Earth Outreach Getting Started with Mobile Data Collection using ODK More and more organizations are using mobile devices to collect data in the field. Open Data Kit (ODK) is a suite of tools that allows data collection using Android mobile devices and data submission to an online server, even without an Internet connection or mobile carrier service at the time of data collection. Streamline the data collection process with ODK Collect by replacing traditional paper forms with electronic forms that allow text, numeric data, GPS, photo, video, barcodes, and audio uploads to an online server. You can host your data online using Google's powerful hosting platform, AppEngine, manage your data using ODK Aggregate and visualize your data as a map using Google Fusion Tables and Google Earth . Created by developers at the University of Washington's Computer Science and Engineering department and members of Change , Open Data Kit is an opensource project available to all. Please visit their ODK project page on Google's codesite for more information for developers, recent updates, more tutorials, and to contribute to the project. This image shows data collected remotely using Open Data Kit and displayed in Fusion Tables.
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EarthOutreach
GettingStartedwithMobileDataCollectionusingODKMoreandmoreorganizationsareusingmobiledevicestocollectdatainthefield.OpenDataKit(ODK)isasuiteoftoolsthatallowsdatacollectionusingAndroidmobiledevicesanddatasubmissiontoanonlineserver,evenwithoutanInternetconnectionormobilecarrierserviceatthetimeofdatacollection.StreamlinethedatacollectionprocesswithODKCollectbyreplacingtraditionalpaperformswithelectronicformsthatallowtext,numericdata,GPS,photo,video,barcodes,andaudiouploadstoanonlineserver.YoucanhostyourdataonlineusingGoogle'spowerfulhostingplatform,AppEngine,manageyourdatausingODKAggregateandvisualizeyourdataasamapusingGoogleFusionTablesandGoogleEarth.
CreatedbydevelopersattheUniversityofWashington'sComputerScienceandEngineeringdepartmentandmembersofChange,OpenDataKitisanopensourceprojectavailabletoall.PleasevisittheirODKprojectpageonGoogle'scodesiteformoreinformationfordevelopers,recentupdates,moretutorials,andtocontributetotheproject.
ThisimageshowsdatacollectedremotelyusingOpenDataKitanddisplayedinFusionTables.
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TutorialContents:
PrerequisitesLet'sGetStarted!CreateFormsusingODKBuildCreateanAppEngineInstanceRestrictingPermissionstoAppEngineIntancesforincreasedSecurityUploadingFormstoyourAppEngineInstanceDiscussion&FeedbackWhat'sNext?
Prerequisites
Noprogrammingskillsneeded!YouneedawebenabledmobiledevicerunningAndroidOS1.6ornewer.YouwillneedaGoogleAccounttocreateaGoogleAppEngineinstance.(Getonehere.)YouwillneedJava6installedandrunningonyourcomputerforODKAggregate(downloaditherefree).
Let'sGetStarted!
1.Searchforthe"ODKCollect"appfromGooglePlayonyourmobiledevice,orfromGooglePlayinyourbrowser.Installthelatestversiontoyourmobiledevice.FormoreinformationaboutODKCollectanditsrequirements,visittheODKProjectPage.
2.DownloadtheSampleformtouseduringthistutorial.
CreateODKFormsusingODKBuild
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ThereareseveralwaysyoucancreateformsforODK.YoucanuseODKBuild,XLSforms,andbycreatingXMLforms.Ifyou'recreatingaformforthefirsttime,ODKBuildmaybethesimplestwaytostart,andthistutorialwillcoverusingODKBuild.Forcreatingmorecomplexforms,takealookatthedocumentationprovidedonXLSforms'FormhubUniversity.
1. GotoODKBuildathttp://build.opendatakit.org2. Createanewaccountorloginwithanexistingaccount.Notethatthisaccountis
differentfromyourGoogleAccount,andyoucanchoosetouseadifferentloginandpassword.Yourformswillbesavedtothisaccountforfuturereference.
3. Addquestionstoyourformbyclickingonthetypeofquestionyou'dliketoadd(eg.location,text,etc.)atthebottomofthepage.
Eachquestionhasseveralcommonpropertiesaswellasuniqueproperties.ForanexplanationoftheCommonProperties,seebelow.Youdonotneedtosaveeachquestionasyougo,butremembertosavetheformwhenyou'resatisfiedwithit.
4. EnteraTextquestion,suchas"Whatisyourname?",intheCaptionTextsection.Fillinthepropertiesofthetextfieldquestionontherighthandside.Optional:youcanenteraminimumand/ormaximumcharacterlengthforthetextfield.
