Investigating students attitudes and preferences towards disaster learning multimedia to enhance preparedness

Investigating students attitudes and preferences towards disaster learning multimedia to enhance preparedness Ivanka Krnjić College of Applied Studies Aviation Academy, Bulevar Vojvode Bojovića 2, Belgrade Vladimir M. Cvetković (  vmc@fb.bg.ac.rs ) Faculty of Security Studies, University of Belgrade, Gospodara Vučića 50, 11040 Belgrade, Serbia;Scienti c-Professional Society for Disaster Risk Management, Dimitrija Tucovića 121, Belgrade, Serbia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3450-0658


Introduction
A disaster is an individual event that causes the widespread loss of people, infrastructure, and the environment. Very often, they happen suddenly and seriously disrupt the routine of social units (Aleksandrina, Budiarti, Yu, Pasha, & Shaw, 2019;Cvetković, 2019;Kumiko & Shaw, 2019;Mano, & Rapaport, 2019;Ocal, 2019). They can have enormous consequences for society if there is a lack of information about the dimensions of the decision-maker's disaster or if experts' recommendations are ignored (Radović, 2017). The disaster risk and the consequences they bring with them include various aspects: physiognomic and demographic, which refers to changes in the morphology of the terrain and changes in the number and distribution of inhabitants in a particular territory; economic aspect related to material damage caused by disasters and nancial crises that occur due to damage to production facilities and job loss; the social aspect that arises as a result of disasters and it is re ected in the fact that it mixes the material position and social opportunities of individuals, but also entire societies; the environmental aspect that leads to changes in the quality of soil, water, air and health aspect that indicates great dangers of outbreaks of infectious diseases due to lack of hygienic living conditions and pollution of basic foodstuffs (Cvetković, 2020). The climate of Serbia is mainly exposed to oods as a hydrometeorological danger. Due to precipitation or sudden snow melting, oods occur, both along the rivers Sava, Drina, Velika Morava, and torrential oods can occur in smaller basins. Indeed, inadequate maintenance of river embankments leads to oods (Cvetković, Roder, Öcal, Tarolli, & Dragićević, 2018;. During 2014, extreme rainfall caused oods that were the most devastating in the past hundred years. The eastern portion of Serbia has seen the most severe droughts, and the north of the Pannonian Plain when it comes to droughts. In the last 20 years, droughts have hit Serbia three times (Dragićević & Filipović, 2016). Forest res are frequent occurrences on the territory of the Republic of Serbia during dry summers and endanger 28 percent of the country's territory. These disasters cause signi cant economic and population losses (Cvetković, Nikolić, Nenadić, Ocal, & Zečević, 2020;Cvetković et al., 2020;Cvetković, Tanasić, Ocal, Nikolić, & Dragašević, 2021).
Resources for identifying and analyzing disaster threats are academic institutions, research institutions, technical authorities, scienti c programs, government departments, and agencies that may have signi cant responsibilities in the eld of public safety, private sector authorities dealing with programs and projects that can create potential disaster threats, industrial safety organizations, and international agencies to assist with development projects of various kinds (Carter, 2008, p. 195). Disaster management can be divided into the following four phases: preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery (Hristidis et al., 2010). Efforts to mitigate the consequences are long-term measures that prevent hazards from turning entirely into disasters or reduce the effects of disasters if they occur.
Social media empowers local communities by enabling interactive communication and strengthening cooperation with disaster relief agencies. The application of social networks plays a signi cant role in reducing the risk of disasters. Their role is re ected in raising awareness of the existing dangers in the environment and educating about preventive measures as an essential factor in mitigating or eliminating the consequences of disasters (Cvetković, Filipović, Dragićević, & Novković, 2018;Cvetković, Milašinović & Lazić, 2018). They also play an essential role in informing citizens, collecting aid for affected people and the vulnerable. In addition, the use of social networks has negative consequences, which are primarily related to misinformation, raising fear levels, and the like. Through social networks, users can get acquainted with risk maps in the areas they live. An interactive online campaign improves the level of emergency preparedness (Anson, Watson, Wadhwa, & Metz, 2017;Ghosh et al., 2018;Houston et al., 2015). On that occasion, it is possible to use videos, text, and photos to get acquainted with the characteristic dangers of a given area. There was a great interest in the use of social networks in order to exchange information about disasters, primarily due to concerns for the safety of other people. In order to make the most e cient use of social networks in disseminating information about disasters, it is necessary to educate users on how they can help emergency rescue services in carrying out activities aimed at reducing the risk of disasters .
