Educational Technology
H.R. Ghezelsefloo; S.H. Alavi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Research on the growing trend of using technology in the sports industry shows that the establishment of various sports technologies as a multifaceted tool has been able to minimize the challenges in organizing sports competitions by developing perceptual skills and reducing ...
Read More
Background and Objectives: Research on the growing trend of using technology in the sports industry shows that the establishment of various sports technologies as a multifaceted tool has been able to minimize the challenges in organizing sports competitions by developing perceptual skills and reducing incorrect and non-efficient decisions. The use of Hawk-Eye technology, the technology of detecting the point of contact of the ball with the court in the sports such as golf and rugby and the assistance video referee in volleyball, tennis and football are the latest applied technologies in the field of refereeing. On the one hand, the growth of this phenomenon is rooted in the limitation of human capabilities and on the other hand, it reflects the ability to determine and predict the stopping point for technology to play a role in performing complex and sensitive tasks. Therefore, one of the most important topics of technological influence is related to the category of refereeing in sports events. The ambiguity of many mistakes and lack of ways to identify them correctly and the confusion of the referees in making the right decision, have always been the headlines of the sports media. Despite considerable human resistance, ball and athletes control and tracking technologies have been widely used in world volleyball competitions during offensive and defensive use through the use of high-tech cameras and Hawk-Eye System. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of event-based sports technologies on the training and career development of referees in the Iran Volleyball Super League.Methods: The present study was a descriptive research and was conducted adopting mixed exploratory method. In the qualitative phase, 10 international referees were present in semi-organized interviews by judgmental sampling method. Due to the limitations of the coronavirus outbreak, this phase of the research was conducted in the form of a telephone interview and the creation of a research group in a social media to achieve theoretical saturation. In the quantitative phase of the research, 130 official referees of the Volleyball Federation were selected through purposive sampling as the statistical sample of the research. The research instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire extracted from the qualitative phase of the research including the variables of judgment quality, opportunity for growth and promotion, teaching and learning, judgment security and media coverage. The internal reliability of the scale was confirmed by Cronbach's alpha method (α≥0.78). In order to analyze the data, after ensuring the good of fit research index based on triple indicators (structural fit, measurement fit and overall research pattern fit), PLS-3 software and SPSS software were used (P≤0.05).Findings: Examining the triple indicators of convergent validity verified the overall validity of the research model; the values of the indicators confirmed the optimal power of the obvious constructs in predicting the final constructs of the research (job efficiency). The results showed a direct and significant effect of technology on five dimensions of referee’s job performance. Also, the results of model path analysis showed that the teaching and learning (LF=0.67, t=11.59, P≤0.05) and judgment quality (LF=0.65,t=8.47, P≤0.05) had the greatest impact on sports technologyConclusion: Restrictions on presence in all scenes as well as inappropriate viewing angles are the sources of many wrong decisions. Despite numerous pauses and video check requests by coaches, it is frequently used as a strategy to interrupt and review their tactical goals, but because of the undeniable consequences of technology in training dimension and error-free judging, 93% of the referees had a pro-technology approach in competitions. Therefore, the managers of the referee committee of the Volleyball Federation can provide the conditions for the growth and presence of more Iranian referees in international tournaments by establishing technologies related to competitions, in addition to reducing refereeing mistakes.
