Work

Holding together Hope and despair: Transformative learning through virtual place‐based education in Aotearoa, New Zealand

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: This article explores how virtual place‐based education can foster transformative learning for distance students through a study of the Spatial Awareness Project, a digital storytelling film and podcast we co‐created with faculty and students. We found that students engaged with the resources in complex ways, with three dominant themes emerging in qualitative surveys of their emotional engagement: feeling joy, feeling unsettled, and feeling empowered. We argue that digital media that leaves students simultaneously positively affected and unsettled can enable transformative learning through discomfort, creating space for imagining the world in new ways, and sparking new conversations and connections within and outside the classroom.

Source: New Zealand Geographer

DOI: 10.1111/nzg.12411

Authors: Alice Beban, Cadey Korson

Institutions: Massey University, St. Clair County Community College

Language: English

Topic: Geography Education and Pedagogy

Subfield: Geography, Planning and Development

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Quality education

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $2,900