Exploring the use of Social Media in Secondary Physical Education: the #Active 365 challenge

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of two Alberta secondary physical education teachers’ use of the #Active365 challenge, a researcher developed and piloted, social media-based and mobile device-facilitated, online challenge that aimed to embrace technology and more comprehensively achieve active lifestyle physical education curricular outcomes. This research was framed with a social constructionist epistemology where knowledge is co-created and specific to context, and due to the remote nature of the study, methodology involved a pragmatic approach to a multiple case study. Data was primarily gathered from individual semi-structured interviews following participant use of #Active 365 for one semester. Findings showed that teacher experiences were unique within their respective contexts and dependent upon teacher direction, student uptake, and grade level. This research offers insight to those considering engaging students in physical activity-focused physical education curricular outcomes through social media.