Published on GEOG 588: Planning GIS for Emergency Management D7 Upgrade (https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog588)

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Orientation

Overview

Planning GIS for Emergency Management

The spatial dimensions of crises and emergencies provide key leverage points for decision makers to assess and address the consequences of such events to people and their environments. In recent years, it has become quite common for GIS to find its way into a wide variety of information systems used to manage emergencies. GIS is capable of answering the key questions decision makers and stakeholders need to know about an emergency situation, including: Who is affected? How has the emergency developed over space and time? Where are responder resources located and how should they be directed?

This course introduces you to a variety of ways in which GIS solutions can be incorporated into the process of managing an emergency. It focuses primarily on the broader aspects of determining system requirements and developing design plans/proposals for new systems intended to support spatial analysis and awareness of crisis situations. An added dimension I've incorporated into this course is an emphasis on emerging technology trends that I think are relevant to future GIS systems. We'll work together to check out the latest innovations in GIS-related technology and incorporate that awareness into how we envision new GIS systems for emergency management.

About the Orientation

In addition to introducing the basic concepts covered in this course, this orientation also serves as your guide to the structure of the course and to our online learning environment.

Objectives

At the successful completion of the Course Orientation, you should be able to:

  • navigate between this course text and the Canvas course management system;
  • articulate your expectations about how and what you will learn in this online course;
  • understand how and what instructors expect you to learn in your online course;
  • locate key information about the course, including assignments, due dates, technical information, places to get help, and course policies;
  • understand course policies, including academic integrity;
  • communicate with instructors and fellow students.

The next page in this lesson outlines the steps you need to perform to successfully complete this orientation.

Questions?

If you have any questions now or at any point during this week, please feel free to post them as comments here at the bottom of the page. We'll use page comments like this for discussions throughout the class.

Checklist

Each lesson in the course will have a list of "Steps to Complete." This checklist will always appear on the second page of each lesson.

To get started with the course, please follow the required steps below. The Course Orientation is one week in length. Please refer to the Calendar in Canvas for specific timeframes and due dates. You may find it useful to print this page first so that you can follow along with the directions.

Step Activity Access/Directions
Steps to Completing the Course Orientation
1 Read through Course Orientation. You are in the Course Orientation online content now. Click on the "Next Page" link to continue reading.
2 Introduce yourself to your colleagues and post a comment to the communication page. Go to Page Seven (Communication) of this Orientation for Activity instructions.
3 If you haven't already done so, carefully review the course syllabus to learn about the course and its requirements. The Syllabus is located in the menu.
4 Begin the course! Click on the Lesson 1 link to begin the course.

 

Learning Environments

This course will be conducted entirely online. There are no set class meeting times, but you will be required to complete weekly assignments. Registered students in this course will need to navigate between several environments. These include:

This site

The instructional materials in this site include lessons, plus the Orientation. Each lesson contains an introduction, reading assignments, links, assessments, etc.

Canvas [1]

Canvas is the learning management system currently being used by Penn State University. In Canvas, registered students may consult course calendars; communicate with instructors, teaching assistants, and fellow students; submit assignments; receive feedback from the instructor and teaching assistant; take online quizzes and surveys; and check assignment scores and course grades. A link to Canvas appears on every page.

Course Website

This course website is presented in an open source content management system (Drupal [2], visit). One advantage is that we can publish the text openly for the benefit of anyone who has access to the Internet, regardless of their ability to pay tuition (this is applicable to most courses in our program - see the EMS site Open Educational Resources [3] for a full list of our open educational resources).

This site includes the majority of the instructional materials for this class. There are a few things you should know about this website.

How the Website is Organized

This site uses a "tab" interface to organize content. The tabs are used as follows:

  • Syllabus - The Syllabus is a complete outline of the course. Read it carefully, as it will serve as our course "contract."
  • Orientation - You are currently in the Orientation. It provides an introduction to the instructor, the learning environments, the technical requirements, and information on how to succeed in an online class.
  • Lessons - The Lessons tab is where the bulk of the course learning material can be found. Each lesson contains an introduction, reading assignments, links, assessments, etc.
  • Canvas - The Canvas tab takes you directly to your Canvas home page.
  • Resources - The Resources tab includes a list of a variety of resources which may be of use to you while taking this course, including whom to contact for assistance.

How to Print a Lesson or Page

  • To print an entire lesson, you must be on the top level page for that lesson and then select the "Print" link.
  • To print a single page, go to the page you want to print and select the printer-friendly version link.
  • WARNING: many pages contain required videos, animations, and links that will not work in print mode, so please do not rely on the printed lessons for all of your learning.