5. EnteraNumericfieldtoallowuserstorecordanumberintheirform,suchas"Whatisyourage?"intheCaptionTextsection.Inthepropertiessection,specifywhetheryou'dliketorecordthenumberasanInteger(wholenumber)orDecimal(0.0)
6. AllowtheformuserstospecifyaDate.Thephonewillautomaticallyrecordthecurrent
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date,andallowtheusertoenterthedateormodifythedateinyourform.7. IftheusersofyourformhaveamobiledevicethatisequippedwithaGPSchipset,you
canaddaLocationentryintoyourform.ThequestionwillprompttheusertorecordtheGPSlocation.Theuserwillbeabletoviewanestimateofthephone'sbuiltinGPSaccuracywhilethephone'sGPSacquiressatellitepositions.
8. Allowusersofyourformtoattachmediafilestotheirformsubmissions.YoucanselectfromImage,AudioorVideoasmediaformat.Theformwillswitchtothedevice'scameramode,voicememomodeorvideocameramode,andthemediawillbestoredwiththatformentry.Forthisexample,enter"Takeaphoto"intheCaptionTextsectionandselect"Image"astheKindofmediayouwillusefromthedropdownmenu.Hint:ifyouknowyou'regoingtohaveaslowinternetconnectionwhenyouwanttouploadyourformsubmissions,andyouwishtohavephotosinsideyourforms,somedevicesallowyoutoreducethedefaultimagesizesothefilesizeissmallerwhenyouwanttosendyourcompleteddataovertheinternet.
9. Usethe"ChooseOne"questiontypeifyou'dliketheusertoselectoneoptionfromseveraloptions.Youcanspecifywhichoptionsyoupresentbyclicking"AddOption."MakesureyouaddanunderlyingvaluetoyourOptionsthisisrequiredforeachOption.Uselowercasetextandunderscores(_)insteadofspaces.
10. Usethe"ChooseMultiple"questiontypeformultiplechoicequestions.AswithChooseOne,makesuretoaddanunderlyingvaluetoeachOptionanduselowercaseandunderscoresfortheunderlyingvaluefields.
CommonPropertiesinFormQuestions
Dataname(required):Thisisthevariablenamethatisstoredinthexmlofyourform.Youmustuselowercaseandunderscores(_)insteadofspaces.
CaptionText(required):Enteryourquestionasyou'dlikeitpresentedtotheuser.
Hint:Specifyaquestion'shintorhelptext.Note:Ifyouarelocalizingyourform,youmustenterEnglishtexthereaswellaslocalizedtext.IfyoudonotwanttoenterEnglishdefaulttext,youmustcreatetheformsasxmlinatexteditor.Seethetipattheendofthistutorialformoreinformationaboutlocalizingforms.
Defaultvalue:thisisthedefaultinformationthatwillbepresentedtotheuser.Forexample,ifyouaregatheringinformationonagroupofchildrenandyouknowthemajorityofthechildrens'ageis12,youcanenter"12"asadefaultvalue.
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Readonly:Ifyoudon'twanttheusertobeabletoenterinformationforthisquestion,checkthisbox.
Required:Userswillnotbeabletosaveaformascompletedunlesstheyhaveenteredinformationforquestionsthatarechecked"required."
11. Onceyou'resatisfiedwithyourform,saveittoyourODKBuildaccount.GotoFile>SaveFormAs.Nexttimeyoulogintoyouraccount,youcanselectFile>Opentoopentheform.
12. Todownloadtheformtoyourcomputer,selectFile>ExportasXML.Youwillseexmlcode.Clickthe"Download"buttontosavethefiletoyourcomputerasan.xmlfile.Thisistheformatthatyouwillimportontoyourmobiledeviceinthenextstep.
Tip:OneoftheadvantagesofODKisthatyoucancreatelocalizedforms.ThefunctionalitytocreatelocalizedformsinODKBuilddoesn'texistyet,butyoucanlookatthesesampleforms(andtheWidgetsforminparticular)asguidestocreatingyourownXMLformsthatarelocalized.
Branchingquestionswherethesecondfollowupquestionisdependentupontheanswertothefirstquestion,mustalsobewritteninXML.NotethatdisplayingdatafrombranchingquestionsismoredifficultinFusionTablesandGoogleEarth.
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Ifyou'dliketolearnmoreaboutcreatingyourownformsusingxml,viewthejavarosaxformstrainingguide.
CreateanAppEngineInstance
GoogleAppEngineallowseasyhostingofyourapplications,andyourapplications'data,onanonlineserver.LearnmoreaboutAppEngineandreadthetermsofservice.
Forthistutorial,youwillsetupyourownserverusingAppEngineinfrastructureandODKAggregate.ODKAggregateallowsyoutosetupareadytodeployserverwhereyoucanuploadyourformsubmissions,exportthemas.csvfilesandsendthemontootherserviceslikeFusionTables.
1. First,you'llneedtosetupaGoogleAppEngineaccount.IfthisisyourfirsttimeusingAppEngine,Googlewillsendyouatextmessagetoconfirmyouridentity,sohaveatextenabledphoneready.Note:AgivenmobilenumbercanonlybeusedonceforcreatinganAppEngineinstance.
