy into PE.