1) The document discusses research conducted on the Virtual Trillium Trail, a virtual ecological environment designed to inspire exploration and learning in children. 2) Two studies were conducted comparing learning in a real environment versus the virtual one, and exploring how different levels of visual fidelity and navigational freedom in the virtual environment impact learning. 3) The results showed that while the real environment was generally superior, the virtual environment was effective when content matched the real. Factors like visual fidelity, navigational freedom, and "salient events" positively influenced learning in the virtual environment.