Policymakers have focused on developing a new approach to persuading people and creating leaps in disaster risk reduction, such as training children, the general public, especially vulnerable people, taking into account the increased risk of disasters and vulnerability to climate change, development, increased inequality in income and low host readiness (Bosschaart et al., 2016;Brodie et al., 2006;Morrow, 1999;Kagawa & Selby, 2012). Disaster education aims to provide knowledge, skills, motivation to individuals and groups to reduce their vulnerability to disasters. Even educating vulnerable people makes practical actions for other people or communities . Disaster education is a practical, logistical, and cost-effective risk management strategy (Center, 2008). Research has con rmed that poor awareness and inadequate understanding of risk negatively affect people's readiness, response to hazard warnings, personal protection measures, and recovery (Wisner, 2006). Special training and attention are provided with the assistance of professional and certi ed personnel should be directed towards vulnerable people due to their limitations and the conditions in which they live (Muttarak & Pothisiri, 2013;Rundmo & Nordfjaern, 2017).
Children, particularly those who are enrolled in school at the time of the disaster, are among the most vulnerable demographic groups during a disaster. During the disasters, school buildings were destroyed, taking precious lives of children and teachers and stopping access to education after the disaster. Renovation of these schools can take years and is very expensive (Selby & Kagawa, 2012). Incorporating disaster awareness into school curricula usually has long-term value (Carter, 2008). Several studies con rm that disaster and risk education should be part of the national curriculum of primary and secondary schools and be included in several school subjects, such as geography, social sciences, biological sciences, forensics, physics, history . Various educational materials are available today and can raise awareness and gain knowledge about disaster management.
When creating an educational strategy in disaster risk reduction, it is necessary to consider the advantages and disadvantages of different ways of education. Social and video games can develop awareness and acquire knowledge about disasters, but simulations certainly have a signi cant place. Through simulations, participants have the opportunity to get acquainted with disasters and face the fundamental uncertainties and risks that accompany them through a simpli ed presentation of factual scenarios. Multimedia occupies an important place in modern education. It is an interactive computer project that uses sound, text, and lm, such as interactive encyclopedias, educational discs, and the like. Multimedia is a combination of several different technical media. The educational presentation strives to create audio and visual effects in classrooms through color text and images, and with animation and sound, the effectiveness of which is re ected in attracting and maintaining students' attention (Budić, 2006, p. 81). When watching multimedia presentations, students more easily adopt the material through pictures, which sometimes speak more than words, movies, and animations, and an adequate balance of these elements and text (Solaković, 2018, p. 23-31).
Learning about disasters and how to react in such situations is crucial in reducing the risk of disasters. This type of learning should become an integral part of every society, and as such, it should be integrated into school curricula, and children should be introduced to knowledge about disasters as soon as possible. For these reasons, the authors examine students' attitudes and preferences towards disaster learning multimedia to enhance preparedness.

Materials And Methods
The research aims to examine the interrelationship between educating students about disasters through multimedia and the level of disaster risk reduction. Exploring the connection between educating students about disasters and reducing the risk of disasters also means considering different ways of acquiring knowledge about disasters and their impact on good action in the event of disasters. The impact of the school's cooperation with professional institutions in transferring knowledge and experiences about disasters was examined to determine the interrelationships between educating students about disasters through multimedia and reducing the risk of disasters. Also, the impact of acquiring knowledge about disasters through other subjects in high schools on the connection between educating students about disasters through multimedia and reducing the risk of disasters was examined.
The second segment of the research aimed to assess the extent to which multimedia content is used in the school in order to improve teaching and acquire knowledge from disasters, as well as how familiar students are with disasters, and with adequate response and action in case of disasters. Knowledge and information about the education of students through multimedia in school was obtained through the evaluation of the stated claims. Through these claims, there was a decline in the extent to which the use of multimedia is represented in the school, how much knowledge is gained through its application, how much students are involved in their preparation and development, and whether students are introduced to various evacuation exercises through multimedia and practical examples. Also, by evaluating the stated claims, the students indicated the extent to which they are familiar with the different segments of disaster risk reduction. First of all, the evaluation of the stated claims revealed data on how much students are aware of disasters, with adequate response in case of their occurrence, preventive and safety actions, and risk management in disasters. The students evaluated the stated statements using the Likert scale, where they stated on a scale from 1 to 5 to what extent they agree with the stated statements, where 1 -do not agree at all, 5 -agree at all.
