Sport & Technology: Factors Involved in Adopting Emerging Technologies in Training Courses Dedicated to Sports Professions

Abstract

Discussions on the collection and interpretation of massive data dedicated to sport are all the rage. In a context of fragmentation of sporting practice and the weakening of traditional structures for processing and analyzing sporting data in a scientific manner, new forms of management are emerging, contributing to the restructuring and digitalization of the sporting landscape (Phomsoupha et al., 2021). The qualitative data collection took place during the second semester, from February 11 to April 10, as part of this research process. The integration of vertiginous devices that aim to improve sports performance by relying on Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Analytics would be a factor that favors both the timely storage of relevant data, the verification of learning and sports optimization and self-assessment (Soundardjee et al., 2020) to maximize the performance of athletes, players and teams and make predictions (Bossard et al., 2009). In fact, the challenge of institutionalizing these tools is to anchor specific training courses in the long term and to ensure that their claims penetrate the Moroccan education system. With this in mind, we analyzed the factors involved in the adoption and appropriation of technologies as part of the Sport Analysis and Technology study program at the Sport Profession Institute. The participants in this study were first-year students enrolled in the Sport Analysis and Technology program, aged between 19 and 20 years, and engaged in different types of sports activities. To do this, we documented how students enrolled in such a course reconcile these activities with modern technological reform. On the other hand, the use of a qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews proved promising to explore and understand the extent to which the explosion of these innovations in the educational and sporting spheres has changed the attentions, interests and stakes of these students.