FEBRUARY 2024

In This Issue

1. Use different forms of nature-related technology in educational settings to promote engagement with learning
2. Use digital technology and other forms of virtual engagement with nature in healthcare settings to help children deal with stress and anxiety and to promote healing
3. Use both direct nature engagement and engagement with nature through technology as preventive measures to promote the mental health of children and youth
4. Use both direct engagement and virtual reality to promote nature connectedness and pro-environmental behaviors

Technology & nature engagement

We hear a lot about technology creating barriers to children’s nature engagement and that screen time is replacing outdoor time with resulting detriment to children’s well-being and their connectedness with nature. While technology should not be a substitute for real nature, and nature needs to be the star of the show during nature-based activities, there is a place for technology in engaging kids with nature.

Connecting to nature through technology can be helpful in promoting children’s health, well-being and academic success, as well as their connectedness with nature and pro-environmental understandings and behaviors. As a nature photographer, I certainly feel that my own connection to nature has been strengthened from behind the lens.

Sincerely,

Cathy Jordan, PhD
Consulting Research Director

Research Digest Archive | Research Library

Connect with top researchers and leaders in the children and nature movement

Researchers scraped data from over 101,000 school websites to discover the common characteristics of outdoor learning in U.S. elementary and secondary schools. Learn more at “Mapping the Landscape,” one of many eye-opening sessions at the upcoming Nature Everywhere Conference, May 28-31 in Madison, Wisconsin.

Recommendation for integrating nature and technology

While children’s involvement with technology is sometimes cited as a reason why children spend less time with nature, some studies offer insights into how different forms of technology can actually strengthen children’s connections with nature. Studies also indicate that technological nature can be used to promote children’s health and well-being.

Two previous Digests – June 2020 and May 2021 – outlined some of the benefits and concerns relating to technology and nature. This Digest focuses on more recent research and offers four broad suggestions on how to translate the research on integrating technology and nature engagement into practice when working with children and youth.

Integrating natural and digital experiences can support self-directed learning

Researchers in Sweden explored how two elementary students, ages 6-7, simultaneously used technology and nature to explore ecological interactions. Students incorporated an iPad as they learned about ecological concepts, a process that blurred the distinction between natural and digital. Through students’ self-directed learning processes, the digital tablet was an important resource that supported their developing eco-literacy and agency.
Caiman & Kjällander, 2024. Elementary students’ ‘outdoor – digital’ explorations in ecology – learning through chains of transduction.
Access Study

Virtual reality nature, when combined with physical activity, improves young children’s attention

Researchers investigated the effects of virtual reality (VR) nature videos and physical movement on young children’s attention. Participants included 152 kindergarteners, ages 4-6, in China who were randomly assigned to groups experiencing different combinations of nature VR and physical activity. Analysis of pre- and post-test attention scores revealed significant improvements to auditory and visual attention for students who viewed VR nature after a short period of physical activity.
Luo et al., 2023. The effect of different combinations of physical activity and natural environment videos on children’s attention levels between class breaks.
Access Study

Technology supports education for sustainable development through global partnerships

This study aimed to identify the learning outcomes prioritized by Virtual School Garden Exchange (VSGE) educators worldwide. VSGEs are technology-based international school partnerships focused on gardening. In interviews, 27 VSGE educators from Europe, Africa, and the Americas highlighted the aim of fostering knowledge regarding gardening, the global importance of gardening, as well as global challenges such as climate change.
Lochner, 2021. Educators’ intentions for learning in virtual school garden exchanges: A comparison with the aims of education for sustainable development.
Access Study

Kindergarten children using iPads showed enhanced engagement with learning both outdoors and indoors

In this study, kindergarten students in Canada used digital technology in the outdoors over the course of three school years. The study showed numerous benefits to the students, based on teacher feedback and computer-generated artifacts created by the students. The apps used by the children allowed them to document different aspects of the natural environment, capture their personal interests in nature, and express their feelings about nature. Additional benefits included enhanced physical and creative play, and deeper engagement in learning activities.
McGlynn-Stewart, Maguire & Mogyorodi, 2020. Taking it outside: Engaging in active, creative, outdoor play with digital technology.
Access Study

Balancing technology and outdoor learning can enhance early childhood education

This paper provides a research-based overview of the cognitive, social-emotional and academic benefits of both technology and outdoor learning for young children. It also offers recommendations for how early childhood teacher educators can integrate the two in developmentally appropriate ways. Risks related to children’s use of technology are also reviewed.
Siskind et al., 2020. Balancing technology and outdoor learning: Implications for early childhood teacher educators.
Access Study

