Have you ever wanted to create your own maps, or integrate and visualize spatial datasets to examine changes in trends between locations and over time? Follow along with these training tutorials on QGIS, an open source geographic information system (GIS) and learn key concepts, procedures and skills for performing common GIS tasks – such as creating maps, as well as joining, overlaying and visualizing spatial datasets. These tutorials are geared towards new GIS users. We’ll start with foundational concepts, and build towards more advanced topics throughout – demonstrating how with a few relatively easy steps you can get quite a lot out of GIS. You can then extend these skills to datasets of thematic relevance to you in addressing tasks faced in your day-to-day work.

Through the Department of the Interior-Bureau of Indian Affairs Enterprise License Agreement (DOI-BIA ELA) program, BIA employees and employees of federally-recognized Tribes may access a variety of geographic information systems (GIS) online courses and instructor-led training events throughout the year at no cost to them. These online GIS courses and instructor-led training events are hosted by the Branch of Geospatial Support (BOGS) or offered by BOGS in partnership with other organizations and federal agencies. Online courses are self-paced and available year-round, while instructor-led training events have limited capacity and require registration and attendance on specific dates. This dataset does not any training where the course was not completed by the participant or where training was cancelled or otherwise not able to be completed. Point locations depict BIA Office locations or Tribal Office Headquarters. For completed trainings where a participant location was not provided a point locations may not be available. For more information on the Branch of Geospatial Support Geospatial training program, please visit:https://www.bia.gov/service/geospatial-training.

Through the Department of the Interior-Bureau of Indian Affairs Enterprise License Agreement (DOI-BIA ELA) program, BIA employees and employees of federally-recognized Tribes may access a variety of geographic information systems (GIS) online courses and instructor-led training events throughout the year at no cost to them. These online GIS courses and instructor-led training events are hosted by the Branch of Geospatial Support (BOGS) or offered by BOGS in partnership with other organizations and federal agencies. Online courses are self-paced and available year-round, while instructor-led training events have limited capacity and require registration and attendance on specific dates. This dataset does not any training where the course was not completed by the participant or where training was cancelled or otherwise not able to be completed. Point locations depict BIA Office locations or Tribal Office Headquarters. For completed trainings where a participant location was not provided a point locations may not be available. For more information on the Branch of Geospatial Support Geospatial training program, please visit:https://www.bia.gov/service/geospatial-training.

Online Course Providers Market size was valued at USD 1.65 Billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 2.56 Billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 5.63% during the forecast period 2024-2031.

Online Course Providers Market Drivers

Online Course Providers offer massive open online courses (or MOOCs) and other coordinated courses that can be taken on the web. Students who take on an online course commonly complete a progression of exercises and take appraisals to demonstrate their authority of the material. Depending upon the subject and the coursework, some online course suppliers may offer affirmations to understudies upon finishing.

While numerous online course suppliers offer free classes, some require a paid month-to-month membership or a one-time expense for understudies to get to a bigger or further developed determination of courses. Other online course suppliers may charge for authentications of fulfillment or for big business admittance to courses. The courses offered through online course suppliers’ length a wide scope of subjects, including coding, information science, showcasing, visual communication, programming aptitudes, and vocation improvement.

Some online course suppliers have more modest course lists, maybe offering exercises zeroed in on explicit specialized abilities improvement, while different suppliers offer enormous indexes containing many various points. These course suppliers offer independent online course content and incorporate a set educational plan coordinated into exercises, modules, or subjects to assess student progress by means of ability appraisals.

Background: Malaria continues to pose a major public health challenge in tropical regions. Despite significant efforts to control malaria in Tanzania, there are still residual transmission cases. Unfortunately, little is known about where these residual malaria transmission cases occur and how they spread. In Tanzania, for example, the transmission is heterogeneously distributed. In order to effectively control and prevent the spread of malaria, it is essential to understand the spatial distribution and transmission patterns of the disease. This study seeks to predict areas that are at high risk of malaria transmission so that intervention measures can be developed to accelerate malaria elimination efforts.

