STUDY REGARDING THE INTRODUCTION OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY IN THE PHYSICAL EDUCATION CLASS

. Modern technologies increase the attractiveness of the physical education lesson. Different tools (for example, HOPSports and Brain Breaks systems) can also be used as means of recreation in the breaks between classes. The objectives of the research were to identify differences between teenagers in terms of self-perception and attitudes towards the new technologies applied during physical education (PE) classes and also to establish the relationship between self-perception and attitudes towards the new technologies applied during PE classes. The study was conducted on 69 children (preadolescents) and teenagers (adolescents) aged between 12 and 19 years, M = 16.36, SD = 1.96. Self-perception was measured with the Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents (SPPA) (Harter, 2012). The results indicate that boys do not have a significantly higher level of self-perception than girls and no significantly higher need for the modernisation of PE classes. After performing a multiple linear regression analysis, it has been highlighted that self-perception is a significant predictor of the need for modernised physical education and sport classes. Children and adolescents who think that they have an exemplary behavioural conduct, are competent in their work and have athletic competence will perceive more acutely the need for modernised PE classes. The implementation of HOPSports and Brain Breaks programs is being discussed, which could positively influence students’ motivation for physical education and sport classes.


Models of modern technology applied in physical education
Physical activity (PA) has a positive effect on children's physical, emotional, social and cognitive development but also on their lifestyles (Bailey, 2006).Societal development has influenced the acquisition and maintenance of an active lifestyle, with physical activity gaining in importance among adolescents (Kudlacek et al., 2019).HOPSports and Brain Breaks (2020) systems are tools used abroad as means of recreation in the breaks between classes.In all advanced classes, such programs are the result of large-scale interdisciplinary research, and many of them are based on both behavioural theories and standards of good practice in physical education, sport science and health education.
The HOPSports system, in addition to increasing the attractiveness of the physical education lesson and the active involvement of students during classes, offers the teacher the opportunity to approach a much wider range of exercises in which they are not specialised or that involve execution difficulties.
Researchers have demonstrated the connection between motivation and regular physical activity (Slovinec D'Angelo et al., 2014).They used motivational theories such as selfdetermination theory (Deci et al., 2000) and achievement goal theory (Duda, 2004) to stimulate human motivation for regular physical activity.For example, in the selfdetermination theory, individuals who are intrinsically motivated to perform regular physical activity are motivated by factors including pleasure, challenge, skill development and mastery (Kilpatrick et al., 2005), while individuals who are extrinsically motivated to perform regular physical activity are motivated by factors including rewards, improved health and appearance, which are not related to the activity itself.
Even if the literature mentions the positive effects of physical activity on psychological and motor levels (Findlay & Coplan, 2008;Pelin et al., 2020), further research is needed to investigate the various effects of regular physical activity and therefore to support the effort of promoting positive changes in decision-making, which are meant to offer children more consistent access to physical activity in school settings (Uzunoz et al., 2017).Collaboration between researchers and schools is necessary to provide students with regular physical activity between or during classes.Previous studies used the Attitudes Toward Physical Activity Scale (Uzunoz et al., 2017) to measure children's attitudes and perceptions of different aspects related to their involvement in regular physical activity, including brain disruptions (Glapa et al., 2018).These studies showed positive results as regards the promotion of regular physical activity among school children.
Researchers also examined the reasons for participating in recreational/sports activities using the Recreational Exercise Motivation Measure (REMM) for adolescents and young adults (Caglar et al., 2009) and the effects of Brain Breaks on children's motives to participate in physical activity (Hajar et al., 2019); in the latter case, the motives of primary school children to participate in PA were investigated using the Physical Activity and Leisure Motivation Scale-Youth-Malay (PALMS-Y-M).This study aimed at identifying the reasons for practising physical activity, especially among children, using Brain Breaks as a means of intervention.The results showed that the Brain Breaks video exercise had a significant effect on the various motives for practising regular physical activity, especially considering appearance, competition, enjoyment and psychological condition (Hajar et al., 2019).

Self-perception and attitudes towards the modernisation of physical education classes
Emotional intelligence includes self-perception in terms of attention to feelings, clarity of feelings and mood repair, involving a combination of interpersonal and intrapersonal abilities (Predoiu et al., 2021).
School physical education plays a major role in developing a basis for health-related behaviours and promoting such behaviours in children (Chen & Hypnar, 2015), given that they spend most of their time in school (Gao et al., 2015;Naidoo & Coopoo, 2012).PE improves health (Erfle & Gamble, 2015), and researchers have found that the weight status of overweight and obese children improves with the daily physical education class in comparison with children who do not participate in regular physical education classes (Cairney et al., 2012).School physical education plays a significant part in developing children's attitudes towards PA and their choice of being physically active (Kamtsios, 2010).
It can be noted that HOPSports and Brain Breaks programs have a positive influence on children's participation in physical education classes in other countries.These programs help children become physically active again by increasing their heart rates and improving their motor skills.In addition, they focus on teaching children of all ages the proper fitness techniques.The above-mentioned intervention programs leave no doubt that more research is needed to determine the effects of such technology-based programs on children's attitudes towards physical activity.

