Abstract:

Botanic gardens usually comprise spaces in which a wide range of plants of different environments are shown, appropriately labelled with their names. These spaces can be visited by students and used as teaching and learning tools in order to interpret natural and cultural heritage. However, the importance of virtual teaching has recently become clear due to the social and health context as a consequence of COVID-19, highlighting the importance of the creation and use of virtual educational resources. The present study shows the blog of the Native Flora Garden at the University of Jaén (Andalusia, Spain), a virtual educational resource created as one of the final products elaborated in the Educational Innovation Project of the University of Jaén entitled Promotion of the use of the Native Flora Garden at the University of Jaén as an educational resource (PIMED38_201921). The blog (http://blogs.ujaen.es/pimed38/) was created in March 2021 during an academic year in virtual mode. The information offered to users was arranged into different blocks, such as the composition and distribution of the garden, the description of the different Jaén’s biogeographic sectors represented, the list of plant species arranged alphabetically (indicating the presence of Andalusian endemisms) and the photographic gallery, among others. Once the blog created, it was applied from a practical point of view in the subject of Didactics of Natural Sciences I (Primary Education Degree, University of Jaén) (N = 132; ages 22±4 years). Firstly, the students had to visit the garden virtually by the use of the blog. Secondly, the students had to elaborate a didactic itinerary throughout the Native Flora Garden to teach those concepts related to living beings and the environment, natural heritage, ecosystem services and sustainability. The products elaborated by the students were evaluated considering four main criteria: the presence of activities pre-itinerary, during the itinerary and post-itinerary, the correct integration of curricular elements, the use of innovative teaching methodologies and the conection with the sustainable development goals. Although the learning process of the students was developed in a virtual teaching context, the results reveal the good acceptance and the optimal use of a virtual educational resource to create didactic itineraries for teaching contents related to nature and sustainable development, while promoting both the environmental sensitivity and the sustainability consciousness.

Keywords:

Blog, Native Flora Garden, natural heritage, sustainable development, virtual educational resource.