Using Social Media to Reinforce Environmental Learning and Action-Taking for School Students

Y

14

Conservation (Environment); Environmental Education; Social Networks; Social Responsibility; Intention; Elementary School Students; Transfer of Training; Field Trips; Interaction; Computer Mediated Communication; Electronic Publishing; Web Sites; Teacher Student Relationship; Learner Engagement; Teacher Attitudes; Qualitative Research; Observation; Interviews; Focus Groups; Documentation; Young Children; Outdoor Education; Natural Resources; Foreign Countries; Case Studies

2146-0329

Environmental experiences often engage learners and create an intention to act, which is then not followed through once the learner is removed from the environment. This study utilized an exploratory, interpretive framework with younger primary school classes to investigate if transfer of learning from field trip experiences "in" and "about" the environment into action "for" the environment could be reinforced by social media interaction between the environmental educator and the class through a blog. Field observations, teacher interviews, student focus groups and analyses of students' work indicated that the blogs were well-received by teachers and students and did foster continued student engagement. The social media interaction only facilitated student action-taking if there was a shared philosophy between the environmental educator and the teacher with respect to the aims of the experiences and the value of action-taking. The importance of teacher attitudes in determining the value of social media is discussed as well as the benefit of dialogue among environmental educators and classroom teachers with respect to the philosophy of environmental learning experiences.

As Provided

26

2015

EJ1060573