The research was conducted during February and March 2021, where the answers and attitudes of the respondents were collected by sending an online survey questionnaire electronically to the email addresses of high schools. The research was aimed at nal year students of secondary vocational schools and gymnasiums. Students' attitudes regarding the acquired knowledge about different types of disasters through the acquisition of knowledge through the study of different subjects during secondary education were examined.
In designing the research hypotheses, we started from previous research that dealt with analyzing students' education about disaster risk reduction. The application of computer games, simulations, and educational videos in schools can raise the level of readiness of students and citizens to react in case of disasters (Cvetković & Katarina, 2019). Research shows that students can actively participate in implementing safety measures in schools and work with teachers and other people in the community to reduce risk before, during, and after disasters (UNICEF, 2011). The role of teachers is to build disaster awareness through the curriculum (UNESCO, 2014).
The general hypothesis refers to the veri cation of the claim that the application of multimedia in the education of children in schools about disasters ensures that students are acquainted with disasters and that they develop skills for safety and risk management in case of disasters. Concerning the general hypothesis, the paper starts from three particular hypotheses: Particular hypothesis 1. Variables of student education through multimedia show statistically signi cant correlations with variables of disaster risk reduction. Particular hypothesis 2. Variables of student education through multimedia show statistically signi cant correlations with variables of disaster risk reduction with a moderative effect of cooperation with professional institutions. Particular hypothesis 3. Variables of student education through multimedia show statistically signi cant correlations with variables of disaster risk reduction with a moderating effect of acquiring knowledge about disasters from other subjects.

Basic Characteristics of Respondents
The research sample included 376 students. The research was aimed at many high schools in the Republic of Serbia. However, given the low response, the survey covered 25 high schools, including about 5% of the total number of high schools that educate children in the Republic of Serbia. The most signi cant number of students who responded to the research are from the following schools: Aviation Academy and Sports Gymnasium from Belgrade, Technical School "Ivan Sarić" and Chemical-Technological School from Subotica, Technical School from Vlasotince and Technical School from Užice.
Considering that the surveyed students are in the nal years of high school, they are adult children whose ages are 18 (88%) and 19 (12%) years. When it comes to the gender of the respondents, it can be said that the research covered a relatively equal number of genders, i.e., 190 (50.5%) male respondents and 186 (49.5%) female respondents participated. The most signi cant number of students, 156 (41%), achieved perfect results, slightly fewer 141 (38%) achieved excellent results. 73 (19%) students achieved good results in school, while 6 (2%) stated that they achieved good success. According to the analysis of the community in which the students live, data were obtained on who cares for them and with whom they share the community, and in what status their parents are in terms of employment and what level of education they have reached. The above research included the most signi cant number of students living in a community with both parents, and this number is 289 (76.9%) students, as shown in Fig. 4. Only 18 (4.9%) students live with their father, while 59 (15.7%) live with their mother alone. Of the total number of respondents, 10 (2.6%) stated that someone else cared for them.
In most cases, both parents were employed, which was stated by 232 (61.7%) students. In the community where only one parent works, 119 (31.6%) students voted, while the number and percentage of those students who stated that their parents were unemployed were 25 and 6.5%, respectively. When it comes to the level of education of the father and mother of the surveyed students, it can be said that the level of education is approximately equal, with the level of reached education of fathers slightly exceeding, as shown in Graph 6. Secondary education is most represented, and when in the case of mothers, it is 243 / 64.8%), and in the case of fathers, 259 (69.3%). It occupies approximately similar values, but in a tiny percentage when it comes to higher and higher education of fathers and mothers. Also discouraging is that 5.6% of fathers and 6.7% of mothers of surveyed students completed only primary school.