2. Use digital technology and other forms of virtual engagement with nature in healthcare settings to help children deal with stress and anxiety and to promote healing

Virtual reality devices in nature-based therapy after surgical procedures may decrease symptoms

Four pediatric patients in the United States used 3-D Nature-Based Therapy glasses after extensive surgical procedures. Interviews conducted with the patients indicated that they found the experience to be “enjoyable” and “helpful.” Assessment results showed a net decrease in symptom scores for pain, anxiety and nausea after use of the nature-based VR glasses.
Kucher et al., 2020. 3-Dimensional nature-based therapeutics in pediatric patients with total pancreatectomy and islet auto-transplant.
Access Study

Engagement with nature through virtual reality could promote healing for individuals in physical and/or mental healthcare

This research summary indicates that nature through virtual reality (VR) may enhance the physical and emotional well-being of people receiving therapeutic care. Ways in which VR has been used in therapeutics include the alleviation of pain, physical and cognitive rehabilitation, and treatments for various emotional/psychological disorders. Further investigations regarding related risks and challenges are warranted.
White et al., 2018. A prescription for “nature” – The potential of using virtual nature in therapeutics.
Access Study

3. Use both direct nature engagement and engagement with nature through technology as preventive measures to promote the mental health of children and youth

Physiological responses to viewing nature support the usefulness of nature therapy for preventive medicine

This review focused on experimental studies investigating the physiological effects of viewing real natural elements or representations of nature. The majority of the studies that used display stimuli, such as photos, 3D images, virtual reality and videos of natural landscapes, showed that viewing natural scenery led to more relaxed body responses than viewing non-natural images. Physiological indicators of such responses were noted in both cerebral and autonomic nervous system activities.
Jo, Song & Miyazaki, 2019. Physiological benefits of viewing nature: A systematic review of indoor experiments.
Access Study

Virtual nature can promote adolescents’ mental health

Seventy-six individuals (ages 18-25) in the United Kingdom participated in a study to determine the impact of virtual nature on mental health. Youth were randomly selected to watch a short woodland nature video or a video of an urban setting. Adolescents watching the nature video generally scored higher on indicators of mental health than those watching the urban video. Beneficial results applied to assessments of stress, relaxation, affect, mood, attention, nature connection and spirituality.
Owens & Bunce, 2023. The effect of brief exposure to virtual nature on mental wellbeing in adolescents.
Access Study

4. Use both direct engagement and virtual reality to promote nature connectedness and pro-environmental behaviors

Digital storying gives children an avenue for communicating their values and affection for nature

This case study involving two students at a Finnish primary school found that a storytelling app helped them explore and communicate their emotional experiences related to nature. The children’s stories included connections between the local natural environment and broader global topics. This research indicates that digital storying may be a potential pedagogical tool for helping children express and share their emotional experiences in and about nature.
Byman et al., 2022. Children’s emotional experiences in and about nature across temporal–spatial entanglements during digital storying.
Access Study

An interest-centered design for mobile technologies can be effective in promoting children’s engagement with nature

Seven children (ages 7-12) in the U.S. participated in developing a mobile app that allows them to build, curate and share nature photo collections. Four design principles were used in developing the app: personal relevance, focused attention, social interactions and opportunities for continued engagement. Field testing results showed that this framework can be used in developing mobile technologies that promote children’s interest in nature.
Kawas et al., 2019. Sparking interest: A design framework for mobile technologies to promote children’s interest in nature.
Access Study

Augmented storying can invite positive interactions with nature

Sixty-two children (ages 7-9) in Finland used electronic tablets and an augmented reality (AR) application to create stories about a fictional character in an outdoor setting. This activity gave children an avenue for expressing and creating their own voice in relation to nature. It also encouraged the children to explore nature from a range of perspectives and positions.
Kumpulainen et al., 2020. Children’s augmented storying in, with and for nature.
Access Study

Cameras can help children notice nature

This paper studied film recordings produced by children (ages 11-14) and from body-mounted cameras worn by the children while canoeing on urban waterways in the United Kingdom. The recordings were used to explore the social aspects of noticing environmental features. While findings highlight peer-peer and peer-adult influences on noticing, results also indicate that the cameras played a key role in the process.
Smith & Pitt, 2024. Noticing nature on the waterways.
Access Study

BECOME A MEMBER, SUPPORT OUR WORK