Augmented storying can invite positive interactions with natureSome educators, scholars, and others are concerned about the possibility of digital technologies contributing to children’s disconnection to and engagement with nature. At the same time, many children feel that their concerns about the environment aren’t being heard. This study used a novel, augmented reality application to address both of these concerns.
Sixty-two 7-9 year old children from four classrooms in Finland participated in an augmented storying project which involved two-hour sessions each week over a period of four months. The project was designed around cross-curricular goals for environmental education, literacy education, and arts education. The children used electronic tablets and the augmented reality (AR) application, MyAr Julle, as a digital storytelling tool. With this tool, they explored, interacted, and created stories in nature. The stories revolved around a forest elf AR character referred to as “Julle.” The children’s stories were shared and discussed during small group interviews with the researchers. Video-recordings of 53 interviews and the children’s activities outdoors, along with the researchers’ observational field notes, were analyzed to determine how nature, children, and the AR application relate to one another and to identify the different literacies involved.
Augmented storying in nature proved to be effective in giving 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. The AR character, nature, peers and the children themselves all intra-acted in playful, imaginative and creative ways. Personal and cultural literacies were demonstrated in ways that were relevant and meaningful to the children’s own daily lives. The literacies and literacy practices displayed by the children indicated that they were engaged not only in and with nature, but also for nature. The children’s personal literacies thus became entangled with broader social and ecological literacies.
This research raises awareness about the educational possibilities of augmented storying for promoting children’s interactions and connections with nature. The findings shows how digital technology can be used as a tool to help children interact with and deepen their connections with nature rather than just learning about nature.
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