Questionnaire Design
Data on students' attitudes towards disasters and their knowledge about them were collected through a survey. The survey questionnaire consisted of two segments. The rst segment referred to general issues related to students -respondents. In this segment, respondents cited general questions related to gender, age, level of education of father and mother, who makes up the community in which they live. In addition, information was obtained within this segment on how they are familiar with various disasters and through which sources they are most aware of them. The questions were also related to whether the knowledge about disasters comes through the study of other subjects in school and whether they might prefer to have a subject that would deal exclusively with the analysis and knowledge of disasters. Then, through the questions, it was found out whether the school cooperates with certain professional institutions on improving knowledge in the eld of disasters and whether the parents of students are involved in that process. Respondents stated whether members of their families were involved in some disasters.

Analyses
After surveying high school students, the preparation of the collected data for processing began. A database was created where the data for processing is stored, after which they were reviewed to identify and eliminate possible errors. Further analysis of the data included descriptive statistics. After preparing the collected data, we proceeded to the analysis of individual questions, the results of which are presented by tabulation to determine the empirical distribution of the analyzed variables and the presentation of descriptive statistical indicators. After processing the data, the research results are presented in graphs and tables, explaining the mutual in uences and relations of the analyzed variables. In addition, after the descriptive statistics and the analyzed variables used in the research, a correlation analysis of the mentioned variables was approached to de ne the mutual relations and relations between them (Tabachnick, Fidell, & Ullman, 2007). Regression analysis de ned the individual in uence of the analyzed variables. After the statistical analysis, the research results are presented in a table with appropriate discussions, comments, and conclusions that will easier understand and compare the obtained data. The collected data on the research were processed in the statistical program SPSS Statistics 25.

Results
Several questions aimed to determine the extent to which students were familiar with certain types of disasters, how they came to know about them, and whether anyone close to them was a participant in the disasters. According to the research results, the students pointed out how they most often get information about disasters and gain knowledge about them. The following graph indicates the structure of the respondent's response.
Based on the data shown in Fig. 1, most respondents stated that information on disasters is obtained by searching data on the Internet, which is considered by almost half of the respondents 185 (49.2%). Approximately 105 (27.9%) respondents came to know about information through the media, while 40 (11.2%) stated through conversations with family members. Only 28 (7.4%) students stated that learning about disasters comes through learning at school, while the smallest number stated through social and video games, i.e., 16 (4.3%). The extent to which the surveyed students are familiar with the different types of disasters can be seen based on Table 1. The research aimed to determine the extent to which students are familiar with the following types of disasters: earthquakes, oods, landslides, pandemics, res, exposures, and accidents. Based on the research results, it can be seen that they are most familiar with these disasters. Of the analyzed disasters, the most signi cant number of students (71.8%) are familiar, while a signi cant number (7.7%) are fully aware of the pandemic. Given the current global situation with the coronavirus pandemic, it is inevitable that there is a large amount of information and knowledge coming to students. Therefore a great deal of information and knowledge about this type of disaster is apparent. The students cited re and oods as disasters known to them. Frequent oods in our country and the great oods from May 2014 indicate that a large amount of information about this catastrophe is placed through the media. Of the mentioned disasters, the students stated that they were the least familiar with accidents, where a large number of them stated that they did not know this type of disaster, which is considered by 29% of the surveyed students.
The research indicated that students are primarily users of social networks, which 367 (97.6%) students considered, while 9 (2.4%) stated that they do not use social networks. Of the total number of students who participated in the research, 60 (16%) stated that some of their family members experienced direct or indirect consequences of the disaster. On the other side, 216 (84%) stated that they did not have such a case in the family. When it comes to the cooperation of the school with professional institutions in terms of acquiring knowledge about disasters, 174 (46.3%) students stated that their school cooperates with such institutions, while 202 (53.7%) gave a negative answer. About 125 (33.2%) students believe that the school nds ways to involve parents in cooperation to more effectively acquaint students with disasters, while 251 (66.8%) stated that such cooperation does not exist. Disaster learning is the subject of study through the contents of other subjects, a statement with which a more signi cant number of students agree 204 (54.3%), while the negative to this question was given by 172 of them (45.7%). That students are interested in this area and ready to acquire knowledge about disasters through the introduction of a new subject in the eld of disasters was con rmed by the fact that a slightly higher number of students, 199 (52.9%), said they were in favor, while against the introduction of a new subject 177 (47.1%) students.
