Development of the Volcanic Disaster Risk Reduction Education Program Using the ICT Tool “YOU@RISK Volcanic Disaster Edition” —Practical Verification at a Junior High School in the Mt. Nasu Area—

This study developed a volcanic disaster risk reduction education program that aims to help junior high school students visually understand the risks of volcanic eruptions using map information and acquire independent assessments and actions to protect their own lives from eruption disasters. First, this program analyzed the present state, problems, and educational needs of volcanic disaster risk reduction education in Japan, and thereafter designed the learning content to fuse information and communication technology (ICT) education based on the Global and Innovation Gateway for All (GIGA) School Initiative promoted by Japan with disaster risk reduction education from a geographical viewpoint. We adopted the ADDIE model from instructional design theory to develop the program. An important feature of this program is the realization of geography learning using the “YOU@RISK Volcanic Disaster Edition,” a web-based GIS application developed by the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED), as an ICT tool. Learners use YOU@RISK on their tablets and perform operations such as visualizing the risk range in the event of a volcanic eruption and searching for appropriate evacuation sites and routes, while acquiring the knowledge and skills necessary for geographical literacy and emergency response actions. The program is able to realize interactive learning, which is a step ahead of education that relies on conventional paper-based hazard maps. Among active volcanoes nationwide, Mt. Nasu was selected as target volcano for this study. In addition, a junior high school located in the area surrounding Mt. Nasu, Nasu Junior High School in Nasu Town, Tochigi Prefecture, was selected as the target school. The program was implemented by teachers using tablets provided for each student at the school. We evaluated the effectiveness of the program by measuring and analyzing the effects of learning through the practice. Consequently, the effectiveness of the volcanic disaster risk reduction education program using ICT was confirmed.