Course Management System

This page provides information about Canvas, Penn State's new online learning management system.

Quick Guide for Students

If you are new to Canvas, it is strongly recommended that you complete the PSU: Canvas Student Orientation [4]. 

You may also want to review the Canvas Student Getting Started Guide [5] to acclimate yourself further, and watch the following (6:47) video:

200 - Canvas Overview for Students [6] from Canvas LMS [7] on Vimeo [8].

Click for Transcript of Canvas Overview

In this video, you will get a brief overview of the Canvas user interface. The Canvas user interface has three main components: the Dashboard, Global Navigation, and Sidebar. The Dashboard is the first thing you see when you log into Canvas. It provides a high-­level overview across all your courses. The Dashboard has two different viewing options, ­ the course view or the recent activity stream. The Dashboard course view includes a course card for each of your favorite courses. Each card can include up to four tabs, which represent the four main Canvas features for student course activity: Announcements, Assignments, Discussions, and Files. These tabs mimic visibility and order in Course Navigation, so, for instance, if an instructor hides the Announcements link, the Announcements tab will not be displayed. The total number of activities are indicated on the appropriate tab with a number icon. You can directly access these recent activities by clicking the tab.

You can change a couple settings for your course cards by clicking the card Settings icon. First, you can create nicknames for your courses to help you organize your dashboard. In the Nickname text field, enter the nickname for your course. Click the Apply button. The new nickname will appear. Course nicknames appear in the Dashboard, Course Navigation Menu, course breadcrumbs, and notification e-mails and only changes the name of the course for the individual user who created the nickname. If users need to know the original name of the course, they can hover over the nickname and the original name will appear. To remove a nickname, open the card settings and remove the nickname. The Nickname field will display the original name of the course. Click the Apply button to save changes. You can also change the color for your course cards. In the card settings, select the color you would like to assign to the card. You can also enter a HEX code for any color. Then click Apply.

To view the recent activity stream, click the toggle to the right. The recent activity stream view contains a stream of recent notifications from all your courses, including announcements, discussions, assignments, and conversations. New or unread activities are shown by the blue indicator dot. You can view the details of each activity by hovering in the notification area and clicking the Show More link. To collapse recent activity, click the Show Less link. You can directly access your recent activities by clicking the link. To remove a notification, click the remove icon.

Another interface component is the Global Navigation, which is a static menu on the left side of the page that gives you direct access to your courses and other information in Canvas. This menu is accessible from any page within Canvas. To modify your user settings or profile, click the Account link. You can also specify your notification preferences, upload personal files, or manage ePortfolios here. Click the Logout link to Logout of Canvas. To hide the slide­out menu, just click the menu link again or click the close icon. Click the Dashboard link to return to the Canvas Dashboard at anytime.

By clicking Courses, you can access your individual courses or view a list of all courses in which you are enrolled. Here, you can customize the courses that display on your Dashboard and in your Courses list by clicking the stars next to the course names. Click Groups to access any groups in which you are enrolled or to view a list of all your groups. Click the Calendar link to view the global calendar, which shows an aggregated view of all assignments and events from each of your courses. The Inbox link will take you to your Conversations. You can compose and send new messages to other students and teachers here, or view any existing conversations. And click the Help link to access help resources, including the Canvas Guides, the Canvas Community, or Canvas Support. If you ever have a problem with Canvas, be sure to click the “Report a Problem” link to get help from a support agent. This link may not be available to all Canvas users.

The last interface component is the Sidebar. On your dashboard, the sidebar includes a To Do list, Coming Up feed, Recent Feedback, and a View Grades button. The To Do list helps you keep track of assignments that you need to complete. Click any assignment link and Canvas will direct you to the appropriate page. You can also click the close icon next to any item to ignore the assignment. The Coming Up feed lists upcoming assignments and events within your courses. Under Recent Feedback, you will see the latest comments from instructors or peers on previously submitted assignments. Click the View Grades button to quickly access the grades for any of your courses. Note that when viewing Canvas with a small screen resolution, any sidebar content aligns with the bottom of the page.

Now, let’s visit a course and take a look at the course interface. The course interface consists of 4 main components: the Course Navigation, the Content Area, the Breadcrumb Navigation, and the Sidebar. The course navigation menu provides links to the different areas of your course. Your instructors have the ability to customize this menu, so it may vary slightly from course to course. This menu can be collapsed by clicking the menu icon. The content of the course will be displayed in this Content Area. The Breadcrumb Navigation shows your current location within a course and allows you to easily move to a previous screen. The Course Sidebar is similar to the Canvas Sidebar. It includes a View Course Stream link to see recent course activity, as well as your To Do list, Coming Up feed, and Recent Feedback comments.

