State-wide dissemination of the Internet-based Professional Learning to help teachers to support Activity in Youth (iPLAY) intervention

This trial will test implementation of the Internet-based Professional Learning to help teachers support Activity in Youth (iPLAY) program, whilst secondarily collecting information related to effectiveness of the iPLAY intervention. iPLAY will include six components to promote physical activity participation and fundamental movement skill competency. These components are 1) quality physical education and school sport; 2) classroom movement breaks; 3) physically active homework; 4) active playgrounds; 5) community physical activity links; 6) parent and caregiver engagement. iPLAY Mentors (employed by the project) will deliver the intervention to teachers. Mentors will be current and retired teachers with NSW Board of Studies Teaching and Educational Standards (BOSTES) specialist accreditation in Health and PE. Mentors will complete two days face-to-face training from the project team to deliver the intervention. Workshops will include: (i) familiarisation with the intervention components and procedures, (ii) review of answers to pre-determined ‘frequently asked questions’, (iii) discussion regarding methods to establish mentors’ credibility, ‘relatability’ and likeability, (iv) problem solving exercises regarding likely challenging scenarios and (v) role-playing exercises. Teachers from all NSW elementary schools were eligible to enroll in the iPLAY dissemination study. Following enrolment, teachers were trained to deliver the iPLAY intervention via a combination of face-to-face and online learning modalities. First, iPLAY mentors delivered a two-hour face-to-face workshop to teachers in a group setting. Second, teachers received one hour of individual implementation support from the iPLAY mentor. Following this, teachers then completed an additional four hours of online learning via the iPLAY website, consisting of 8 x 30-minute online learning modules. Each module consisted of short (i.e., 3-5min) videos describing strategies and good and poor practice examples. Teachers were prompted to reflect on the strategies learnt, and set action plans to assist them in implementing the learnt strategies. Teachers were also asked to reflect on their implementation at the beginning of each online module. The face-to-face workshop, implementation support (from the mentor) and 8 online modules were designed to assist all classroom teachers to implement three of the six iPLAY components – 1) quality PE and school sport; 2) classroom movement breaks; and 3) physically active homework. The iPLAY website not only provided teachers and leaders with their online training modules, but also provided downloadable resources (e.g., lesson plans, activity descriptions, and classroom movement break videos) to support implementation. Teachers were continuously able to access resources on the iPLAY website. Teachers were asked to start implementing the intervention straight after attending the face-to-face workshop. The intervention is designed to be sustainable, as it requires teachers to change their teaching practices and increase opportunities for students to be active at school. Support from the iPLAY mentor is provided for a duration of 12-months. Additionally, school principals also chose 1-3 teachers to be school leaders. These individuals received further online training and were responsible for the implementation of the non-curricular intervention components (i.e., active playgrounds; community physical activity links; parent and caregiver engagement). iPLAY leaders completed four online learning modules (30 mins × 4 modules = 2 hours) designed to teach them how to implement the non-curricular components (i.e., active playgrounds; community physical activity links; parent and caregiver engagement) of the intervention. Additionally, iPLAY leaders will support other teachers with their implementation of the iPLAY components. Intervention adherence in PE lessons was monitored using lesson observations completed by the iPLAY mentors. Adherence to the non-curricular intervention components was self-reported by teachers using the iPLAY website. This information was then reviewed by mentors and discussed in meetings with teachers.