Abstract
Virtual tours are among the many new Internet-based tools with potential applications in natural resource education. While technology exists to create virtual tour Web sites, little is understood about how they meet educational objectives and whether they can be complementary alternatives for traditional field tours. The Sustainable Forestry Partnership and the Forestry Media Center at Oregon State University created parallel virtual and field tours to compare these teaching techniques. Both tours illustrate the Montreal Process Criteria and Indicators for sustainable forestry and were offered to local members of the society of American Foresters, family forestland owners, and OSU faculty, staff, and students. Pre-tour and post-tour assessment forms were used to compare the effectiveness of each tour. The results of the evaluation have implications for utilizing virtual tours in university-level natural resource education.
Recommended Citation
Easley, Elissa C.; Fletcher, Richard A.; Jensen, Edward C.; and Rickenbach, Mark
(2002)
"Comparing the effectiveness of virtual and traditional forestry field tours,"
Natural Resources and Environmental Issues: Vol. 9, Article 32.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/nrei/vol9/iss1/32
