“EP–Vivre Actif”: A Pedagogical Tool to Support the Transfer of Learning in Physical Education

In a context marked by decreasing levels of physical activity (PA), physical education (PE) is increasingly expected to play a pivotal role in promoting lifelong active lifestyles, notably by enabling the transfer of knowledge and skills learned in the gymnasium to students’ daily lives. Although this objective is widely acknowledged, its implementation remains challenging in teaching practice. To address this issue, the digital tool “EP–Vivre Actif” was developed to support teachers in creating explicit links between learning experiences in PE and out-of-school contexts, by combining PA monitoring, pedagogical feedback and reflective activities.
This study aims to analyse the pedagogical appropriation of the tool, its use in supporting learning transfer, as well as its contributions and areas for improvement. The study adopts a qualitative approach involving 26 participants (M age = 31 years; 7 women and 19 men), including 17 pre-service PE teachers (M age = 23 years; 5 women and 12 men) and 9 in-service secondary school PE teachers (M age = 45 years; 2 women and 7 men).
The findings show that, despite being perceived as technically accessible, the pedagogical integration of the tool remains limited. Observed uses mainly correspond to delegated or incentive-based approaches, reflecting difficulties in embedding the tool within intentional teaching practices focused on transfer to everyday life. The effectiveness of the tool appears to depend less on its technical features than on the support provided to teachers in designing coherent pedagogical scenarios that explicitly foster learning transfer. These results highlight the need to jointly consider the development of digital tools and teacher education to strengthen the meaningfulness of learning in PE and to sustainably support the adoption of physically active lifestyles.