Motivation and Performance of Students in School Physical Education in Which Mobile Applications Are Used

Abstract

The aim of the text is to discuss the use of technologies in Physical Education (PE) at schools. The research focused on the pupils of an upper-primary school/lower-secondary school, who were given experimental PE for a period of 10 weeks. The research objective was to identify typical groups of students on the basis of their physical performances and motivation. Unifittest 6-60, a standardized motor-skills test, was used to measure physical performances, and the Czech translation of SIMS, a Canadian–American standardized test, was used to specify the degree of motivation. Based on the obtained data, the method of cluster analysis identified three typical groups of pupils. These three groups differ in their approach to the use of mobile applications in the process of PE. The research results show that thanks to the implementation of mobile phones in the process of PE and thanks to a different approach taken by the teacher, increased internal motivation and an increase in identified regulation can be seen, as well as a decrease in amotivation and a rapid increase in motor performances, especially in the case of students whose performances are average or below average in usual PE classes.