"EP - Active Living": Evaluation of the usefulness, usability, and acceptability of a mobile application designed for upper secondary school physical education

Aim of the study

The objective of this research was, firstly, to evaluate the usefulness, usability, and acceptability of the mobile application "EP - Active Living," and, secondly, to identify its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats as a pedagogical tool for secondary education physical education (PE).

Methodology
To evaluate the mobile application, we contacted sixty-six experts, including secondary education PE teachers, inspectors from the Federation Wallonie-Bruxelles, university assistants/doctoral students/professors in the field of PE, and psychopedagogues. Each expert was invited to watch a video describing the application's features and respond to a questionnaire. Initially, we asked them to assess the application in relation to the three dimensions of evaluating a digital device for learning/teaching (Tricot et al., 2003). These three dimensions are as follows:
1.Pedagogical utility: Do the proposed features help achieve the targeted pedagogical objectives?
2.Usability: Is the tool easy to use, to handle without making manipulation errors?
3.Acceptability: Is the tool compatible with the values, culture, and context in which we want to implement our application?
A Likert scale was provided to evaluate each feature (e.g., useless, not very useful, useful, very useful). For each theme, the experts had the opportunity to leave comments. Subsequently, the participants mentioned the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the mobile application (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats; Helms & Nixon, 2010).
Regarding the data analysis, for quantitative data, we calculated the mean scores and standard deviations for each feature and dimension (maximum score = 4). We agreed that a mean score higher than 2.5 equates to a positive evaluation of the assessed item. For qualitative data related to comments and the SWOT analysis, we used codes and meta-codes, allowing us to classify responses by frequency.

Results
In total, thirty-six experts participated in this study, including twenty-six secondary education PE teachers, one inspector, seven university members involved in teacher training in PE (professors and assistant doctoral students), and two psychopedagogues.
Regarding the content of the mobile application, the utility of each feature received a positive evaluation with a mean score exceeding 2.5. Usability (3.53 ± 0.61) and overall acceptability (3.03 ± 0.56) were also positively evaluated (mean = 3.53; SD = 0.61 and mean = 3.03; SD = 0.56). Comments and the SWOT analysis led to the improvement of certain features, including evaluating autonomy after the class, focusing more on the student's intrinsic motivation, enhancing individualization, and improving knowledge transfer to the home.

Conclusion
The majority of experts appear positive about the usefulness, usability, and acceptability of the mobile application. Nevertheless, some modifications should be performed before initiating the pilot phase with secondary education students.