Episodes of Situated Learning: natural hazards active learning in a smart school

Abstract

In many countries worldwide the living in a natural hazard prone land does not seem to be a prerequisite that drives to take actions on promoting knowledge and safety. This is a disappointing issue that poses important challenges to school education. School should be the major environment forming a more resilient future society and the place where to implant seeds capable to make the difference with the past, where we might have the chance to find solutions for a sustainability and security of future generation. Situated Learning Episodes (EAS) have the potential for actively engage today’s students and therefore can be succesfully used to promote knowledge on fundamental issues that affect future generations. As such EAS are based on active learning strategies and relate to the three learning domains referred to as knowledge, skills and attitudes. They are based on flipped-up approach to learning that starts from research on a certain subject, act on problem solving abilities, passes by a classroom discussion engaging students in solving problems in a learn-by-doing framework, and ends with a reflective learning approach, where concepts are reworked and restructured. Research is done through digital media that are more suitable to digital-natives students. In this chapter we present EASes focused on natural hazards (earthquakes, tsunamis and floods) that may strongly affect lives of many people around the world while being highly underestimated by formal education. Comics are used to trigger interest of students, engage them in finding the way to get around situations to develop life skills that might end up being fundamental for their own safety. We let the young implement their own strategy to communicate dos and don'ts on natural hazards and design three EASes: EAS1 - There's an earthquake! What to do?, EAS 2 - Earthquake and tsunami: what should I do if I am outdoor?, EAS 3 - Floods: what to do? School should take a role of social responsibility in the critical use of natural resources and promote accurate information on natural hazards and has a duty to convey the concept that earthquakes, tsunami, landslides, floods, are natural phenomena become disasters more often for a reckless land management [Piangiamore et al. 2013]. And all this can become an interesting research and discovery for students through an EAS.