OpenDataKit Mobile Data Collection for Humanitarian Field Surveys Training Course

Course overview

Humanitarian teams need timely, reliable field data to target assistance, monitor service delivery, verify distributions, and report to donors. Paper forms, uncontrolled spreadsheets, and poorly configured mobile surveys create duplicate records, missing locations, inconsistent beneficiary identifiers, and delays between collection and action. This course addresses the operational challenge of designing and running OpenDataKit (ODK) surveys that work in low-connectivity settings while protecting sensitive information about crisis-affected people.

Participants build an end-to-end ODK workflow using ODK Central, ODK Collect, and XLSForm. They learn to translate assessment questions into mobile forms; configure skip logic, constraints, repeat groups, choice lists, calculations, GPS capture, photos, and barcode fields; publish and version forms; manage users and devices; and review submissions. The course also covers field-testing protocols, enumerator guidance, data-quality checks, offline collection, synchronization planning, and secure handling of personally identifiable information.

Instruction combines demonstrations with realistic humanitarian scenarios, including rapid needs assessments, registration and distribution monitoring, and post-distribution monitoring. Participants configure forms, deploy them to Android devices or emulators, collect sample records, identify quality failures, and correct form logic. Each participant leaves with a tested ODK project: an XLSForm, deployed form, fieldwork checklist, data-quality rules, and a practical deployment plan for an active or proposed response operation.

The course is suited to professionals who already work with humanitarian assessments, MEAL systems, programme data, or digital field operations and need to take responsibility for mobile data-collection design and rollout.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Design an XLSForm questionnaire for a humanitarian assessment using groups, relevant logic, constraints, calculations, and repeat sections
• Configure ODK Central projects, user roles, app users, forms, and submission access for a field deployment
• Deploy ODK Collect forms to Android devices and manage offline form download, record saving, and synchronization
• Build validation rules that prevent invalid dates, duplicate identifiers, out-of-range values, and incomplete mandatory records
• Capture and review geospatial, image, barcode, and enumerator metadata for verification of field activities
• Create a field-testing protocol that documents form defects, device issues, translation checks, and corrective actions
• Apply data-protection controls for personally identifiable information, consent capture, access restriction, and secure retention
• Produce an ODK deployment pack containing a tested form, enumerators' job aid, quality-control checklist, and rollout plan

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• MEAL Officers — who need to build dependable mobile tools for monitoring, evaluations, accountability, and learning activities
• Humanitarian Programme Officers — who need timely field evidence to target assistance and track programme delivery
• Assessment Officers — who design rapid needs assessments and require structured, validated data from dispersed locations
• Information Management Officers — who manage humanitarian datasets and need controlled form deployment and submission workflows
• Field Coordinators — who supervise enumerators and need practical controls for offline collection, synchronization, and quality assurance
• Digital Data Collection Specialists — who support NGOs or response partners in configuring and maintaining ODK-based surveys

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should be comfortable using spreadsheets, particularly entering structured data, filtering records, and working with rows and columns. Prior exposure to humanitarian assessments, MEAL indicators, beneficiary registration, or field monitoring is expected so that participants can interpret survey questions and data-protection risks in context. Basic Android smartphone use is helpful. Participants do not need programming experience, database administration skills, prior ODK experience, or advanced GIS knowledge. The course introduces XLSForm syntax and ODK Central configuration from a practical intermediate starting point, but it moves quickly beyond basic form creation.

Training methodology

The instructor leads short configuration demonstrations followed by guided build sessions in ODK Central, XLSForm, and ODK Collect. Participants work from humanitarian case materials, including a rapid needs assessment and a distribution-monitoring scenario, rather than generic survey examples. Small groups test one another's forms on Android devices or emulators, deliberately submit faulty records, and diagnose the resulting issues. Daily reviews connect technical choices to enumerator workload, connectivity constraints, consent, and data quality. The final session converts each participant's prototype into a deployment-ready action plan.

Course outline

Day 1: ODK architecture and humanitarian survey design

• ODK ecosystem: Central, Collect, XLSForm, submissions, and project structure
• Humanitarian data-collection workflows for assessments, registration, monitoring, and verification
• Translating indicators and information needs into survey questions and response types
• Questionnaire flow, grouping, and enumerator-friendly screen design
• XLSForm workbook structure: survey, choices, and settings sheets
• Ethical data minimisation, informed consent, and sensitive-question design
• Project setup and user-role configuration in ODK Central

Workshop: Participants map a rapid needs assessment workflow and create the first XLSForm version with consent, household, and location sections.

Day 2: Building validated mobile forms

• XLSForm question types, labels, hints, appearances, and required fields
• Choice lists, cascading selections, and externalised response lists
• Relevance expressions for skip logic and conditional groups
• Constraint expressions for range, format, date, and cross-field validation
• Calculations for household totals, age derivation, and scoring
• Repeat groups for household members, distributed items, and site observations
• Multilingual labels and translation review procedures

Workshop: Participants build and validate a multi-language household assessment form with repeat groups, calculations, and conditional questions.

Day 3: Field deployment with ODK Collect

• Form upload, publication, versioning, and retirement in ODK Central
• ODK Collect configuration with QR codes and app-user credentials
• Offline form download, draft saving, finalization, and delayed synchronization
• GPS points, geotraces, photos, audio, signatures, and barcode capture
• Device readiness checks: storage, battery, date settings, permissions, and Android security
• Enumerator workflows for consent, respondent privacy, and error correction
• Field-testing scripts and defect logs for form and device testing

Workshop: Participants deploy their form to ODK Collect, conduct paired offline interviews, and log configuration and usability defects.

Day 4: Data quality, safeguarding, and operational control

• Submission review and filtering in ODK Central
• Metadata-based checks for enumerator activity, duration, timestamps, and locations
• Duplicate detection and identifier-control approaches for beneficiary and household records
• Quality-control rules for completeness, plausibility, and internal consistency
• Role-based access, app-user separation, and least-privilege permissions
• Personally identifiable information handling, retention schedules, and secure export practices
• Escalation procedures for suspected falsification, protection concerns, and data incidents

Workshop: Participants audit a deliberately flawed submission set, document exceptions, and create a supervisor quality-control checklist.

Day 5: Humanitarian deployment planning and final project

• Sampling and enumeration planning considerations for mobile field surveys
• Enumerator training agendas, practice interviews, and competency checks
• Connectivity mapping and synchronization plans for remote field locations
• Form change control during active humanitarian operations
• Data export options and handover preparation for analysis teams
• Using QGIS to review collected locations and identify geographic anomalies
• Deployment risk register, support model, and post-deployment review

Workshop: Participants present a complete ODK deployment pack for a humanitarian scenario, including their tested form, quality controls, field checklist, and rollout plan.

Tools & standards covered

ODK Central, ODK Collect, XLSForm, QGIS

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions