The Mexico heartquarters case: Physical Education Teacher Education in e-university environments during the COVID-19 contingency

ABSTRACT

The objective of this research was to describe the challenges faced in the use of Virtual Education during the COVID-19 contingency, by 254 university professors (153 women and 102 men) from four Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in Mexico, all from the area of Physical Education (PE). Analytic-synthetic, theoretical - deductive, and hermeneutic methods and quantitative and qualitative techniques through online questionnaires were used. The collected information led to the conclusion that teachers in this study 1) Do not consider themselves capable of efficiently using virtual education;2) Consider that virtual education, in PE, does not offer the same benefits as face-to-face education, 3) Contingency isolation is the most worrying personal challenge and 4) Teaching in a functional area (PE) through a virtual environment is the most crucial professional challenge. This study provides an approach to the implications of implementing virtual education in an eminently functional area such as EF and raises questions for future research.