Up-to-date lesson plansNew Database Helps Sports Teachers Find Digital Tools

26 February 2025, by Newsroom editorial office

Photo: Spodigi

The Spodigi-Tools database should make it easier for sports teachers to use digital tools in their classes. The database was developed by researchers at the Universities of Hamburg and Wuppertal. In the upcoming months, it will undergo live testing and evaluation so that teachers can make the best use of it in their schools.

Organizational support, interactive games, or music streaming services—the variety of apps and tools available to create exciting sports classes is large and sometimes a bit overwhelming. Sometimes colleagues make suggestions. The new Spodigi-Tools database addresses this problem and offers a valuable, time-saving overview of available apps.

“Sports classes are also changing radically thanks to the advance of digitalization. The variety of digital tools for sports classes is impressive, but to some extent, difficult to take in,” says Hendrik Wiese, research associate in the movement, games and sports subject group in the Faculty of Education at the University of Hamburg. Spodigi-Tools, he explained, provides information and access to more than 550 digital tools to make sports lessons more efficient and up-to-date.

Filter options for specific lessons

The database was developed jointly by the University of Hamburg and the Bergische Universität Wuppertal as part of a project titled “database-supported planning of digitally supported sports lessons” or DiPSU for short in German. It received roughly €470,000 through the lernen:digital program of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and is part of the collaborative ComeSport project.

Spodigi-Tools offers filter options so that teachers and trainers can find exactly what they need, whether material for sports classes, different scenarios, costs, or the technical properties of tools. “Our platform helps teachers adapt their classes individually and use innovative methods directly in the classroom and in the gym,” says sports expert Dr. Rüdiger Hofmann from the University of Wuppertal.

For example, teachers can look for apps that support videography and that are available for free as full versions. The database offers 5 results and it provides not only names but short descriptions and cites further reading material. The database has a search button and allows for comparison of up to 4 tools. A video tutorial offers database instructions. In the future, the database should also make it possible to study decisions for and against digital technologies.

Ongoing development

Researchers want to follow the start of the database to evaluate it in the coming months. “The more users supporting us, the better we can adjust the databank for target groups later,” says Hofmann. The evaluation, which will include online surveys, is set to take place in May 2025.