Methods: This study employs a geospatial-based model to predict and map out malaria risk area in Kilombero Valley. Environmental factors related to malaria transmission were considered and assigned valuable weights in the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), an online system using a pairwise comparison technique. The malaria hazard map was generated by a weighted overlay of the altitude, slope, curvature, aspect, rainfall distribution, and distance to streams in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Finally, the risk map was created by overlaying components of malaria risk including hazards, elements at risk, and vulnerability. Results: The study demonstrates that the majority of the study area falls under the moderate-risk level (61%), followed by the low-risk level (31%), while the high-malaria risk area covers a small area, which occupies only 8% of the total area. Conclusion: The findings of this study are crucial for developing spatially targeted interventions against malaria transmission in residual transmission settings. Predicted areas prone to malaria risk provide information that will inform decision-makers and policymakers for proper planning, monitoring, and deployment of interventions. Methods Data acquisition and description The study employed both primary and secondary data, which were collected from numerous sources based on the input required for the implementation of the predictive model. Data collected includes the locations of all public and private health centers that were downloaded free from the health portal of the United Republic of Tanzania, Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly, and Children, through the universal resource locator (URL) (http://moh.go.tz/hfrportal/). Human population data was collected from the 2012 population housing census (PHC) for the United Republic of Tanzania report. Rainfall data were obtained from two local offices; Kilombero Agricultural Training and Research Institute (KATRIN) and Kilombero Valley Teak Company (KVTC). These offices collect meteorological data for agricultural purposes. Monthly data from 2012 to 2017 provided from thirteen (13) weather stations. Road and stream network shapefiles were downloaded free from the MapCruzin website via URL (https://mapcruzin.com/free-tanzania-arcgis-maps-shapefiles.htm). With respect to the size of the study area, five neighboring scenes of the Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS images (path/row: 167/65, 167/66, 167/67, 168/66 and 168/67) were downloaded freely from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) website via URL: http://earthexplorer.usgs.gov. From July to November 2017, the images were selected and downloaded from the USGS Earth Explorer archive based on the lowest amount of cloud cover coverage as viewed from the archive before downloading. Finally, the digital elevation data with a spatial resolution of three arc-seconds (90m by 90m) using WGS 84 datum and the Geographic Coordinate System were downloaded free from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) via URL (https://dds.cr.usgs.gov/srtm/version2_1/SRTM3/Africa/). Only six tiles that fall in the study area were downloaded, coded tiles as S08E035, S09E035, S10E035, S08E036, S09E036, S10E036, S08E037, S09E037 and S10E037. Preparation and Creation of Model Factor Parameters Creation of Elevation Factor All six coded tiles were imported into the GIS environment for further analysis. Data management tools, with raster/raster data set/mosaic to new raster feature, were used to join the tiles and form an elevation map layer. Using the spatial analyst tool/reclassify feature, the generated elevation map was then classified into five classes as 109–358, 359–530, 531–747, 748–1017 and >1018 m.a.s.l. and new values were assigned for each class as 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, respectively, with regards to the relationship with mosquito distribution and malaria risk. Finally, the elevation map based on malaria risk level is levelled as very high, high, moderate, low and very low respectively. Creation of Slope Factor A slope map was created from the generated elevation map layer, using a spatial analysis tool/surface/slope feature. Also, the slope raster layer was further reclassified into five subgroups based on predefined slope classes using standard classification schemes, namely quantiles as 0–0.58, 0.59–2.90, 2.91–6.40, 6.41–14.54 and >14.54. This classification scheme divides the range of attribute values into equal-sized sub-ranges, which allow specifying the number of the intervals while the system determines where the breaks should be. The reclassified slope raster layer subgroups were ranked 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 according to the degree of suitability for malaria incidence in the locality. To elaborate, the steeper slope values are related to lesser malaria hazards, and the gentler slopes are highly susceptible to malaria incidences. Finally, the slope map based on malaria risk level is leveled as very high, high, moderate, low and very low respectively. Creation of Curvature Factor Curvature is another topographical factor that was created from the generated elevation map using the spatial analysis tool/surface/curvature feature. The curvature raster layer was further reclassified into five subgroups based on predefined curvature class. The reclassified curvature raster layer subgroups were ranked to 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 according to their degree of suitability for malaria occurrence. To explain, this affects the acceleration and deceleration of flow across the surface. A negative value indicates that the surface is upwardly convex, and flow will be decelerated, which is related to being highly susceptible to malaria incidences. A positive profile indicates that the surface is upwardly concave and the flow will be accelerated which is related to a lesser malaria hazard, while a value of zero indicates that the surface is linear and related to a moderate malaria hazard. Lastly, the curvature map based on malaria risk level is leveled as very high, high, moderate, low, and very low respectively.
Creation of Aspect Factor As a topographic factor associated with mosquito larval habitat formation, aspect determines the amount of sunlight an area receives. The more sunlight received the stronger the influence on temperature, which may affect mosquito larval survival. The aspect of the study area also was generated from the elevation map using spatial analyst tools/ raster /surface /aspect feature. The aspect raster layer was further reclassified into five subgroups based on predefined aspect class. The reclassified aspect raster layer subgroups were ranked as 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 according to the degree of suitability for malaria incidence, and new values were re-assigned in order of malaria hazard rating. Finally, the aspect map based on malaria risk level is leveled as very high, high, moderate, low, and very low, respectively. Creation of Human Population Distribution Factor Human population data was used to generate a population distribution map related to malaria occurrence. Kilombero Valley has a total of 42 wards, the data was organized in Ms excel 2016 and imported into the GIS environment for the analysis, Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) interpolation in the spatial analyst tool was applied to interpolate the population distribution map. The population distribution map was further reclassified into five subgroups based on potential to malaria risk. The reclassified map layer subgroups were ranked according to the vulnerability to malaria incidence in the locality such as areas having high population having the highest vulnerability and the less population having less vulnerable, and the new value was assigned as 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, and then leveled as very high, high, moderate, low and very low malaria risk level, respectively. Creation of Proximity to Health Facilities Factor The distribution of health facilities has a significant impact on the malaria vulnerability of the population dwellings in the Kilombero Valley. The health facility layer was created by computing distance analysis using proximity multiple ring buffer features in spatial analyst tool/multiple ring buffer. Then the map layer was reclassified into five sub-layers such as within (0–5) km, (5.1–10) km, (10.1–20) km, (20.1–50) km and >50km. According to a WHO report, it is indicated that the human population who live nearby or easily accessible to health facilities is less vulnerable to malaria incidence than the ones who are very far from the health facilities due to the distance limitation for the health services. Later on, the new values were assigned as 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, and then reclassified as very high, high, moderate, low and very low malaria risk levels, respectively. Creation of Proximity to Road Network Factor The distance to the road network is also a significant factor, as it can be used as an estimation of the access to present healthcare facilities in the area. Buffer zones were calculated on the path of the road to determine the effect of the road on malaria prevalence. The road shapefile of the study area was inputted into GIS environment and spatial analyst tools / multiple ring buffer feature were used to generate five buffer zones with the

