DREAD-ED

Nowhere in the world is immune from disasters, the key to reducing mortality and damage is advance planning. Those at risk need to learn how to react to specific events (e.g. earthquakes) and to do this they also need soft skills: communication and understanding of information under conditions of stress, problem-solving with partial or contradictory information, decision-making in the face of competing demands. DREAD-ED's proposes an innovative, technology-based teaching methodology to meet these needs. The proposed methodology will provide cost-effective training and is based on the concept of experiential learning: to acquire new competences, learners should be placed in situations where they can experiment under safe conditions. To this end, the project will adopt a blended strategy in which classroom teaching is complemented by tutor-supervised role-playing in a PC-based, online Virtual Environment, accessible from their homes and offices. Within the virtual environment, learners from different backgrounds will cooperate to simulate group interactions and individual decision-making during a disaster.