2. Onceyou'veconfirmedyourmobilenumberandloggedin,click"CreateanApplication."
3. Giveyourapplicationan"ApplicationIdentifier."ThiswillbecomepartoftheURLforyourAppEngineinstance,e.g."myurl.appspot.com."(Ifyouwouldliketorestrictthepermissionsforwhocanaccessyourdata,readtheSecuritysectionbelow.YoucanedittheSecuritysettingsinthisstep.)
Forthistutorial,wewillusethedefault"OpentoallGoogleAccountUsers."Onceyou'veenteredanidentifier,youwillreceiveconfirmationthatyourapplicationhasregisteredsuccessfully.
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4. DownloadthelatestversionofODKAggregatefromtheODKDownloadspage.5. Unzipit(singleclickthefileinyourDownloadsfolderonaMacorRightclickandunzip
itonaPC).Thefilewillunzipasafoldercalled"ODKAggregateversionOSinstaller."6. Doubleclicktoruntheapplication.YouwillentertheODKAggregateSetupWizard.
Click"Next."7. YouwillbepromptedtoagreetoODKAggregate'sLicenseAgreement.Then,select
thelocationonyourcomputerwhereyouwanttheinstallerfilestostorethesoftwarethatwillrunonGoogleAppEngine.
8. RuntheSetupWizard.EntertheODKinstancename(e.g."odktutorial"forodktutorial.appspot.com)andtheGoogleaccountassociatedwiththatinstance.
9. OncetheSetupWizardfinishesconfiguringODKAggregate,you'llbepromptedtoruntheinstallationscript.
10. You'llbepromptedtoentertheGoogleAccountandpasswordassociatedwiththeAppEngineinstanceagain.
11. Wait310minutesforthescripttorun.Onceit'sfinished,you'llgeta"Success"message.IfyoumadeamistakeenteringtheinformationintheSetupWizard,you'llfindoutinthisstage.YoucanreruntheSetupWizardbygoingbacktothefolderwhereyouinstalledODKAggregateanddoubleclicktheinstallertorunitagain.
12. Congratulations!Whenthescriptisfinishedrunning,ODKAggregateisnowinstalledonyourAppEngineinstance.Whenit'sfinishedrunning,confirmthatit'ssetupcorrectlybyvisitingyourAppEngineurl(e.g.myurl.appspot.com).YoucansigninwithyourGoogleAccountorclick"AnonymousAccess"togetin.
RestrictingPermissionstoODKAggregateforIncreasedSecurity
SinceODKAggregate1.0.nwasreleased,usersnowhaveoptionsforsettingaccesspermissionstotheirODKAggregateinstancesthroughtheSiteAdmininterface.Now,youcandecidewhohasaccesstosubmitdatacollectedinthefield,whocanviewthesubmitteddata,whocaneditdataandpublishexternally.Wewillcoverthisinmoredetailinthenext
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tutorialcalled"ManageyourDatawithODKAggregate."Alternately,youcansetrestrictionsviayourAppEngineinstance,butit'smoredifficultthanusingODKAggregatetosetaccesspermissions.LearnmoreaboutauthenticationforAppEngine.
UploadingyourFormstoyourAppEngineInstance
Nowthatyou'vesetupyourAppEngineinstancewithODKAggregate,youcanuploadyourformsthelaststepbeforeyoustartcollectingdataoutinthefieldwithyourforms!We'llwalkthroughthethreemaintabsoftheODKAggregateinterface:Submissions,FormManagementandSiteAdmininthenexttutorialcalled"ManageyourDatawithODKAggregate."YoucanuploadXMLyoudownloadedfromODKBuild.ODKBuildalsoletsyousendformsdirectlytoyourODKAggregateinstance,withouthavingtodownloadtheactualXMLfile.
1. GotoyourAppEngineinstance(orviewthesampleonewecreatedathttp://odktutorial.appspot.com,butuseyourowninstancetouploadyourcustomformsto).
2. LoginwithyourGoogleAccountifprompted.3. Clickonthe"FormManagement"tab.
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4. Choosetheformthatyouwishtouploadtoyourinstanceandhit"Upload."Ifyouhavemediafilesthatarepartofyourforms,forexampleforimagesinsidequestions,youcanalsouploadthemhere.
5. Ifyourformhasuploadedsuccessfully,youcancloseouttheUploadFormswindow.Youwillnowseeyourformsinthe"FormManagement"tab,readytoacceptsubmissions.
Discussion&Feedback
Havequestionsaboutthistutorial?Wanttogiveussomefeedback?VisittheGoogleEarthOutreachDiscussionGrouptodiscussitwithothers.
What'sNext?
Gotonexttutorial:MobileDataCollectionUsingODKCollectSeevideotutorialpage.Seealltutorials.
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