Leveraging the community of inquiry framework to support web-based simulations in disaster studies

Web-based simulations (WBS) are increasingly used by educators to deliver higher education curricula. Given the growing number and diversity of students undertaking study in higher education institutions worldwide, it is critical that WBS are situated within a wider social-constructivist approach that facilitates community-based learning. To this end, we argue that the community of inquiry (CoI) framework offers a suitable solution. Based on a series of interviews with university educators and emergency management practitioners this paper investigates how the CoI framework can support the effective use of WBS to deliver disaster studies curricula in the higher education context. The findings indicate that purposefully addressing cognitive, social and teaching presence within a CoI is valuable when WBS are used in higher education and emphasise a range of issues that are particular to the use of WBS and the disaster studies context.