ABSTRACT
The use of digital media to enhance student understanding of science has largely been through instructor development of course-specific materials, such as simulations, visualisations and games, and the integration of web-based media. Although there have been constraints on the potential of these resources to maximise student learning outcomes (Dutton, Hope Cheong & Park, 2004), they continue to grow across the educational landscape at all levels. Whilst these resources may be valuable, the use of student-generated digital artefacts is less common and may provide a powerful means to enhance student knowledge and understanding of complex environmental issues. This is likely a consequence of the immediacy, increased sophistication and capability of the technology (Hoban, 2013), and also through the participation of millennial-style learners, who possess the devices (e.g. smartphones) and technology (rapidly evolving applications) and, if not, the assumed levels of know-how or sophistication (Herold, 2012). In a recent study of undergraduates’ use of and familiarity with digital media, Kumar, Liu and Black (2012) commented on the lack of evidence about student use of novel technologies in study-related contexts. Initiatives that integrate emergent technologies in undergraduate curricula and which demonstrate enhanced learning and skills outcomes in students thus provide useful examples for further scholarly endeavour.