Methodology
Objectives  Identifying both differences in self-perception among teenagers and their attitudes towards the new technologies used in physical education classes. Identifying the relationship between self-perception and attitudes towards the new technologies used in physical education classes.
Hypotheses H1: Boys have a significantly higher level of self-perception than girls.H2: Adolescents have a higher level of self-perception than children (preadolescents).H3: Boys perceive a greater need for the modernisation of physical education classes than girls.
H4: Teenagers (adolescents) perceive a greater need for the modernisation of physical education classes than preadolescents.
H5: Self-perception is a significant positive predictor of the need for modernised physical education classes.

Participants
The present study involves 69 children and teenagers aged 12-19 years, M = 16.36,SD = 1.96, of which 24 boys (35%) and 45 girls (65%); 19 participants (28%) are in grades 1-8, 13 (23%) are enrolled in middle schools (with grades 1-12) and 37 (49%) are enrolled in high schools (with grades 9-12).All schools are in rural areas.Participants are children and teenagers who have physical education classes in their school curriculum.Their distribution according to gender and type of school is shown in Figure 1.

Instruments
The specific data were collected using a set of questions about the type of school where children and teenagers were enrolled and their perception of the need for modernised physical education classes.In this regard, 10 questions were formulated with three response options quantified as follows: Yes (3 points), I do not know (2 points), No (1 point).An example of question: "Would the physical education and sport class be more attractive if we introduced different digital games?"The socio-demographic data were collected using two questions about age and gender, which were included in the first section of the questionnaire (created by us).
Self-perception was measured with the Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents (SPPA) (Harter, 2012).The instrument contains 45 items and measures the following dimensions of self-perception: scholastic competence, social competence, athletic competence, physical appearance, work competence, attractiveness, behavioural conduct, friendship as well as selfesteem as an independent dimension.Each subscale contains five items.The responses are given on a four-step Likert scale, where 1 means "does not suit me at all", and 4 means "suits me very well".The result for each dimension is calculated by summing the scores of the corresponding items.An example of item: "If I like a person of the opposite sex, then that person likes me too".

Procedure
Data were collected during the year 2021 using an online questionnaire.Informed consent for participation in the study was obtained (from parents, in the case of adolescents under 18 years of age) as well as informed consent for the processing of personal data.Participants could withdraw from the research at any time, their interests were ensured (no stress was induced, they were not mentally manipulated) but also their anonymity (Predoiu, 2020).

Results
The scores obtained by children and teenagers as regards their perception of the need for modernised physical education and sport classes are very high, M = 28.57,SD = 1.63.Concerning the dimensions of self-perception, the highest score was recorded for work competence (M = 15.68,SD = 2.88), and the lowest score, for attractiveness (M = 13.36,SD = 2.31).Self-esteem recorded a high score, M = 16.96,SD = 2.99.The average scores, standard deviations and internal consistency coefficients for the dimensions of self-perception are shown in Table 1.Asymmetry and flattening (skewness and kurtosis) are in the range (± 1.96), which reflects a normal distribution of data (Predoiu, 2021).Inferential statistics -Hypothesis testing H1: Boys have a significantly higher level of self-perception than girls.
To test this hypothesis, the t-test for independent samples was applied, the student's gender playing the role of the independent variable (IV) (Table 2).Significant gender differences were found in only one dimension of self-perception (Table 3).Thus, boys have a significantly higher perception of their athletic competence (M = 15.83,SD = 3.58) than girls (M = 13.51,SD = 2.81), mean difference = 2.32, t = 2.76, CI = 95% (.62, 4.03), p < 0.05, g = 0.72.The effect size index (g) highlights a very strong difference between girls and boys in terms of athletic competence.Therefore, the hypothesis (H1) is supported only to a very small extent by the analysed data.

H2:
Adolescents have a higher level of self-perception than children (preadolescents).To test this hypothesis, a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed, having as an independent variable (IV) the type of school where children and teenagers were enrolled (Table 4).A separate one-way ANOVA was performed for each dimension of selfperception.There are statistically significant differences according to the type of school only in two dimensions of self-perception (Table 5).Thus, in terms of work competence, children enrolled in schools with grades 1-8 recorded lower scores (M = 13.89,SD = 3.20), being followed by those from schools with grades 1-12 (M = 15.69,SD = 2.87) and finally by teenagers from high schools with grades 9-12 (M = 16.59,SD = 2.29).The differences are statistically significant, F(2, 66) = 6.41, p < 0.01.Regarding the perception of their own attractiveness, students from middle schools with grades 1-12 recorded the lowest scores (M = 12.31, SD = 1.44), being followed by those from schools with grades 1-8 (M = 12.89, SD = 2.31) and finally by those from high schools (M = 13.97,SD = 2.41).The differences are statistically significant, F(2, 66) = 3.25, p < 0.05.Given this result, the hypothesis (H2) is supported only to a small extent by the analysed data.