The research segment analyzed the application of multimedia content in disaster learning and the impact that learning has on reducing disaster risk. This section of the study examined factors indicating student education via multimedia and disaster risk reduction. Table 2 presents descriptive statistics of the analyzed variables of student education through multimedia, where the mean, minimum and maximum value, standard deviation, and variable labels that will be used in further research are listed. Based on the research results of descriptive statistics in Table 2, we can see that all variables of student education through multimedia are rated above the average value, which is 2.5. The lowest rated variable is multimedia, which only indicates that this type of learning is not su ciently represented in high schools. The best-rated variables, which signi cantly exceed the average knowledge, are visualization and simulation via multimedia. This is precisely the advantage of this type of learning because children can gain complete insight and experience the actual visual effects of a catastrophe through this technology's possibilities. Therefore, various evacuation exercises and practical examples of disasters and actions can provide students with valuable knowledge and experiences that can help them in their occurrence. Table 3 presents descriptive statistics of disaster risk reduction variables, where the mean value, assessed by students, minimum and maximum value, and standard deviation are given. The table also contains abbreviations that will be used in the continuation of the research. Descriptive analysis of disaster risk reduction variables found that all analyzed variables were rated signi cantly higher than the average value of 2.5, as shown in Table 3. It can be seen that the best-rated variable is disaster knowledge, which only indicates that students have some knowledge about the disasters they have acquired during their previous schooling and collected from other sources of information, such as the Internet, the media, and indeed through the experience passed on to them by their family members. Slightly lower scores, but relatively uniform, were given to other variables related to disaster response, action, and management. The lowest rated variable is safety action, which only con rms that children should be shown practical knowledge and guidelines on how to behave in the event of a disaster. Based on the descriptive statistics of the variables of student education through multimedia and the variables of disaster risk reduction, a correlation analysis of the mentioned variables was performed, and their mutual in uence was determined. The following Table 4 shows the relations obtained by correlation analysis. These results show statistically signi cant correlations, which can be seen based on the presented research results in Table 4. All shown correlations are positive and indicate a moderate or signi cant correlation of the analyzed variables. The observed relationships show that the variable learning through multimedia has a signi cant relationship with risk management and safety in disasters. In addition, the mentioned variable achieved a signi cant correlation with the variables adequate response and preventive action. Therefore, it is concluded that the application of multimedia in educating students about disasters can signi cantly contribute to adopting the necessary knowledge and skills essential for preventive action, adequate and safe action in case of disasters. In addition, multimedia in the acquisition of knowledge about disasters greatly in uence risk management, which is essential for reducing the consequences of a disaster. A critical connection has also been established between multimedia summaries and the variables preventive and safety action. Simulations signi cantly contribute to a realistic experience of a disaster.
Through this type of learning, children more clearly adopt the necessary knowledge about what to do to avoid possible disasters caused by man and how to behave in disasters to save their own lives and the lives of other people. Through the simulation, the procedures and methods of evacuation and behavior in case of different types of disasters can be clearly indicated. Variables that have established lower-intensity, but undoubtedly statistically signi cant, relationships are multimedia visualization and risk management. Visualization certainly contributes to a more accessible acquaintance of students with different characteristics and dangers that disasters bring with them. However, the application of simulations in learning has a much stronger effect on the perception of knowledge. This is supported by statistically signi cant higher intensity relations established between the variables of simulations through multimedia with all variables of student education through multimedia to the correlations established by the variable visualization through multimedia to the observed variables of student education.
When it comes to the relationship between the analyzed variables, the mutual Correlation of these variables was determined by whether the school cooperates with professional institutions on improving knowledge in the eld of disasters in its students, or it is not the case. These relationships show statistically signi cant differences between the correlations of the analyzed variables in those schools that cooperate with professional institutions in terms of educating students about disasters and those schools that do not practice it. In schools that cooperate with professional institutions, there is a signi cant connection between educating students through multimedia and the variables of disaster risk reduction. The variable simulation achieved a vital connection via multimedia with the variables disaster knowledge and adequate response. Also, the variables safety performance and risk management indicate an essential correlation with the variables simulations via multimedia and learning via multimedia. In addition, a signi cant correlation between these variables was achieved with the variable student involvement, while this variable showed a statistically signi cant correlation with the variable knowledge of disasters. All these relations indicate that cooperation with professional institutions contributes to a better acquaintance of students with disasters. The effects of professional knowledge, original video, and accurate simulations are visible in improving knowledge about disasters and learning about preventive and safety actions due to disasters. Also, involving students in creating multimedia and participating in discussions on various forms of disasters contributes to the easier acquisition of knowledge when it comes to knowledge of disasters and risk management in disasters.
