Digital learning has rapidly developed within the past decade and today’s students have a fluency with digital technology that has led many educators to utilize digital learning techniques. Research indicates that this constant presence of technology can alienate students from the natural world, the opposite of what field-based environmental education hopes to accomplish, making it critical to investigate how digital technology impacts learning outcomes, especially in the field of environmental education. I explore the integration of digital technology in environmental education from two angles: Chapter One of this thesis addresses the relationship between student engagement and digital technology-usage through empirical research on learning and place engagement during an environmental science, arts, and humanities educational experience at a Long-Term Ecological Research site. The field-based learning experience, mediated by digital technology (tablets), aims to balance student engagement with both the curriculum and the natural landscape. I conducted an exploratory, mixed methods study to investigate the impacts the tablets have on learner engagement with both content and place. Results indicated both benefits and challenges to when using the tablets, however, the content and structure of the curriculum were more influential on engagement than the delivery medium. Chapter Two of this thesis provides a description, review, and synthesis of currently available research regarding the concept of “virtual sense of place”.
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