In the Swedish educational system, there has been a recent push for digital technology in different school subjects. This paper investigates what regulates Swedish physical education teachers’ perceptions of digital technology in outdoor education. The results is reflected in a number of rules that govern Swedish physical education teachers’ perceptions and use of digital technology in outdoor education. Findings suggest that teachers’ views on the relevance of digital technology in outdoor education depends partly on curriculum formulations, but of significant importance are also other factors such as: the addressed knowledge area, grade level, choice of digital device, needs of students, and teachers’ ideological beliefs. These rules are discussed in relation to the construction of outdoor education as knowledge area within physical education and in relation to the ways in which Swedish physical education teachers relate to curriculum changes.
Outdoor education (OE) is surrounded with challenges when positioned in physical education (PE) and physical education teacher education (PETE). Studies of OE in Swedish PE show that it is problematic to achieve goals and intentions in the national PE curriculum. When OE is implemented in Swedish PE it is often limited by factors such as the environment, resources, group size, pupils and the teacher's level of knowledge. PE teachers in Sweden have also proved to have difficulty using subject knowledge from PETE in their PE teaching. This relationship points to a need to strengthen the knowledge of how subject content in OE in PETE can influence school PE.
Lately, digital technology has come to be an important part in schools and in teacher education in Sweden. In this paper, we will describe a project which aims to investigate how digital technology is used, and how it can be used, in the context of OE in PE and PETE in Sweden. Increased knowledge of how contemporary processes such as digitalisation can influence educational practices is important in the strive to strengthen the relationship between PE and PETE with regards to OE.