K0276 Benefit-Cost Analysis (BCA) Facilitated Distance Learning June 2013 Version 1.0

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Instructor/Host Preparation

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K0276 BCA Facilitated Distance Learning Instructor/Host Preparation

June 2013, Version 1.0 Instructor Guide Page i

This Instructor/Host Preparation part of the Instructor Guide (IG) provides instructors and hosts with administrative, logistical and content support to prepare and deliver this blended learning course. Early review of this section will help instructors and hosts organize and deliver this course in an effective manner.

Rationale FEMA provides five grant programs under Hazard Mitigation Assistance to assist States, Tribes and local communities to mitigate losses of life and property due to natural hazards. When developing grant applications, subapplicants are required to provide a benefit-cost analysis (BCA) of their potential mitigation project. FEMA created the BCA Tool and its associated training to assist in this process. BCA trainings have been conducted in the field, at the Emergency Management Institute or Noble Training Facility, for many years. However, changes in the target audience and budgets have forced FEMA to review the delivery methodology in order to reach as many participants as possible. The following issues have been identified as impacting the present delivery of the course: Due to budget restrictions in these challenging economic times, many States and the

Federal government are restricting travel and/or training. This has led to low participant turnout for classroom delivery courses.

Some States have a few people who need the training, but not enough to pull together the minimum needed to conduct the class; therefore, many of these participants do not receive the training they need.

Participants need this training to help them submit an application, and the current way the course is offered, it may be 10 to 12 months after the course before a participant submits an application. This may lead to the participants needing to take the course again to clarify concepts that may have been forgotten.

The training is not offered on a routine basis, which may make it harder for participants to plan for the course and to register for it.

To host a class, the training sites have to provide 30 computers, a large training room with outlets, projection screen and projector. Not all potential sites have access to these resources, which restricts the geographic access and frequency of this course.

The cost of flying instructors to the trainings is a variable cost, dependent on airfare and per diems for locations, which can vary greatly from one location to another. These variations make it harder to predict the cost of the training.

Distance learning will provide the opportunity to remove geographic boundaries and promote diversification and awareness. Participants from all over the country will have the opportunity to make contact with others who have experience with different hazards. This kind of network development promotes collaboration outside of the training classroom, especially when real disasters happen.

Course Goal The purpose of this course is to provide participants with the knowledge and skills needed to use the BCA Tool to develop the Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR) for a mitigation project using facilitated distance learning. This approach will make the course more accessible to potential participants who are located in areas where training is not being offered, under local travel restrictions, or unable to attend a classroom-based training session for other reasons. In short, this would allow a BCA training to come to them rather than them coming to a training session.

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Course Objectives Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to complete a BCA for a mitigation project by performing the following necessary tasks: Add, edit and delete structures and projects. Associate structures with projects. Obtain and enter required data for different hazards and mitigation project types. Obtain and attach documentation to support the data. Provide justification for using values different from the BCA Tool’s FEMA standard values.

Target Audience The audience for this course consists of Primary and Secondary course participants. These participants are Applicants/Grantees, Subapplicants/Subgrantees, FEMA Region representatives, and FEMA Headquarters personnel who are involved in the grant application development process and provide technical assistance. Table 1 provides the list of Primary and Secondary course participants.

Table 1: K0276 Primary and Secondary Course Participants Primary Secondary

Eligible Subapplicants/Subgrantees State/Tribal HMA Staff Fiscal Staff Tribal Staff or Representatives NFIP Coordinators

State/Tribal Governor’s Authorized Representative (GAR)

/Tribal Authorized Representative (TAR) State/Tribal Contracting Office Staff Local Authorized Signatory (if the signatory is

also managing the grant) Staff from State/Tribal Agencies with HMA

Responsibilities Tribal Council Members

FEMA Region/Transitional Recovery Office (TRO)/Long-Term Recovery Office (LTRO) HMA Staff Fiscal Staff State Leads NFIP Staff GPD Staff Regional Counsel Reservists

FEMA Region Mitigation Division Directors FCOs EHP Staff Risk Analysis Planners/Engineers Tribal Liaisons

FEMA HQ Risk Reduction Branch Staff FEMA HQ FIMA staff GPD Office of Chief Counsel (OCC) Policy Division Staff

Course Design/Methodology This course is designed for a facilitated distance learning environment. The course should be attended by 8 to15 participants to allow for optimum results in discussions and activities. The course content will be delivered using web-based teaching methods, including presentations, case studies and individual exercises/activities. At the end of the course, participants will also be required to take a post-test to demonstrate their comprehension of the course’s concepts.

