Orientation

Orientation Overview

This orientation serves as your guide to the structure of the course and to our online learning environment. Read the Syllabus for an introduction to the basic concepts covered in this course.

Objectives

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

articulate your expectations about how and what you will learn in your 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 to the Orientation Discussion.

Orientation 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. Please refer to the Course Calendar for lesson-specific course schedule and due dates. To finish this orientation, you must complete the activities listed below. You may find it useful to print this page out first so that you can follow along with the directions.

Steps to Complete the Course Orientation
Step	Activity	Access/Directions
1	Read all of the pages under the Start Here section.	You are in the Course Orientation Checklist now.
2	Familiarize yourself with the Canvas course management system.	Read the "Course Management System" page.
3	Read over suggestions on how to handle zip files and file sizes.	See tips on the "Technical Tips" page.
4	Read about the proper ways to use discussion forums and email in this course.	See tips on the "Canvas Communication" page.
5	Introduce yourself to your classmates and instructor.	See directions on the "Introducing Yourself in Canvas" page.
6	Complete the "Initial Course Survey" to help us learn more about your expectations for this course.	See directions on the "Introducing Yourself in Canvas" page.
7	Carefully review the Syllabus to learn about the course and its requirements.	Click on the Syllabus link.
8	Confirm that your software version AND service pack match those listed in the Syllabus. Request software update if necessary. Download and install Service Pack if necessary.	Click on the Syllabus link for more information.
9	Complete the "Orientation Quiz" to unlock the Modules.	Under "Start Here", and click on the "Orientation Quiz".
10	Begin the course!	Start with Lesson 1.

Learning Environments

Course Website and Canvas

Registered students in the online Penn State courses that use this text need to navigate between several environments in the World Wide Web. These include:

Course Website [1]. The course content website consists of lessons, each including pages of text, graphics, and activities. Activities prompt readers to explore selected websites, to download data and/or software, or other adventures. Registered students may also be prompted to navigate to Canvas to take practice quizzes and graded quizzes.
Canvas [2], Penn State's course management system. In Canvas, registered students consult course calendars, communicate with instructors and fellow students, receive instructions for project assignments, submit project reports, receive individual project critiques from instructors, take online quizzes and a final exam, and check assignments scores and course grades.

Note that a link to Canvas appears in the menu above. In Canvas, registered students will find a link back to the course text under each chapter's Module.

Students who register for this Penn State course gain access to assignments and instructor feedback, and earn academic credit. Information about Penn State's Online Geospatial Education programs is available at the Geospatial Education Program Office [3].

Course Website

This course website is presented in an open source content management system called Drupal [4]. We can publish the course 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 Open Educational Resources [5] for a full list).

Syllabus

The syllabus links out to course description, and an account of what is expected of each student.

Orientation

The orientation familiarizes registered students with the learning environments used to conduct Penn State courses.

Lessons

Links to lessons.
When you click on a lesson link, links to the pages that make up the lesson are revealed.
Navigate between pages using the links at the bottom of each page, or select a page from the menu.
Each lesson includes an overview page, checklist page, multiple content pages, and a summary.

Resources

Instructor Information - contact and other information about your instructor.
Program Home Page - links to the Penn State Online Geospatial Education website for program information.
Library Resources - links to Penn State library resources specific to Geography.
Help - links to helpful contacts for registered Penn State students and other users.

Login

To log in, click on the "login" link. Log in with your Penn State Access ID and password.

Printing Options

Note the "print" link on each page.
The "print" link compiles pages or lessons into a single HTML document. The link on the first page of each lesson compiles the entire lesson into a single HTML document.

Lesson Organization

Most of the lessons are organized into the sections below. The only exceptions are Lesson 1 and the Final Project.

Overview: Quick summary of the lesson.
Checklist: A checklist of the required steps to complete the lesson.
Background Information: An overview of the main environmental concepts, geospatial concepts, and information about the study area.
Required Readings: Description and links to required reading material.
Lesson Data: Description of all datasets used in the lesson.
Step-by-Step Activities: Specific instructions on how to complete lesson objectives using ArcGIS and other programs.
Advanced Activities: Activities designed to make you apply the skills you learned in each lesson and explore additional resources related to lesson topics. You must complete the advanced activity to earn full credit for each lesson.
Summary and Deliverables: A summary of lesson concepts and a list of required deliverables such as maps, quizzes, and interpretation of analyses.
Additional Resources: Links to resources such as other readings, websites, and videos related to the lesson concepts.

Course Management System (Canvas)

How Canvas Organizes Content

Penn State uses an online course management system called Canvas to deliver most of its online courses to registered students. (For more information about Canvas, visit the Getting Started with Canvas [6] page). Canvas organizes content using different sections in its site. Here is how we use it for the Penn State courses that use this course text. (Registered students might want to open Canvas in a second tab or browser window while studying this page.)

Main Menu in the left pane:

Courses: This section provides links to all courses you are enrolled in.
Calendar: This is the official record of assignment due dates. Refer to this page to see when you are instructed to begin working on readings or assignments and when you are instructed to complete quizzes and projects.
Inbox Here is where you can send messages to your instructor, grading assistant, and other students in class. We will use Canvas for course communications.
Account: This is where you can customize your personal profile, Canvas settings, and how you want to be notified about activity in the course (e.g., email forwarding). We will not be using the Canvas Inbox for much, if any, communication, but in case messages are sent via the Canvas Inbox, please configure your notification settings:

Please review the Notification settings in your Canvas Account to be sure that your preferred email address is listed, and that you are configured to receive notifications Right Away for all Conversations. This way, any Inbox messages that are sent to you via Canvas will be forwarded to your regular email as well.

