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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 outline of the course and an introduction to the basic concepts covered.

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 this 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; and
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 GEOG 571 - General Discussion Forum, which can be accessed at any time in Canvas by opening the Orientation / Resources module and then clicking on the GEOG 571 - General Discussion Forum link. While you are there, feel free to post your own responses if you are able to help out a classmate.

Checklist

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

To get started with the course, please follow the required steps below. Please refer to the Calendar in Canvas for the 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 Orientation.	You are in the Course Orientation Checklist now. Click on the 'Learning Environments' link to continue.
2	Familiarize yourself with the course website.	Read the 'Learning Environments' and 'Course Website' pages.
3	Familiarize yourself with how lessons will be structured on the course website.	Read the 'Lesson Organization' page.
4	Familiarize yourself with the Canvas course management system.	Read the 'Course Management System' page.
5	Configure your Canvas e-mail and subscribe to discussion forums according to the course instructions.	See directions on the 'Course Management System' page.
6	Read over proper ways to use discussion forums and e-mail in this course.	Read the 'Communication' page.
7	Read over the list of tips for successful online learners.	Read the 'Three Habits of Successful Learners' page.
8	Introduce yourself to your classmates and instructor on the Personal Introductions Discussion Forum in Canvas.	See directions on the 'Getting to Know Each Other' page.
9	Complete the "Initial Course Survey" to help us learn more about your expectations for this course.	Access the survey in the Orientation/Resources module in Canvas.
10	Carefully review the Syllabus to learn about the course and its requirements.	Click on the Syllabus link.
11	Get a head start with Esri's ArcGIS Online and StoryMaps.	Read the 'Getting a Head Start' page. If you are not familiar with ArcGis Online or StoryMaps, consider starting the Esri's free lessons prior to starting Lesson 1.
12	Log into the Penn State ArcGIS Online Organization.	Instructions for logging into the Penn State ArcGIS Online Organization are provided on the 'Getting a Head Start' page.
13	Begin the course!	Click on the 'Lesson 1: Foundations of Cultural Geography' 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.

This site

The instructional materials on this site include this orientation and lessons. Each lesson contains an introduction, reading assignments, links, assessments, etc. You can also 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.

Course Website

About the Course Website

This site includes the majority of the instructional materials for this class.

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.

Navigating Between Lesson Pages

The Lessons menu provides direct links to individual pages for this course. You can also navigate from page to page within a lesson using the page name links at the bottom of each page.

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 lesson.
Checklist: A checklist of required steps to complete the lesson.
Lesson Content: Material including the main concepts, information about the lesson topic, and any links to required external readings.
Lesson Assignments: Instreuctions for any required exercises/assignments.
Summary and Deliverables: A summary of lesson concepts and list of required deliverables such as discussion forums, exercises, and papers.

Course Management System

About Canvas, General Orientation

Following is information about Canvas, Penn State's Learning Management System (LMS). 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.

Quick Guide for Students

If you are new to Canvas, it is strongly recommended that you complete the PSU: Canvas Student Orientation [1].

You may also want to review the Canvas Student Guide [2] to acclimate yourself further, and watch the following video:

Video: Canvas Overview (3:30)

Credit: Canvas Overview for Students [3] from Canvas LMS [4].

Click for Transcript of Canvas Overview

In this video, you will learn how to navigate your Dashboard, courses, and Global Navigation Menu in Canvas.

When you log in to Canvas, the first thing you see is the Dashboard, which provides a high-level overview of your current courses. The Dashboard can be displayed in three different viewing options.

Card View displays a course card for each of your favorite courses. Each card can include clickable icons for Assignments, Announcements, Discussions, and Files. List View displays an agenda view of graded items from your courses, as well as any non-graded items your instructors designate for a course To Do list. You can also add your own items to the agenda.

Recent Activity View displays a stream of recent notifications from all your courses, including announcements, conversations, assignments, discussions, and peer reviews.

You can also access the course grades page from the Course Card and Recent Activity Views by clicking the View Grades button. The Grades page displays grades for all of your courses. To view grade details for a specific course, click the name of the course.

To view a course, click the Courses link in Global Navigation and click the name of the course you want to view. The course opens to the home page set by your instructor.

You can use the Course Navigation links, breadcrumb navigation, or the sidebar to navigate to different areas of the course.

The sidebar includes a To Do list that displays links to announcements and other items that require action in your courses, such as assignments, quizzes, discussions, and pages.

If your course includes student groups, you can view a list of your groups in Course Groups. Click the group name to view the group homepage. View recent assignment feedback in Recent Feedback. Click the assignment name to view feedback in the Submission Details page.

Canvas displays a Global Navigation Menu that gives you direct access to your courses and other areas of Canvas.

Click the Account link to log out of Canvas, specify your notification preferences, upload and view personal files, modify your user settings, manage ePortfolios, obtain a QR code to log in to the Student app, view global announcements, and enable a high-contrast user interface.

Click the Dashboard link to return to the Canvas Dashboard. Click the Courses link to quickly access your favorite courses and view a list of all your courses. Click the Groups link to access groups in which you are enrolled or view a list of all your groups.