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It is crucial to keep the audience engaged for adult learning courses. This is the key to the success of any course, but particularly so when the course is delivered via facilitated distance learning. Methods to keep the audience engaged include polling questions and open discussion. These techniques will be incorporated into the course methodology, and it will be important for the instructors to employ them effectively. The course is designed to teach all the hazard modules of the BCA Tool so it will be crucial to keep the participants motivated and engaged throughout all the units.

Course Structure/Deployment The course consists of the following eight units: Unit 1 – Basic Tools and Independent Case Study Assignment Unit 2 – Supplemental Tools Unit 3 – Damage Frequency Assessment (DFA) Unit 4 – Tornado Safe Room Unit 5 – Hurricane Wind Unit 6 – Wildfire Unit 7 – Hurricane Safe Room Unit 8 – Earthquake Each unit will take approximately 120 minutes each, with time allotted for the actual lesson followed by questions from the participants. The independent case study assignment that will be completed as part of Unit 1 is expected to last approximately 60 minutes. The total time required for Units 1 through 8 is approximately 17 hours. When participants register for the course, they will also be directed to complete the following: Install the BCA Tool software onto the computer they intend to use for the course.

Participants will be directed to do a check to make sure the BCA Tool is working properly. If there are any download or installation issues, the participants can contact the BCA Helpline.

Download the hurricane wind and earthquake data files and import each file into the BCA Tool. They will need these data files for Units 5, 6 and 8.

Select the topic “Accessing Help” from the BCA Tool and watch the short video. Download the K0276 Participant Manual and handouts. Download the Adobe Connect Quick Start Guide for Participants onto the computer they

intend to use for the course. The guide can be downloaded from: https://seminars.adobeconnect.com/_a227210/vqs-participants/.

Run the Adobe Connection Test described in the Quick Start Guide. The connection test can be found at: http://na1cps.adobeconnect.com/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm . If the participants have any problems when they run the Connection Test, they can contact the Adobe Connect Technical Support at http://www.adobe.com/support/connect/connecthostedsupport.html.

Course Prerequisites The following courses are the required prerequisites for this course: IS-393.a - Introduction to Hazard Mitigation IS-212 - Introduction to Unified Hazard Mitigation Assistance IS-0276 – BCA Theory and Flood Concepts

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The following are recommended but not required: FEMA Flood Insurance Study (FIS) Tutorial, available at

http://www.fema.gov/media/fhm/fis/ot_fis.htm FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) Tutorial, available at

http://www.fema.gov/media/fhm/firm/ot_firm.htm E/L/B0212 - Unified Hazard Mitigation Assistance: Developing Quality Application Elements

Instructor/Host Qualifications Facilitated distance learning sessions will require an instructor to teach the course and a host to run the Adobe Connect training room. The instructors may originate from any of the following: FEMA Headquarters (HQ) personnel, FEMA Regional personnel or approved contractors. The instructors should have the following qualifications: Subject matter expertise in mitigation and its practical applications; Solid knowledge of UHMA Guidance, regulations and policies; Experience in UHMA grants management; BCA Certified Instructor; and Facilitation skills in leading discussions. The host will gather questions drafted by the participants for the instructor and will help with any access issues that participants may have during the course. The host should have the following skills: Expertise in the operation of the synchronous classroom; Experience presenting polls, layouts, chat pods and slides at the appropriate time in the

presentation; Knowledge of Adobe Connect and how to assist participants with questions before, during

and after the lesson; and Adeptness in the use of facilitated distance learning technology for training delivery and

managing content in the training room.

Course Schedule The draft course schedule in Tables 2 shows how the course may be delivered.

Table 2: Draft Course Schedule Session No. Time Unit One 120 minutes Unit 1: Basic Tools 60 minutes Unit 1: Independent Case Study Assignment Two 120 minutes Unit 2: Supplemental Tools Three 120 minutes Unit 3: DFA Four 120 minutes Unit 4: Tornado Safe Room Five 120 minutes Unit 5: Hurricane Wind Six 120 minutes Unit 6: Wildfire Seven 120 minutes Unit 7: Hurricane Safe Room Eight 120 minutes Unit 8: Earthquake

Course Supplies and Equipment The materials listed below are required to conduct the course. Other materials may be added to make the course more relevant to the participants. Presentation Slides; Instructor Guide (which includes guidance for both the instructor and the host); Participant Manual and Handouts (which participants will download);

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Electronic or hardcopy of current UHMA Guidance for the instructor; and Computer system with public internet and FEMA intranet access for the instructor and each

participant.

