Educational potentialities and limits of active video games: A research based on interviews with physical education teachers

Abstract

This article presents the results of a research process aimed at finding out the views of Physical Education teachers (in Primary Education) with regard to the incorporation of active videogames in the classroom. The main objective of this study is to understand what potential uses or benefits teachers attribute to these types of videogames as an educational resource and the limitations or obstacles to their inclusion in the classroom. To this end, interviews were conducted with ten Physical Education teachers from state funded schools in the north of Spain. The results show that these teachers do not feel sufficiently trained to design sessions with active videogames. However, they consider them to be a powerful tool in educational processes. One of the potential benefits highlighted is their use as a very practical resource for transmitting contents and for assessment. Nevertheless, a number of obstacles have also been identified which, with the appropriate measures, could be overcome. Examples of these limitations are the lack of adequate teacher training or the high economic cost of the devices required.