Digital Competencies, Disaster Risk Reduction, and Education: An Introduction to the Digital Competency Framework to Develop Digital Pedagogical Competencies of Educators in Disaster Risk Reduction

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic was a novel biological hazard that emerged in 2019 and significantly impacted various sectors of society. While sectors such as the economy and health were severely affected, the education sector was no stranger to the grave impact of the pandemic. While the pandemic called for regulations such as lockdowns and social distancing, the education sector was required to shift the classrooms into distance digital-based classrooms, which led to several grave impacts. In this context, the EU Erasmus + co-funded project titled INCLUsive Disaster Education (INCLUDE) was initiated to find solutions to these adverse impacts of the emergency shift towards digital education in the field of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Education with partners from Lithuania, Japan, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. This chapter presents the project's final output, a digital competency framework for DRR educators. This framework is not just a tool, but a significant step in building the digital pedagogical competencies of educators, thereby enhancing the quality of DRR education. The methodology adopted to develop the framework was threefold. The process initiated with a literature review to trace the main types of digital pedagogical competencies. Next, the existing project output reports were evaluated to investigate the relevant digital competencies the DRR educators require. Finally, the framework was developed by matching the findings of the first two stages, and it was validated with the inputs of relevant experts. The literature review showed that knowledge, skills and attitudes have been recognised as critical in developing a digital competency framework. Therefore, the competency framework was developed based on those dimensions within the DRR education throughout the stages of preparation, execution and reflection. Further, the framework was based on the main virtues of responsiveness, adaptability and flexibility to consider the multidisciplinary and context-specific challenges of online DRR education. As a way forward, the research team recommends considering the role of institutions as the primary regulatory stakeholders in providing digital DRR education.