Table 4. Average scores obtained by participants for the dimensions of self-perception according to the type of school
H3: Boys perceive a greater need for the modernisation of physical education classes than girls.
To test this hypothesis, the t-test for two independent samples was applied (with gender playing the role of the IV) (Table 6).One can notice that there are no significant differences between girls and boys as regards the need for modernised physical education and sport classes (Table 7).The null hypothesis is accepted (H3).
H4: Teenagers (adolescents) perceive a greater need for the modernisation of physical education and sport classes than preadolescents.
To test this hypothesis, a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed, the type of school playing the role of the IV (Table 8).One can notice that there are no significant differences according to the type of school as regards the need for modernised physical education and sport classes (Table 9).The null hypothesis is accepted (H4).H5: Self-perception is a significant positive predictor of the need for modernised physical education classes.
To test this hypothesis, a multiple linear regression analysis was performed, having as predictors the eight dimensions of self-perception and self-esteem, and as a dependent variable (DV), the children's and teenagers' perceived need for the modernisation of physical education and sport classes (Table 10).It should be mentioned that multicollinearity was avoided, the normality assumption was verified using the Shapiro-Wilk test and no influential cases were found -Cook's Distance, Standardised Residuals and Studentized Residuals were checked (regarding the necessary conditions for applying multiple regression, see, for example, Piotrowski et al., 2021).We can state that self-perception is responsible for 34% of the variation in the perceived need for the modernisation of physical education and sport classes, the regression equation/ model being statistically significant, F(9, 59) = 3.39, p < 0.01.Of the nine predictors, only five are significantly associated with the need for modernised physical education and sport classes.Thus, as positive predictors, one can notice the behavioural conduct, β = .35,p < 0.05, work competence, β = .31,p < 0.05, and athletic competence, β = .27,p < 0.05, while negative predictors are attractiveness, β = -.27,p < 0.05, and self-esteem, β = -.43,p < 0.05.Given these results, the hypothesis (H5) is largely supported by the analysed data.

Discussion and conclusion
Researchers, health professionals and policy makers have all sought to investigate why some people are physically active, while others are not (Molanorouzi et al., 2014).Although the factors influencing participation in regular physical activity are extremely complex, studies have shown that motivation is decisive not only for participation in regular physical activity, but also for exercise adherence (Aaltonen et al., 2012).
HOPSports and Brain Breaks systems, for example, as a modern technology, can increase the attractiveness of the physical education lesson and the active involvement of preadolescents and adolescents during classes.Xu and Zhang (2020) also encourage adolescents to participate in moderate-to high-intensity physical activity to enhance selfefficacy (physical activity has a significant effect on self-efficacy).
The results of the present study suggest that children and adolescents who think that they have an exemplary behavioural conduct, are competent in their work and have athletic competence will perceive more acutely the need for modernised physical education and sport classes, while children and teenagers who consider themselves attractive and have high selfesteem do not perceive this aspect (new/modern technologies in PE classes) as necessary.
The scores obtained by children and adolescents as regards their perception of the need for modernised physical education and sport classes are very high very high.Therefore, the implementation of HOPSports and Brain Breaks programs would positively influence students' motivation for physical education and sport classes.Technology also greatly influences pedagogical strategies.
The conclusion that supports the first hypothesis is that there are no significant differences between boys and girls in terms of self-perception, understood as scholastic competence, social competence, athletic competence, physical appearance, work competence, attractiveness, behavioural conduct, friendship and self-esteem.The results obtained were consistent with those of other studies (Rasberry et al., 2011;Butt et al., 2011).
It seems that adolescents do not have a higher level of self-perception compared to children (preadolescents), and boys do not have a greater need for modernised physical education and sport classes than girls.It is also noticed that there are no important differences depending on the type of school as regards students' perceived need for the modernisation of physical education and sport classes.
Adolescents do not show a higher need for the modernisation of physical education classes than children (preadolescents).As for the last hypothesis of the research, the fifth, it was largely validated.Thus, self-perception is a significant predictor of the need for modernised physical education classes; as positive predictors, one can notice the behavioural conduct, work competence and athletic competence, while negative predictors are attractiveness and self-esteem.Self-esteem and self-perception issues are important stressors for individuals.Varieties of self-esteem could be investigated and discussed in future research, especially when self-esteem is a significant predictor of the need for modernised physical education and sport classes (for varieties of self-esteem, see, for example, Iulian et al., 2020).

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Distribution of participants according to gender and type of school

Table 1 .
Average scores, standard deviations and internal consistency coefficients

Table 2 .
Descriptive statistics -Dimensions of self-perception according to gender

Table 3 .
T-test for independent samples -Gender differences in the dimensions of self-esteem

Table 5 .
One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) for differences in the dimensions of selfperception according to the type of school

Table 6 .
Average scores obtained by participants regarding the need for modernised physical education and sport classes (according to gender)

Table 7 .
T-test for independent samples -Gender differences in the need for modernised physical education and sport classes

Table 8 .
Average scores obtained by participants regarding the need for modernised physical education and sport classes (depending on the type of school)

Table 9 .
One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) -Differences in the need for modernised physical education and sport classes (according to the type of school)

Table 10 .
Multiple linear regression -Self-perception as a predictor of the need for modernised physical education and sport classes