Click the Calendar link to view your personal calendar and course calendars. Click the Inbox link to view and send messages to your instructors and peers within Canvas. Click the History link to view a list of course content and content areas you have viewed within the last three weeks.

Click the Help link to access help resources for your institution.

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

Supported Browsers and Computer Configuration

The Canvas Help Center provides extensive, up-to-date documentation [5] 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 drop boxes. Use of unsupported browsers is at your own risk.

Configure Your Canvas Account

Your Canvas Profile and Notification Preferences

Your Canvas Profile and User Settings let you control your personal information in Canvas. Take a few minutes to personalize your Canvas profile and set your Notification Preferences, 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 [6] 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.
If you use PSU OneID	Students who are enrolled with OneID will not receive emails automatically from Canvas due to not having PSU email access. We advise that students set up a personal email address for notifications. Log into Canvas Click on the "Account" link Click on the "Settings" link. In account settings, add a personal email address on the right-hand side. Go to Account>Notifications to set specific notification settings, as described in the next section.
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 Canvas Notification Preference Support [7] and follow the instructions for setting up your notification preferences. The video below this table provides additional information.
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 [8] iOS Device [9]

Video Tutorial: Canvas Notification Preferences (2:56)

Click for Transcript of Notification Preferences in Canvas

In this video, you will learn about managing your notification settings for all courses and for an individual course.

To get started, click the Account link in the Global Navigation menu.

Then click the Settings link.

To add an email, click the Add Email Address link.

Enter your email address in the 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 manage notifications for all your courses, click the Notifications link in the User Navigation menu.

You can also access your notifications from anywhere in Canvas by clicking the Account link and clicking the Notifications link.

Notification settings are divided into sections including: Course Activities, Discussions, Conversations, Scheduling, Groups, Conferences, and Alerts.

Each section includes notification categories. You can view what triggers each notification by hovering your cursor over the category.

Contact methods linked to your account and push notifications for the Canvas apps are listed in individual columns.

To change how often you receive notifications for a specific category and contact method, click the corresponding notification icon.

You can receive notifications immediately, receive a daily or weekly summary, or turn notifications off completely.

Instructors, students, and observers can also manage notification settings at the course level. To open a course, click the Courses link in Global Navigation and click the name of the course.

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 notification sections and categories may differ from those available at the account level. However, course level settings will override notification settings 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 Settings overview video. To learn more about Canvas, ask questions, or engage with other Canvas users, please visit community.canvaslms.com.

Credit: Notification Settings [10] from Canvas LMS [4].

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.

Communication

Meaningful interactions among students and instructors are the hallmark of a successful online class. Canvas supports several types of communication, as described below.

In addition, registered students have Penn State e-mail accounts (<Access Account ID>@psu.edu) that they need to monitor for any official communications that come from the University or from the Penn State World Campus.

Below is a list of communication tools available in Canvas. This course may or may not utilize all of the options listed.

Announcements [11]

These are messages from your instructor that contain important information. Current announcements can be accessed through the Announcements link in Canvas. Announcements may highlight assignment due dates (also published in the course Calendar), lesson recaps, a preview of an upcoming lesson and other essential course information.

Inbox [12]

The Inbox is the equivalent of e-mail in Canvas. It's great for a quick e-mail to another student, instructor, or a whole team. Keep in mind that the text editor is very minimal and does not have much formatting capability. Please use the Canvas Inbox only for private messages to instructors or fellow students.

Need more help using course mail? Review the Canvas Student Guide section on the Inbox [13].

Discussions [14]

Discussions allow students to interact with the instructor and other classmates. Threaded discussions allow multiple posts and replies. New posts appear in the Course Activity Stream page, so you will know when something has been posted.

In general, questions and comments about project assignments and course content should be shared with the entire class via the discussion forums. That way, everyone can benefit from the discussion.
Need more help using discussion forums? Review the Canvas Student Guide section on Discussions [14].

Note:

Whenever you post a message in a forum or send course mail, please use a descriptive subject line. Subject lines that include the gist of a question or comment increase the chances that students and instructors can retrieve the messages we're looking for. Poor subject lines, such as "Question" or "Lesson 1," are not very useful as search keywords. When replying to a prior message, consider whether or not the subject line should be altered to indicate the content of your reply!

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 the 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.

Three Habits of Successful Learners

Keep these tips in mind when preparing to be successful in an online course:

Treat online learning as you would a face-to-face class

You should devote at least the same amount of time to your online courses as you would to attending lectures on campus and completing assignments. Other good study habits, such as attending class (logging on) regularly and taking notes, are as important in an online course as in a lecture hall.

Intentionally schedule your time

You should devote 10-12 hours weekly to completing lesson readings and assignments. Your learning will be most effective when you engage with the course daily.

Engage, Engage, Engage

Take every opportunity to interact with the content, the instructor, and your classmates by completing assignments and participating in discussion forums and group activities!

Be organized and keep up

Keep in sync with what is happening in the course and stay on top of deadlines and upcoming assignments. If you fall behind, it can be difficult to catch up.

