This research took place at the Dunedin Nature School in New Zealand, where students spend one day per week learning outdoors instead of in traditional classrooms. The school's experienced teachers focus on place-based learning, helping students develop deep connections with local environments while incorporating indigenous Māori knowledge and practices.
The researchers wanted to understand how these skilled outdoor educators might use smartphone cameras and video-making in their teaching. Instead of imposing technology from the outside, they walked around the school's regular bush site with teachers, discussing potential uses and challenges through informal conversations during outdoor exploration.
The study reveals four key insights about integrating technology with environmental education:
Getting Students to Notice Nature: The teachers' main goal is helping students develop "nature eyes"—the ability to really see and connect with the natural world around them. This takes time, often six to seven weeks, before students stop needing prompts and start naturally exploring and discovering on their own. The teachers wondered how video-making might support this process.
The Challenge of Making Technology Meaningful: While teachers could imagine using videos to document activities like sustainable food gathering or traditional crafts, they struggled with how to make technology truly educational rather than just recording what happened. For example, filming students harvesting cockles could share important lessons about sustainable practices and lifecycle understanding, but teachers weren't sure how to make the video-making process itself enhance learning rather than distract from it.
Respecting Private Learning Moments: Teachers recognized that some of the most valuable learning happens when students play freely in secluded spots they've discovered in the bush. These "hidey holes" lose their magic when adults intrude with cameras. This highlights how technology can sometimes interfere with authentic nature experiences, and educators need to be sensitive about when documentation is appropriate versus when it disrupts natural learning.
Extending Learning Beyond the Outdoor Classroom: Video-making showed potential for connecting outdoor experiences with families and communities. When students document traditional practices like weaving with native plants, these videos can share environmental knowledge more widely and help others understand the value of place-based learning. Rather than replacing direct experience, technology can amplify its impact.
The research identifies two main takeaways for environmental educators:
1. Integration is Challenging but Worthwhile: Even experienced outdoor educators find it difficult to meaningfully integrate digital technology with nature-based learning. This isn't a failure—it's a normal part of learning to work with new tools. Educators need support and time to experiment rather than pressure to immediately adopt digital approaches.
2. Technology Can Connect Rather Than Isolate: Instead of viewing screens as barriers to nature connection, thoughtfully used digital tools can actually extend environmental learning. Videos created outdoors can spark conversations at home, connect with other schools, or document local environmental knowledge that might otherwise be lost. The key is ensuring technology serves environmental education goals rather than dominating them.
The study argues for moving beyond "either/or" thinking about technology and nature. Today's students live in a world where digital tools and natural environments are both part of their daily reality. Rather than forcing educators to choose sides, the research suggests learning to work skillfully with both.
For environmental educators, this means:
• Recognizing that some moments require putting devices away to preserve authentic nature connection
• Experimenting with how digital documentation might enhance rather than replace direct experience
• Understanding that technology integration takes practice and shouldn't be rushed
• Considering how digital tools might help share environmental learning with wider communities
The ultimate goal remains the same: helping students develop deep, caring relationships with the natural world. Sometimes technology can support this goal, and sometimes it can interfere. The art lies in learning to distinguish between these situations and responding appropriately.
Environmental educators don't need to become technology experts overnight, but they can begin experimenting with simple tools like smartphone cameras to see how digital documentation might enhance their existing excellent work with students in natural environments.
The Bottom Line
This study challenges the common belief that digital technology doesn't belong in outdoor and environmental education. Researchers worked with two teachers at an outdoor school in New Zealand to explore how smartphone video-making could be integrated into nature-based learning. Rather than seeing technology and nature as opposing forces, the study found that digital tools can actually enhance environmental education when used thoughtfully. The key is understanding that students today are already connected to both technology and nature simultaneously—the goal is learning how to work with both together rather than forcing educators to choose between them.