Course References The following sources were used as references for the development of this course: E/L/B0276 Benefit-Cost Analysis Course 2011 UHMA Guidance Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 2011 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-94

Pre-Course Activities Adobe Connect, the technology that will be used for the facilitated distance learning sessions provides an extended or virtual classroom with new methods and tools for facilitated distance learning. However, when bridging the physical and virtual worlds, certain challenges need to be overcome. Many of these challenges can be effectively dealt with by preparatory activities. Some of these preparatory activities would be carried out even for a classroom-based course. These include: reviewing the Presentation Slides, Instructor Guide, Participant Manual and case study materials; developing instructors' notes to help emphasize key points and to relate one's own as well as participants' experiences to the course content; and reviewing the class roster to become familiar with the audience. For facilitated distance learning however, there are specific preparatory tasks that will ensure a successful teaching session. Table 4 provides a list of those tasks that the instructor and host need to complete, and the suggested time frame for their completion.

Table 4: Facilitated Distance Learning Preparatory Tasks

Time Frame Task Description 3-4 weeks prior to session

Practice and Test the Learning Environment

The instructor and the host will practice using the Adobe Connect training room to ensure course materials are available, check room arrangements and become familiar with available and required features of the learning environment and the use of the pods. Before teaching any of the hazard-specific modules, the instructor should clear any data already entered in the BCA Tool for any walkthroughs or case studies, so that instructors are entering data along with participants. As an exception, instructors need to make sure that the Charleston raised floors BCA analysis is loaded before they teach Unit 2 – Supplemental Tools. This BCA is needed in order to teach the Loss of Function supplemental tool. After completing Unit 2, remember to delete the project before proceeding to Unit 3. Also, both the instructor and host should know how to download wind and seismic data and import it into the BCA Tool in case participants need help.

1 week prior to session

Prepare Training Room, Equipment, Course Materials and Instructor Resumes

The host will: Upload all training materials and instructor resumes

to the Adobe Connect training room. Log in to the Adobe Connect training room to ensure

that the room is properly set up. Work through the instructor guide to make sure all of the cited links and

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Time Frame Task Description resources are functional and available. Ensure that all polls and pods are clear and ready for the participants.

Day of the session

Conduct Facilitated Distance Learning session

The host will: Log in to the Adobe Connect training room 30

minutes before the lesson starts to ensure that the training room is properly set up and the Web conference dial-in number is posted.

Assist in delivering the lesson in accordance with the Instructor Guide.

The instructor will: Log in to the Adobe Connect training room 30

minutes before the unit starts. Deliver the training in accordance with the Instructor

Guide. The Adobe Connect training environment provides different screen layouts that are optimized for specific tasks. Figures 2 through 4 provide screenshots of these layouts that will be used during the BCA Facilitated Distance Learning Course: Lobby layout (Figure 2) – place used to open the facilitated distance learning session and to

display preliminary content that participants can see while waiting for the training to begin or during breaks in the session.

Housekeeping layout (Figure 3) – place used to provide files for download, links for browsing and chat windows for collaboration.

Classroom layout (Figure 4) – place used for the majority of the training session. This is where the instructor shares slides, the instructor’s screen, quizzes or a whiteboard.

Figure 2: Adobe Connect Classroom – Lobby Layout

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Figure 3: Adobe Connect Classroom – Housekeeping Layout

Figure 4: Adobe Connect Classroom – Classroom Layout

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Evaluation Plan The BCA Facilitated Distance Learning course will be evaluated on two levels: reaction and learning. Reaction Participants' reactions to the training will be measured to provide information on their perceptions of the training and any suggestions they might have for course improvement. The participants will evaluate the course through online evaluation sheets on the following items: Course content and organization Course delivery Course materials Ability of the course to maintain interest Amount and appropriateness of interactive exercises Participants' perceived value and transferability to the workplace Learning Participants' improvement in knowledge and skills will be measured using a post-assessment test at the end of the course.