Wilderness Management on the World Wide
Web: an Application in Authorware
Michael A. Tarrant
Tamela L. Kibler
Abstract—Wilderness managers can access a computer-based,
user-interactive program via the World Wide Web (WWW). The
program is part of a distance education course offered through the
Georgia Center of the University of Georgia in Athens, and was
developed using Authorware Professional software. By incorporating sound, animation, visuals, text, and user interactions, the
program provides explicit examples of wilderness concepts and
applications in a dynamic, multimedia and user-friendly environment. Topics include the history of the wilderness movement in the
United States (including major wilderness advocates), wilderness
philosophies, and Federal agency involvement in wilderness
management. Target audiences include private and public agency
field staff, administrators, university academicians, and students.
A computer-based, user-interactive, multimedia wilderness program will facilitate distance learning via the WWW.
By incorporating sound, animation, visuals, text, model
simulations, and user interactions, the program provides
explicit examples of wilderness concepts and applications in
a dynamic, multimedia, and user-friendly environment.
Topics covered include a history of the United States
wilderness movement (including major wilderness advocates), wilderness philosophies, and Federal agency involvement in wilderness management. The program is
available on CD and can be accessed via the WWW at:
http://courses.arches.uga.edu/SCRIPT/REC331MT.
Target audiences include private and public agency field
staff, administrators, university academicians, and students. It is particularly appropriate for practitioners in the
natural resource, outdoor recreation, and wilderness management fields who (a) are unable to attend conventional
classes at colleges, schools, or universities or (b) work for
agencies within or outside of the United States and are
interested in training their staff through distance learning.
The course could easily be incorporated into existing
In: Watson, Alan E.; Aplet, Greg H.; Hendee, John C., comps. 1998.
Personal, societal, and ecological values of wilderness: Sixth World Wilderness Congress proceedings on research, management, and allocation,
volume I; 1997 October; Bangalore, India. Proc. RMRS-P-4. Ogden, UT: U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research
Station.
Michael A. Tarrant is Assistant Professor, Department of Recreation
and Leisure Studies and the Warnell School of Forest Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602 U.S.A. E-mail: tarrant@arches.uga.edu.
Tamela L. Kibler is Tourism and Business Specialist, South Carolina Sea
Grant Extension Program and Clemson University, Conway, SC 29526 U.S.A.
USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-4. 1998
distance education courses such as the Wilderness Management Correspondence Education Program (WMCEP) (Porter and Swain 1996) and other efforts to provide wilderness
communication via the internet (Freimund and Queen 1996;
Queen 1997).
Conceptual Background __________
While there continues to be debate concerning the role of
media in influencing learning (Clark 1983; 1994; Kozma
1994), it has been argued that computer-based, multimedia
instruction (involving interaction, sound, and animation)
may facilitate learning opportunities by providing explicit
examples of concepts and issues in a manner that users can
easily comprehend (Jonassen and others 1994). In this
regard, computer-based instruction is particularly valuable
in situations requiring off-campus and distance education
(Willis 1993).
One of the limitations in distance-learning through
traditional media is that immediate feedback to users is not
possible. Authorware addresses this limitation by (a) enabling users to simulate field exercises on the computer and
(b) providing immediate feedback through interaction. The
benefit of a computer-based wilderness education program
is not to remove the instructor from the learning process;
rather it changes the role of the instructor from the simple
provider of information to the facilitator of information
exchange.
This course, developed by the University of Georgia,
complements several other wilderness communication and
correspondence programs offered on the WWW by providing
opportunities for user interactions and simulations of realworld scenarios and issues in wilderness and natural resource environments. For example, users are provided sufficient information to address recreation carrying capacity
issues, as well as appropriate types of use, for wilderness
and other outdoor settings. In other examples, knowledge is
built and tested about specific areas in the United States
National Wilderness Preservation System, major wilderness advocates and their philosophies, and Federal agency
responsibilities for managing wilderness. By incorporating
interactive exercises into a multimedia environment, the
program enhances attention and provides the user with
immediate feedback and responses to issues and questions.
The type and extent of user interactions developed would
be extremely difficult to achieve in previous nondigitized
distance learning courses.
137
References _____________________
Clark, R. E. 1983. Reconsidering research on learning from media.
Review of Educational Research. 53: 445-459.
Clark, R. E. 1994. Media will never influence learning. Educational
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Freimund, W.; Queen, L. 1996. Enhancing the potential for
wilderness electronic communication. International Journal of
Wilderness. 2(1): 33-36.
Jonassen, D.; Campbell, J. P.; Davidson, M. E. 1994. Learning from
media: restructuring the debate. Educational Technology Research and Development. 42(2): 31-39.
138
Kozma, R. B. 1994. Will media influence learning? Reframing the
debate. Educational Technology Research and Development.
42(2): 7-19.
Queen, L. 1997. Participation of scientists in the wilderness
internet dialog. International Journal of Wilderness. 3(2): 32.
Porter, D.: Swain, R. 1996. Wilderness management by mail: correspondence education to meet the needs of tomorrow’s managers.
International Journal of Wilderness. 2(2): 22-24.
Willis, B. 1993. Instructional development for distance education.
In: Ely, D. P.; Minor, B. B., eds. Educational media and technology Yearbook, 1993, Volume 19. Englewood, CO: Libraries
Unlimited, Inc.
USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-4. 1998