The growing presence of digital technologies in physical activity, sports, health, and creative movement highlights the need to integrate digital competence into physical education (PE) and performing arts education (PAE) (Gard & Lupton, 2016; Koekoek & Hilvoorde, 2019). While research exhibits innovative uses of technology in these fields (Anderson et al., 2016; Jastrow et al., 2022; Parrish, 2016), digital tools are not widely considered essential to discipline-specific knowledge and practices (Anderson et al., 2016; Brown, 2015; Koekoek & Hilvoorde, 2019). This perception is also reflected among pre-service teachers, who report negative attitudes and experiences with technology, often feeling unprepared to integrate digital tools into their teaching (González-Calvo et al., 2019; Krause et al., 2019).

Supporting pre-service teachers’ professional digital competence (PDC) requires an understanding of how digital technology intersects with both subject-specific knowledge and pedagogical approaches (Tondeur et al., 2021). Recurring questions in movement-based subjects center around whether technology can complement rather than replace embodied experiences (González-Calvo et al., 2019; Strutt & Cisneros, 2021). Therefore, preparing future educators in movement-based subjects involves not only developing their ability to use digital tools but also fostering critical reflection on how these technologies align with embodied learning and experience as fundamental aspects of their discipline.

This study examines pre-service teachers’ perceptions of digital technology in teaching bodily movement. It is based on the Learning Avatar project, aiming to promote student-centered teaching practices with digital technology in movement-based subjects and strengthen pre-service teachers’ PDC. The project draws on the development and testing of a digital application that records movement sequences and renders them into a 3D avatar. PE pre-service teachers (PEPTs) and performing arts pre-service teachers (PAEPTs) participated in group discussions on integrating the digital ‘avatar’[1] and other digital technologies into their disciplines. While the application itself is not the focus, it served as a catalyst for discussions, revealing nuanced perspectives on teaching bodily movement with digital tools.

This study addresses the following research questions:

• How do pre-service teachers in PE and PAE perceive the role of digital technology in their respective subjects?
• What enabling and inhibiting characteristics of digital technologies for teaching bodily movement do they emphasize?

We examine these questions through a postphenomenological lens, drawing on Don Ihde’s conceptualization of human-technology relations (Ihde, 1990). A core tenet of postphenomenology is that human experience is always technologically mediated, and bodies and technologies exist in a constant state of mutual adaptation and transformation (Rosenberger & Verbeek, 2015). Two key human-technology relations are particularly relevant to this study: embodiment relations, in which technology becomes an extension of the user and integrates seamlessly into bodily experience, and hermeneutic relations, in which technology serves as a medium for interpreting or ‘reading’ movement.

Ihde further argues that technological mediation always entails an amplification/reduction structure—while technologies enhance certain bodily, perceptual, and agential capacities, they may simultaneously inhibit or obscure others (Aagaard, 2017). Consequently, not all technologies are readily embraced; some may be resisted due to perceived misalignment with established practices and values. Recognizing how discipline-specific traditions shape the adoption—or rejection—of digital technologies is therefore critical to understanding how pre-service teachers negotiate their pedagogical ideals.

[1] The application was commonly referred to as ‘the avatar’ or the ‘learning avatar’ by the research team and the preservice teachers.

The participants were pre-service teachers enrolled in one-year postgraduate teacher education programs specializing in PE and PAE, mainly directed towards teaching at the secondary and upper-secondary levels. The participants come from diverse backgrounds, including sports and health education and performing arts. The research team comprised 7 teacher educators (TEs), representing both disciplines (three from PE, three from PAE, and one specializing in PDC). As part of the Learning Avatar project, pre-service teachers and teacher educators engaged in on-campus teaching activities that encouraged student-driven exploration of digital technologies for teaching movement. Discussions focused on the role of digital technology in each subject and the application of the avatar, guided by prompts such as: • Why is digital competence important for teachers in your subject? • How can digital technology change, expand, or challenge content, teaching methods, and assessment? • In what ways can the avatar serve as a teaching resource? • What challenges might arise when using the avatar in teaching? Spanning September 2022 – May 2024, data were collected from two cohorts of pre-service teachers. We employed a combination of ethnographic methods to capture pre-service teachers’ reflections about technology-mediated practices and the multistable quality of the avatar (Aagaard, 2017). These include field notes from our participation as TEs, recordings of class discussions (5.5 hours in total) and pre-service teachers handwritten notes from group activities. We took continuous field notes during discussions to document key insights and interactions. Participation in lessons and engagement with the avatar was course-mandated, but involvement in recorded discussions and written reflections was voluntary. Students received written research information, ensuring that opting out had no impact on grades or evaluations. Given our dual roles, we were mindful of our potential influence on student responses and sought to create an open environment where pre-service teachers could freely share their critical perspectives, allowing their reflections and experiences with digital technology to emerge. We conducted a primarily inductive thematic analysis (Naeem, et al., 2023). After familiarizing ourselves with the data, we identified key phrases and concepts reflecting pre-service teachers’ perceptions of and engagement with digital technology. Initial codes and themes were developed through collaborative research team discussions. Three major cross-disciplinary themes emerged: 1) Body liveness and togetherness, 2) exploring/copying digital movement, and 3) replacing/assisting the teacher Each theme encapsulates students’ perceptions of digital technologies’ enabling and constraining affordances in movement-based teaching.

Our findings reveal that pre-service teachers perceive digital technology as both an enabler and a potential barrier to embodied learning, depending on its affordances and the pedagogical priorities of their discipline. The first theme, body liveness and togetherness, highlights the pre-service teachers’ emphasis on the ephemeral and immediate nature of embodied learning. While they recognize digital technology’s potential to create more accessible and inclusive learning experiences, they also express concern that it may disrupt the co-present, lived experience central to movement-based education. However, they see opportunities for digital tools to function as active participants in creative and physical performance, enhancing artistic expression and craftsmanship. The second theme, exploring/copying digital movement, underscores a pedagogical tension. On one hand, digital tools can enhance technical skill acquisition by offering detailed visualizations and movement analysis. On the other, pre-service teachers stress the importance of internalizing movement through direct bodily experience. They distinguish between using technology to convey subject content and preserving the embodied nature of their disciplines. The third theme, replacing/assisting the teacher, explores the interplay between technology and the teacher’s role in classroom management and instruction. While pre-service teachers acknowledge that digital tools can assist in providing individualized guidance and enhance demonstration of physical movement, they ultimately reaffirm the teacher’s role as the primary ‘demonstrative body’ in movement-based learning. These findings highlight the need to develop teachers’ PDC in PE and PAE through explorative, reflective practices rooted in discipline-specific contexts. Pre-service teachers emphasize a thoughtful approach to technology integration, ensuring digital tools enhance or transform—rather than replace—the relational and embodied aspects of learning. To be perceived as relevant, technology should support movement adaptation and embodiment while reinforcing the authentic, in-the-moment experiences that define PE and performing arts education.

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