You've now completed this Canvas Overview for Students. For additional information on this or any other topic about Canvas, just visit guides.canvaslms.com. You can also ask questions and engage with other Canvas users by visiting community.canvaslms.com.

 

Supported Browsers and Computer Configuration

The Canvas Help Center provides extensive, up-to-date documentation [9] on making sure your computer is configured properly for Canvas. Failure to follow these recommendations may result in significant issues while viewing materials, taking assessments, and using dropboxes. Use of unsupported browsers is at your own risk.

Profile and User Settings let you control your personal information in Canvas. Take a few minutes to personalize your Canvas profile by following the instructions below.

Setting Up Communications
Task Instructions
Personalize your Canvas Profile
  • Go to Canvas.
  • Click on the 'Account' link.
  • Click on the 'Profile' link.
  • Follow the instructions on the Canvas Profile and User Settings page [10] to customize important aspects of your profile including, but not limited to your preferred e-mail address(es) and text (SMS) contact method for course notifications, your time zone, and your profile picture.
Set your notification preferences

You have the option to select how, when, and for what information you would like to receive notifications. This can be very helpful when keeping track of items such as discussion posts, assignment due dates, and exams. Visit the Canvas Notification Preference Support page (link is external) [11] and follow the instructions for setting up your notification preferences. The video below this table provides additional information.

To ensure that your Canvas e-mail messages forward to your regular e-mail account immediately, check the "Notify me right away" option (the checkmark) for each item under "Conversations" in Notification Preferences.

Set your timezone
  • Go to Canvas.
  • Click on Settings in the Course navigation menu.
  • The Course Details page will open.
  • In the Time Zone drop-down menu, select a time zone for your course.
  • Scroll down and click Update Course Details.

Download the Canvas App For information on using the app by device, please see the following:
  • Android Device [12]
  • iOs Device [13]

The following video (4:28) provides information about Canvas Notification Preferences.

112 - Notification Preferences [14] from Canvas LMS [7] on Vimeo [8].

Click for Transcript of Notification Preferences in Canvas

In this video, you will learn about Notification Preferences, which help you manage the frequency and mode in which you receive notifications from Canvas. Canvas supports notification through e-mail, SMS text message, and other external services. Canvas users can choose to receive notifications immediately, daily, weekly, or never.

To get started, click the Account link in Global Navigation. Then click Settings. In the User Settings and Profile Picture video, we discussed Ways to Contact in the right sidebar. To see how to add e-mail addresses and phone numbers to your settings, please refer to that video. Ways to Contact will play a role in where Notification Preferences are sent.

Web Services will also play a role in Notification Preferences. If you scroll down to the Other Services section, you will see a list of services that you can link to your Canvas account. When you register with other web services, you allow other users to connect with you via web services. You should already have accounts with any of the web services you wish to use before registering them in Canvas. By default, Canvas does not disclose your information to other users within the system unless you give consent. One of the services you can connect to is Twitter. By connecting to Twitter, you will receive notifications via Tweets according to your notification preferences. To connect to Twitter, click the Twitter button. A window will pop ­up asking for permission to connect your Twitter and Canvas accounts. To allow this, click the Authorize Twitter Access button. If you are not already logged in to your Twitter account, you will need to enter your login information. You will then be redirected back to Canvas. This process will be similar for each web service provided. You will see your Twitter information in Ways to Contact under the Other Contacts heading in the sidebar. You will also notice that the Twitter button appears in the Registered Services column. Remove a Registered Service by clicking the remove icon next to the service. A pop­up will appear to confirm that you want to unregister the service. Click OK to unregister. The web service will then appear in the Other Services column. After unregistering an external service, you can re­register it at any time. You can follow these steps to connect to or disconnect from any of the external services. Or, for detailed instructions on how to connect to specific external services, please refer to the Canvas Guides.

After you have added Web Services, you will want to set your Notification Preferences, which you can do by clicking the Notifications link in the user navigation on the left side. On this page, you can select how and when you want to be notified when various events occur within your course. Notification preferences are divided into activity categories: Course Activities, Discussions, Conversations, Scheduling, Groups, Alerts, and Conferences. Along the top of the page, you will see your different contact methods; your e-mail addresses, phone number, and other registered services, like Twitter, in this case. You will need to go through each category and set how and where you want to be notified. When you hover over a cell to change your preference, four icons will appear.

