Advancing Disaster Education and Risk Communication through the Fundamentals of Resilience MOOCs in the Philippines

Disaster education remains unevenly accessible in many low-resource and disaster-prone contexts, where formal training opportunities are limited, and non-structural risk reduction measures are often under-prioritized. In the Philippines, particularly, the challenges of an archipelagic setting and the physical inaccessibility of higher learning institutions restrict options for building DRR capacity. We present an experiential analysis of designing and delivering disaster education at scale through the Fundamentals of Resilience MOOC Series in the Philippines, reframing large-scale open online courses as both educational interventions and risk communications strategies.

Drawing on mixed quantitative and qualitative data from multiple course offerings, alongside reflective documentation of iterative design decisions, we examine how abstract disaster risk reduction concepts are communicated within an open learning environment that brought together both domain experts, including DRR practitioners and educators, and highly diverse non-specialist learners. Non-expert participants ranged from students to workers in security, custodial service, and call center roles, creating a learning space with wide variation in prior knowledge, professional relevance, and familiarity with risk concepts. Particular attention is given to the communication of core ideas such as the components of disaster risk and the framing of disasters as socially constructed rather than purely natural phenomena. Changes in learner-generated definitions of resilience, visualized through keyword analysis, illustrate the conceptual shift in understanding across this heterogeneous audience.

We further explore what participation and engagement look like in open disaster education contexts. Engagement with the MOOC was non-linear and selective, calling into question the assumption that completion is the primary indicator of meaningful learning. While interactive activities and digital tools supported engagement and exploration, they also introduced new limitations, including superficial and AI-generated responses that complicate interpretations of participation and effectiveness at scale. These patterns highlight enduring tensions between innovation, accessibility, and meaningful engagement in disaster education.

Through the integration of experiential reflection, a risk communication lens, and empirical insights into learner participation, we present that MOOCs function as adaptive infrastructures for shaping public understanding of disaster risk rather than static courses to be completed. The findings and reflections contribute to ongoing debates on how innovative educational approaches can support inclusive, scalable open education in resource-constrained settings.