Digital technologies and the COVID-19 pandemic: Opportunities and challenges for environmental educators in Barcelona
Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: The COVID-19 lockdowns forced environmental educators to increase the use of digital technologies, bringing to the forefront the need for critical research on the implications for teaching practice. Through interviews in Barcelona, we explore how environmental educators perceived related opportunities and difficulties and how these connect with their competencies in environmental education. Non-formal educators reported a more comprehensive range of digital tools than those in formal settings and particularly highlighted the difficulty of sustaining the impact on environmental learning when replacing face-to-face methods with digital technologies. Interviewees commonly perceived motivational challenges. We discuss how these experiences were less related to educators’ previous use of digital technologies and more to mastering specific competencies that can help them deal with emotions.
Institution: Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
Language: English
Subfield: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4327650899