When it comes to the correlation relations between the analyzed variables in those schools that do not cooperate with professional institutions, it is realized that relations of lower and insigni cant intensity were recorded. Namely, a slight correlation was established between the variables learning through multimedia and risk management and between the variables simulations through multimedia and security performance. The achieved correlations are mostly of insigni cant intensity. They do not show a statistically signi cant correlation between the analyzed variables, which only indicates that the lack of cooperation with professional institutions does not lead to the expected effects in accepting knowledge about disasters. The results of the correlation analysis are shown in Table 5. The analyzed relationships between the observed variables of student education through multimedia and the variables of disaster risk reduction were observed from studying knowledge about disasters through the contents of other subjects. Namely, the mutual relations between the analyzed variables were considered in those students who stated that they acquire knowledge about disasters through other subjects and in those students for whom this is not the case. Table 6 shows the results of the correlation analysis. The correlations of the observed variables analyzed from the aspect of learning about disasters through other subjects indicate statistically signi cant differences between correlations in those students who acquired some knowledge about disasters through studying other subjects and those who did not. A strong correlation was established in most of the correlations between the analyzed variables in those students who acquire knowledge about disasters through other subjects. A statistically signi cant correlation was achieved between the variable learning through multimedia and risk management and safety performance.
When it comes to students who do not acquire knowledge about disasters through other subjects, it can be seen that only the variable learning through multimedia showed a statistically signi cant correlation with all variables disaster risk reduction. In contrast, most other correlations did not establish any statistically signi cant correlation. This indicates that the knowledge in the eld of disasters that children acquire through other subjects greatly helps them accept and adopt the necessary information related to preventive and safety action and adequate response in case of disasters.
Based on the con rmed interdependence of the analyzed variables, a regression analysis was performed. Regression analysis determined the individual impact of independent variables of student education through multimedia on the dependent variables of disaster risk reduction. The results of the regression analysis are shown in Table 7. Note: DRR -disaster risk reduction; ЕSTM -educating students through multimedia The contribution of the variables of student education through multimedia for the total R square of the regression with the variables disaster risk reduction was examined by the regression method. These results indicate that the variables of student education through multimedia are the best predictors of safety performance (R 2 = 0.218) and risk management (R 2 = 0.214 In contrast, the variable simulation through multimedia had a statistically signi cant impact on preventive and safety action variables. Based on the above, we can conclude that the in uences and effects of multimedia in disaster learning have con rmed the impact on reducing the risk of disasters. The importance of learning through multimedia is especially emphasized through simulations, while the effects of this learning are most visible on acquiring knowledge about safety and risk management in disasters.

Discussion
It has been pointed out that disaster education provides knowledge and skills to individuals that enable them to reduce the risk of disasters and when it comes to vulnerable groups (Rohmann, 2008), as is the case with children. The presented research in the paper is similar to the results of previous research (Agular & Retomal, 2009;Center, 2008;Wisner, 2006) con rmed that disaster education is a functional tool for disaster risk management and affects the readiness to respond in such situations. As children belong to a vulnerable group, it is necessary to get acquainted with disasters and disaster risks as soon as possible, and previous research has indicated the importance of including this topic in school curricula (Carter, 2008;Mangome et al., 2013;Petal & Izdalhklah, 2008), whose importance is con rmed by the research conducted in this paper. Also, students' awareness of the importance of this topic was con rmed through research, where it was indicated that more students favor learning about this topic in school through an independent subject.
Similar to previous research (Cvetković and Miladinović, 2017), the research results show that students are most familiar with disasters, mainly with the pandemic, which is expected given the current situation with the coronavirus. They also cited oods and res as disasters about which they have much knowledge. The necessary information on disasters is obtained by searching the Internet and through the media. Acquiring knowledge about disasters through school learning is very little represented as a source of information and knowledge. Students prefer to learn through multimedia, video games, and the Internet, as evidenced by the fact that 97.5 percent of them are active users of social networking sites, which, if used correctly, could be a valuable source of information about future disasters. Student enthusiasm in disaster learning is re ected in the fact that a higher percentage of them (52.9 percent) indicated that they would support the introduction of a new subject in the area of disasters.