Ask for help

Ask for guidance when needed. Email the instructor directly through Canvas.

Other Resources

The links below will connect you with other resources to help support your successful online learning experience:

Tips for Being a Successful World Campus Student [15]

This website links to many resources on everything from taking notes online to managing your time effectively. Please note that you must be a World Campus student to receive some of the support services mentioned on this website.
Penn State World Campus Technology Resources [16]

This website provides resources to help you learn to use technology, access Penn State tools, and purchase and download software.
Penn State World Campus Blog [17]

This blog features posts by Penn State staff and students on a variety of topics relevant to online learning. Learn from online students, alumni, and staff members about how you can get the most out of your online course experience.
Penn State iStudy for Success! [18]

The iStudy online learning tutorials are free and available to all Penn State students. They cover a broad range of topics including online learning readiness, time management, stress management, and statistics - among many others. Check out the extensive list of topics for yourself to see what topics may be of most use to you!
LinkedIn Learning at Penn State [19]

This website provides access to an extensive free online training library, with tutorials on everything from creating presentations to using mobile apps for education. There is a wealth of information here - all provided free of charge to Penn State faculty, staff, and currently enrolled students.

Getting to Know Each Other

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 a discussion forum in Canvas to post and read self-introductions. To access the discussion forum:
- Go to Canvas.
- Enter the GEOG 571 Canvas space.
- Click on the Home link in the Canvas menu.
  Note: If your monitor is less tha 1200 pixels wide, you may need to click on the menu icon () to see the Canvas menu.
- Enter the "Orientation / Resources" module.
- Click on the link to the "Course Orientation - Personal Introductions Discussion Forum."
- Post a new message containing your personal introduction:
  - Who are you?
  - What do you do when you are not taking this class?
  - What is your interest in this course?
  - Tell everyone about your experience with GIS (courses, work, etc.).
  - Tell us about a favorite hobby.
- View other students' postings to learn more about them.
Need more help using discussion forums? Review the Canvas student guide [2].
Complete the "Initial Course Survey"
This survey contains questions about you and your expectations for this course. To access the Initial Course Survey:
- Go to Canvas.
- Click on the ink to your GEOG 571 class.
- Click on the Home link in the Canvas menu.
- Enter the "Orientation / Resources" module.
- Click on the link to the Initial Course Survey.

Getting a Head Start

While many of you might have experience in the field of intelligence, we are aware that some of you are new to the field and may not be familiar with the tools, processes, and writing styles commonly used in intelligence. This page contains links to lesson pages that will help you get a head start with accessing ArcGIS Online, provide an introduction to the intelligence analysis process, and information about writing a brief.

ArcGIS Online

At the end of Lesson 1, you will complete a StoryMap exercise using Esri's ArcGIS Online. If you do not have any experience with ArcGIS Online, I strongly encourage you to go to page 1.10 Introduction to ArcGIS Online and StoryMaps [20] and spend some time working through the material. The page provides links to several of Esri's online lessons that you can access for free. The Esri lessons are between 30 and 60 minutes long and will give you a good head start on the Lesson 1 ArcGIS Online StoryMap Exercise.

Any time you can devote to the Esri online lessons during the orientation week will save you time during the first week of class.

Accessing Penn State's ArcGIS Online Organization

Several activities in this class will require you to access Penn State's ArcGIS Online Organization. Please make sure you have access to the system by using the following link, Penn State's ArcGIS Online Organization [21], and logging in with your Penn State UserID (abc123@psu.edu [22]) and password.

After successfully logging in, you should see the following welcome page with your name and ID in the upper right corner.

example Penn State ArcGIS Online Organization welcome page

Figure 1: Penn State ArcGIS Online Organization welcome page.

Contact the instructor if you have any problems logging in.

Week 1 Deliverable:

During the first week of class, you must log in to the Penn State ArcGIS Online home page and submit a screen capture (worth 5 points). The screen capture should be similar to Figure 1 above and must include your name and student ID. Instructions for the assignment can be found on page 1.10 Introduction to ArcGIS Online and StoryMaps [20] of lesson 1.

Note: If you do not successfully complete the ArcGIS login, your instructor will not be able to give you access to the files you will need to complete the Lesson 1 mapping exercise (45 points).

Intelligence Analysis

While this is an academic course, it is also a course about how the principles of cultural geography are applicable to intelligence and intelligence analysis. There are many parallels between intelligence analysis and the academic research process; however, there are some differences as well. If you are not familiar with the difference between the research process and the intelligence analysis process, you may want to preview the material on page 2.3 The Intelligence Analysis Process [23].

Written Brief

The written brief is often a way that intelligence analysis is disseminated, and it differs greatly from how we are taught to write academically. We will use this mechanism for conveying the results of analysis throughout the course. If you are not familiar with the difference between writing an academic paper and writing a brief, you might want to preview the material on page 3.9 Writing a Brief [24].

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

Ready to begin the course?

Click on Lesson 1: Foundations of Cultural Geography link in the Lessons menu to begin (this will be available on the first official day of the course).