Developing real time M&E dashboards using KoboToolbox and Power BI

This practical, step-by-step course takes you from basic form creation to deploying professional-grade M&E dashboards that update automatically with your latest field data.

Key Learning Outcomes:

After completing this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Design and deploy mobile-friendly data collection forms using KoboToolbox that align with their M&E framework
• Configure secure API connections between KoboToolbox and Power BI for automated data flow
• Transform and model raw field data into structured datasets ready for analysis
• Create interactive dashboards with dynamic visualizations including trend analysis, progress tracking, and comparative metrics
• Implement real-time dashboard refresh mechanisms to ensure up-to-date reporting
• Apply best practices in dashboard design to effectively communicate program progress and results
• Build comprehensive M&E dashboards that track progress against targets and support data-driven decision making

Course outline

1. Introduction
   1. Course intro
   2. Course orientation
2. Step 1: Review your M and E framework and data collection tools
   1. The case study
   2. A walk-through of the M and E framework
   3. A walk-through of the reporting form
3. Step 2: Create the data collection form in KoboToolbox
   1. Create the form in KoboToolbox
   2. Deploy the form to mobile devices, collect data and upload it
   3. Exploring the data in the KoboToolbox platoform
4. Step 3: Connect, transform, and model data
   1. Getting the API URL
   2. Importing KoboToolbox data to Power BI
   3. Exploring and cleaning the data
   4. Creating calculated columns
   5. Creating measures
5. Step 4: Build and share the dashboard
   1. Adding visuals
   2. Customizing the visuals
   3. Comparisons using column charts and pie charts
   4. Visualizing trends using the line chart
   5. Adding filters
   6. Visualizing progress towards targets
   7. Putting the dashboard together
   8. Refreshing the dashboard

Who should attend

This workshop is ideal for:

• M&E Officers and Managers seeking to automate their reporting processes
• Program Managers who need real-time visibility into project performance
• Data Analysts working in development organizations or NGOs
• Field Operations Managers responsible for monitoring program implementation
• Organizations transitioning from paper-based or basic digital data collection to automated dashboard systems
• Anyone involved in project monitoring who wants to reduce manual reporting effort and increase data visualization capabilities