Previous research has demonstrated a positive relationship between the quality of acquired knowledge and simulation (Karal et al., 2010;Cvetković & Andrić, 2019), animation (Mayer & Moreno, 2002), information and communication technologies (Al-Tamini, 2003), and multimedia (Solaković, 2018;Terzić & Miljanović, 2009;Watters & Dieymann, 2007). Within this research, a correlation analysis was conducted between the variables of student education through multimedia and the variables of disaster risk reduction. The obtained relations con rmed that there is a statistically signi cant correlation and in uence between the analyzed variables. This indicates that improving the education of students through multimedia, and primarily by using simulations, provides a reduction in the risk of disasters, primarily through preventive and safety action. Based on the above, it can be concluded that particular hypothesis 1 of this paper was con rmed, i.e., that the variables of student education through multimedia show statistically signi cant correlations with the variables of disaster risk reduction.
The existence of statistical signi cance between the analyzed variables led to further research, where this relationship was viewed from the aspect of school cooperation with professional institutions in disaster management. These relations show statistically signi cant differences in the correlations achieved in those schools where cooperation with professional institutions is achieved and through which children gain new knowledge in the eld of disasters, unlike those schools that do not practice it.
These correlations con rmed a particular hypothesis 2. This con rms that the variables of student education through multimedia show statistically signi cant correlations with the variables of disaster risk reduction with a moderative effect of cooperation with professional institutions. Mutual in uences and relations between the observed variables were analyzed to acquire knowledge in the eld of disasters from other subjects. To what extent does educate students through multimedia about disasters impact reducing the risk of disasters if students have already acquired speci c knowledge in this area by studying the content of other school subjects. A very signi cant correlation was established in those children who had some prior knowledge in the eld of disasters and where the already acquired knowledge could improve and create the knowledge necessary for adequate response and safety in case of disasters. Based on the determined different levels of statistical signi cance of the observed relations of the analyzed variables, a particular hypothesis 3 was con rmed.
The in uence of the variables of student education through multimedia on the variables of disaster risk reduction was also con rmed through the regression model. This model found that educating students through multimedia makes the most outstanding contribution to safety and disaster risk management. Also, this model con rmed that the most signi cant impact on reducing the risk of disasters had been learned through multimedia and the application of simulations in multimedia. The statistical signi cance of mutual relations and in uences proved speci c hypotheses. The primary hypothesis of this paper was con rmed, i.e., that the application of multimedia in educating children in schools about disasters will ensure that students become acquainted with disasters and build safety and management skills.

Conclusions
The regression model within the conducted research con rmed that the education of students through multimedia has the most signi cant impact on safety and risk management in disasters. When it comes to educating students about disasters, the most excellent effect is achieved by learning through multimedia and using simulations to show actual events within multimedia content. These statements prove the hypotheses of this paper and the achieved goal of the research. Based on that, it can be concluded that the application of multimedia in student education signi cantly reduces the risk of disasters, primarily through risk management by knowing the ways and methods of preventive and safety action in such situations. The contribution of the research is re ected in the importance of learning about disasters on adequate response and safety action due to their occurrence, and thus to reduce the negative consequences of disasters. Introducing students to some basics of disasters, the dangers they bring, practical experiences, and evacuation routes as ways out of such situations is the only way to reduce the risks of disasters and teach them to behave in such emergencies.
This research con rmed the impact of multimedia learning on disasters as an effective way to transfer knowledge through videos and simulations. Further directions of research can go in the direction of nding speci c learning programs for high school children, which were the subject of this research, as well as creating simulation models of behavior in case of different types of disasters. Future directions of research in this eld should move towards the analysis of different simulation models that can be of great help to acquaint students with the dangers arising from disasters. Given that simulation has proven to be an effective tool in the acquisition of knowledge, their application in educating students about disasters would inevitably have signi cant effects. Also, progress in improving knowledge about disasters can be implemented within school programs, where a particular subject would be introduced that would deal with the study of content related to this issue. By showing the content through multimedia, students would be faced with real situations and the harmful effects of disasters and instructed how to react adequately and act in such situations. Figure 1 Frequency of sources of knowledge and information about disasters by students