Menu of links once inside a course:

Home (Modules): This section contains the bulk of the course materials. Here you'll find separate modules corresponding to each chapter of the course text, for each project assignment, the final exam and other activities. Contents of these folders include:
- Chapter modules: Graded quizzes (not chapter 1) and a discussion forum.
- Project modules: Assignment instructions, drop boxes to submit project reports, and a discussion forum.
Syllabus: This section contains a link to the complete syllabus document in our course text website, which details all of the expectations, deliverables, and policies of the course. Also provided is a summary of the course schedule where you can track your progress.
Grades: This page allows you to view your assignment grades.
People: This section list all of the members of the course and provides a link to each individual's profile page so you can learn more about them.

For a more complete introduction to Canvas please see the Getting Started with Canvas [6] page.

Need Help with Canvas?

When in Canvas, at the bottom-left corner of the screen you will see a round icon with a question mark. Click this question mark icon for a list of options, including "Search the Canvas Guides" which provides lots of information about how to operate in the Canvas site. You may also contact Penn State World Campus Support 24 hours, 7 days a week via the "Report a Problem for World Campus Courses" link.

Technical Tips

Handling ZIP Files:

Much of the data used in this course will be in a compressed format. These datasets have been packaged for download in ZIP [7] format. There are many handy utilities, such as WinZip and 7Zip for zipping and unzipping files. Windows XP has built-in capability if you do not have one of these common utility programs. Enter "create a zipped compressed folder" in the Search field of the Windows XP Help and Support Center for step-by-step instructions.

Deliverable File Sizes:

This course is an online format. Graphics should be suitable for web viewing, not large format printing. The Canvas assignments are not designed to handle very large files (e.g., 10 MB). Submitting excessively large files to the assignment may cause unwanted consequences. For example, the system may time out after you have already waited a long time for your file to upload. In the past, extremely large files have corrupted the entire assignment. Please make sure your files are under 2 MB. You can control the file size of each map image by changing the settings on the File\Export window. Selecting 96 dpi is more than suitable for this class.

Canvas Communication

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 [8] to customize important aspects of your profile including, but not limited to your preferred email 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 [9] and follow the instructions for setting up your notification preferences. The video below this table provides additional information. To ensure that your Canvas email messages forward to your regular email 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 [10] iOs Device [11]

Video: Canvas Notification Preferences (3:22)

112 - Notification Preferences from Canvas LMS [12] on Vimeo [13].

Click for Transcript of Notification Preferences in Canvas

In this video, you will learn about managing Notification Preferences at the account and course level. To get started, click the Account link in the Global Navigation menu. Then click the Settings link. To add additional contact information, use the Options in the Ways to Contact section. To add an email, click the Add Email Address link. Enter your email address in the provided field and click the Register Email button. After your email has been registered, you will receive a confirmation email. To complete registration, click the link provided in the email. To add a mobile number for text notifications, click the Add Contact Method link. Text notifications are only available for announcements and grading notification types. To remove any contact method, click the Delete icon.

The Web Services section allows you to link your Canvas account with your existing Google Drive, Skype and Twitter accounts. By default, Canvas does not disclose your information to other users within the system unless you give permission. To manage notifications for all your courses, click the Notifications link in the user navigation menu. Notification preferences are divided into sections including, Course Activities, Discussions, Conversations, Scheduling, Groups, Conferences, and Alerts. Contact methods linked to your account will be listed in individual columns. You can set notification preferences for each category and contact method separately. To change how often you receive notifications for a specific category and contact method, click the corresponding notification icon. You can receive all notifications immediately, receive a daily or weekly summary, or turn notifications off completely.

Instructors, students, and observers can also manage notification preferences at the course level. To open a course, click the Courses link in global navigation and click the name of the course. You can also view all courses by clicking the All Courses link. In the course home page, click the View Course Notifications button. You can choose to enable or disable notifications for your course using the Enable Notifications toggle button. If notifications have been enabled for your course, you can specify how often notifications are sent to a contact method for a specific category. Course notifications sections and categories may differ from those available at the account level. However, course-level settings will override notification preferences at the account level for that course. To manage how often you receive notifications for a specific category and contact method, click the corresponding notification icon, then click how often you'd like to receive the notification.

Thanks for watching this Notification Preferences Overview video. To learn more about Canvas, ask questions, or engage with other Canvas users, please visit community.canvaslms.com.

Introducing Yourself in Canvas

Video Introduction in Canvas

Now that you've had a chance to learn about the course and the online learning environment, I'd like to get to know you...and help you get to know each other! Complete the activities below, then continue with the remainder of the Course Orientation.

Activity

What you need to do...

Introduce yourself and meet the rest of the class!
We will use Canvas to post video introductions. To access the discussion forum:
- Click on the "Personal Introductions" discussion located in the "Start Here" folder.
- Take a moment to create a video introduction and post it to the "Personal Introductions" discussion forum. In your introduction, please include the following information about yourself:
  - What do you hope to gain from this course?
  - Where do you live? (state, country, province, etc.) It's always interesting to see where everyone in the course currently calls home.
  - Do you have any geospatial and/or environmental work experience?
  - A fun fact about yourself.
- After you have posted your video, link to (or include an image of) any favorite environmental map of your choosing! This can be a map of a place you've lived or visited or just a map that you find particularly interesting.
- View other students' postings to learn more about them.
Complete the "Initial Course Survey"
This survey contains questions about you and your expectations for this course. To access the Initial Course Survey:
- Click on the "Initial Course Survey" located in the "Start Here" folder.

Again, welcome to GEOG 487!

Summary

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

Reminder

Review the "Orientation Checklist" page of the Orientation to make sure you have completed all of the listed activities.

Ready to begin the course?

Start with Lesson 1.