LANDISVIEW is a tool, developed at the Knowledge Engineering Laboratory at Texas A&M University, to visualize and animate 8-bit/16-bit ERDAS GIS format (e.g., LANDIS and LANDIS-II output maps). It can also convert 8-bit/16-bit ERDAS GIS format into ASCII and batch files. LANDISVIEW provides two major functions: 1) File Viewer: Files can be viewed sequentially and an output can be generated as a movie file or as an image file. 2) File converter: It will convert the loaded files for compatibility with 3rd party software, such as Fragstats, a widely used spatial analysis tool. Some available features of LANDISVIEW include: 1) Display cell coordinates and values. 2) Apply user-defined color palette to visualize files. 3) Save maps as pictures and animations as video files (*.avi). 4) Convert ERDAS files into ASCII grids for compatibility with Fragstats. (Source: http://kelab.tamu.edu/)

This resource contains data inputs and a Jupyter Notebook that is used to introduce Hydrologic Analysis using Terrain Analysis Using Digital Elevation Models (TauDEM) and Python. TauDEM is a free and open-source set of Digital Elevation Model (DEM) tools developed at Utah State University for the extraction and analysis of hydrologic information from topography. This resource is part of a HydroLearn Physical Hydrology learning module available at https://edx.hydrolearn.org/courses/course-v1:Utah_State_University+CEE6400+2019_Fall/about

In this activity, the student learns how to (1) derive hydrologically useful information from Digital Elevation Models (DEMs); (2) describe the sequence of steps involved in mapping stream networks, catchments, and watersheds; and (3) compute an approximate water balance for a watershed-based on publicly available data.

Please note that this exercise is designed for the Logan River watershed, which drains to USGS streamflow gauge 10109000 located just east of Logan, Utah. However, this Jupyter Notebook and the analysis can readily be applied to other locations of interest. If running the terrain analysis for other study sites, you need to prepare a DEM TIF file, an outlet shapefile for the area of interest, and the average annual streamflow and precipitation data. - There are several sources to obtain DEM data. In the U.S., the DEM data (with different spatial resolutions) can be obtained from the National Elevation Dataset available from the national map (http://viewer.nationalmap.gov/viewer/). Another DEM data source is the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (https://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/srtm/), an international research effort that obtained digital elevation models on a near-global scale (search for Digital Elevation at https://www.usgs.gov/centers/eros/science/usgs-eros-archive-products-overview?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects). - If not already available, you can generate the outlet shapefile by applying basic terrain analysis steps in geospatial information system models such as ArcGIS or QGIS. - You also need to obtain average annual streamflow and precipitation data for the watershed of interest to assess the annual water balance and calculate the runoff ratio in this exercise. In the U.S., the streamflow data can be obtained from the USGS NWIS website (https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis) and the precipitation from PRISM (https://prism.oregonstate.edu/normals/). Note that using other datasets may require preprocessing steps to make data ready to use for this exercise.

CanVec contains more than 60 topographic features classes organized into 8 themes: Transport Features, Administrative Features, Hydro Features, Land Features, Manmade Features, Elevation Features, Resource Management Features and Toponymic Features. This multiscale product originates from the best available geospatial data sources covering Canadian territory. It offers quality topographic information in vector format complying with international geomatics standards. CanVec can be used in Web Map Services (WMS) and geographic information systems (GIS) applications and used to produce thematic maps. Because of its many attributes, CanVec allows for extensive spatial analysis. Related Products: Constructions and Land Use in Canada - CanVec Series - Manmade Features Lakes, Rivers and Glaciers in Canada - CanVec Series - Hydrographic Features Administrative Boundaries in Canada - CanVec Series - Administrative Features Mines, Energy and Communication Networks in Canada - CanVec Series - Resources Management Features Wooded Areas, Saturated Soils and Landscape in Canada - CanVec Series - Land Features Transport Networks in Canada - CanVec Series - Transport Features Elevation in Canada - CanVec Series - Elevation Features Map Labels - CanVec Series - Toponymic Features

Asynchronous online courses are popular because they offer benefits to both students and instructors. Students benefit from the convenience, flexibility, affordability, freedom of geography, and access to information. Instructors and institutions benefit by having a broad geographical reach, scalability, and cost-savings of no physical classroom. A challenge with asynchronous online courses is providing students with engaging, collaborative and interactive experiences. Here, we describe how an online poster symposium can be used as a unique educational experience and assessment tool in a large-enrollment (e.g., 500 students), asynchronous, natural science, general education (GE) course. The course, Introduction to Environmental Science (ENR2100), was delivered using distance education (DE) technology over a 15-week semester. In ENR2100 students learn a variety of topics including freshwater resources, surface water, aquifers, groundwater hydrology, ecohydrology, coastal and ocean circulation, drinking water, water purification, wastewater treatment, irrigation, urban and agricultural runoff, sediment and contaminant transport, water cycle, water policy, water pollution, and water quality. Here we present a is a long-term study that takes place from 2017 to 2022 (before and after COVID-19) and involved 5,625 students over 8 semesters. Scaffolding was used to break up the poster project into smaller, more manageable assignments, which students completed throughout the semester. Instructions, examples, how-to videos, book chapters and rubrics were used to accommodate Students’ different levels of knowledge. Poster assignments were designed to teach students how to find and critically evaluate sources of information, recognize the changing nature of scientific knowledge, methods, models and tools, understand the application of scientific data and technological developments, and evaluate the social and ethical implications of natural science discoveries. At the end of the semester students participated in an asynchronous online poster symposium. Each student delivered a 5-min poster presentation using an online learning management system and completed peer reviews of their classmates’ posters using a rubric. This poster project met the learning objectives of our natural science, general education course and taught students important written, visual and verbal communication skills. Students were surveyed to determine, which parts of the course were most effective for instruction and learning. Students ranked poster assignments first, followed closely by lectures videos. Approximately 87% of students were confident that they could produce a scientific poster in the future and 80% of students recommended virtual poster symposiums for online courses.