1.       By selecting the Checkmark icon, you will be immediately notified of any change for the activity.

2.       By selecting the Clock icon, you will be notified daily of any change for the activity.

3.       By selecting the Calendar icon, you will be notified weekly of any change for the activity

4.       By selecting the X icon, you will not be sent notifications for the activity.

The notification preferences you set here will apply to all of your courses. You should also notice, on the bottom of the page, a note indicating the day and time when your weekly notifications will be sent. This time varies between users.

You've now completed this video tutorial on Notification Preferences. For additional information on this or any other topic about Canvas, just visit guides.canvaslms.com. You can also ask questions and engage with other Canvas users by visiting community.canvaslms.com.

Assignments

Registered students earn academic credit at Penn State by completing the following assignments. Opportunities to demonstrate learning include the following, and grades will be based on percentages assigned to each of several components of the course as follows:

  • Class participation: Individual participation via online discussion forums and comments on lesson pages. Students will be encouraged to post questions and answer each others' questions on the online forums. Class participation makes up 35% of your grade.
  • Writing Assignments: Six short writing assignments involve responding to academic articles and researching a problem with students as a collaborative team. Writing assignments make up 25% of your grade.
  • Term Project: The term project for this course involves multiple components that you'll create to develop a professional report or proposal. The term project is worth 40% of your course grade. The deliverables are:
    • 1 Paragraph Abstract indicating which project option you choose and describing in general terms what you will cover
    • Project Structural Outline (headings and several bullets under each heading for the main topics you'll cover)
    • Full Draft of Term Project
    • Revised Final Term Project
    • Video Summary of Term Project

Communications

In GEOG 588, we will use Canvas and e-mail to communicate in various ways. Please read through these sections even if you think you have seen them before in other courses, as the guidelines for this class are slightly different from what you may have seen elsewhere.

E-mail

E-mail is a critically important communications channel for this course, especially for private messages and course announcements. Please make sure to check your PSU email daily for important class communications.  You can use Canvas email (inbox) to send me emails.  

  • Please use e-mail only for private messages to instructors or fellow students. Canvas Discussion comments are preferred for most communications because everyone can see and benefit from them, and you can get help or insight from anyone in the class.

  • Please make sure you have set up forwarding for Canvas e-mail. You should have already done this on earlier in this Orientation, but if not, please visit the "Setting Up Communications" box on the Course Management System page [15].  

Communications from the University and from the World Campus

Occasionally, the University or the World Campus needs to communicate with students. To do so, they use the @psu.edu e-mail address that each registered student has been given and not Canvas course e-mail.

In addition, a letter, in PDF format, that reports your final course grade will be automatically generated and sent to your @psu.edu e-mail address.

So it is important that you regularly monitor your @psu.edu e-mail account.

  • To monitor your @psu.edu e-mail, you can use the Penn State web mail system, described here [16].
  • However, I recommend that you simply have your @psu.edu e-mail forwarded to your preferred e-mail account. You can control the forwarding of your @psu.edu e-mail account by going to the ITS secure server [17].

Communications

  1. Post in the Personal Introduction Discussion Forum in CANVAS [18]. Please include information about yourself:
    1. What do you do when you are not taking this class?
    2. What is your interest in this course?
    3. What place in the world would you most like to be posting from right now?

Habits of Successful Learners

Summary

If you understand what you've read in this orientation, and make every effort to follow these guidelines, you'll be well on your way to having a successful experience this term in GEOG 588. I look forward to interacting with you throughout the semester and hope you'll take every opportunity possible to get the most out of the learning experiences you encounter in this class.

Reminder - Review the Course Orientation Checklist

You have reached the end of the Course Orientation. Double-check the lesson to-do list on the Course Orientation Checklist page to make sure you have completed all of the activities listed there.

Look For My E-mail

You'll see an e-mail from me sent to the class through Canvas when the course has officially opened for the semester. I'll send regular updates to you as the weeks go by to let you know when new lessons are open and to communicate to the class with my synthesis of our discussion activities and your performance on assignments. This will be in addition to individual e-mails you'll see from me whenever I return edited writing assignments and other graded artifacts to you.


Source URL: https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog588/resources/l1.html

Links
[1] https://psu.instructure.com
[2] http://drupal.org
[3] http://open.ems.psu.edu
[4] https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1780857
[5] https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-4121
[6] https://vimeo.com/74677642
[7] https://vimeo.com/canvaslms
[8] https://vimeo.com
[9] https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-1284
[10] https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-1285
[11] https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-1286
[12] https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-1559
[13] https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-1666
[14] https://vimeo.com/75514816
[15] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog588/resources/l1_p6.html
[16] https://webmail.psu.edu/
[17] https://www.work.psu.edu/
[18] http://psu.instructure.com