SAKAI UPDATEMICHAEL KORCUSKA
March 17, 2009. Nagoya, Japan
About Sakai
Sakai History
Courseware Management SystemStarted in 2004
Michigan, Indiana, Stanford, MIT (and Berkeley)
Mellon Foundation Grant
2.6 release in QA
Why Start Sakai?
5 Schools with Homegrown CMSInefficient to build 5 systemsWanted to maintain controlExperts in teaching and learningDesire to work together and share knowledge
Why Sakai?
Stanford wrote about 20% of the original code in Sakai. What we have received in return is five times what we have put in, a tremendous return on investment. The value of community source is very real to us.Lois Brooks
Director of Academic Computing Stanford University
Coursework, Stanford University
Defining Sakai: Product Scope
COURSE MANAGEMENT — all the tools of a modern course management system.
RESEARCH & COLLABORATION — project sites for research and work group collaboration.
SAKAIBRARY — Library-led component to add citations directly into Sakai.
PORTFOLIOS — Open Source Portfolio (OSP) is a core part of Sakai.
Course Management
Portfolios
SakaibraryResearch &
Collaboration
Defining Sakai: Community
COMPOSITION — educational institutions & commercial enterprises working in partnership with standards bodies & other open-source initiatives.
GOALS — work collaboratively to develop innovative software applications designed to enhance teaching, learning, research & collaboration in education.
VALUES — knowledge sharing, information transparency, meritocracy.
Educational Institutions
Commercial Affiliates
Open Source
Standards Bodies
Sakai on the ground
200+ PRODUCTION/PILOT DEPLOYMENTS: From 200 to 200,000 users
Sakai on the ground
5 of top 10 Universities run Sakai Stanford Berkeley Cambridge Columbia Oxford
#11 also runs Sakai (Yale)
Sakai on the ground
Users Institutions
130,000+ Indiana, UNISA
60,000+ Michigan
11,000 - 50,000
Berkeley, Cape Town, Etudes Consortium, New England (AU),
Valencia, Virginia Tech, Yale
1,000 - 10,000
Cambridge, Cerritos, Charles Sturt,
Fernando Pessoa, Lleida, Mount Holyoke,
North-West, Rice, Roskilde, Rutgers, Saginaw Valley, UC Merced, Whitman,
Arteveldehogeschool
CTOOLS, University of MichiganFirst production Sakai deployment, 2004
Defining Sakai: Code
OPEN LICENSING — Sakai’s software is made available under the terms of the ECL, a variant of the Apache license. The ECL encourages a wide range of use, including commercial use.
NO FEES OR ROYALTIES — Sakai is free to acquire, use, copy, modify, merge, publish, redistribute & sublicense for any purpose provided our copyright notice & disclaimer are included.
NO “COPYLEFT” RESTRICTIONS — unlike GPL redistributed derivative works are neither required to adopt the Sakai license nor publish the source code as open-source.
EDUCATIONAL COMMUNITY LICENSE
(ECL)
Increasing Global Diversity
In 2006, 81% were in North America
Defining Sakai: Foundation
MISSION — manage & protect intellectual property; provide basic infrastructure & small staff; help coordinate design, development, testing & distribution of software; champion open source & open standards.
GOVERNANCE — ten board members elected by member reps to serve three-year terms; Executive Director manages day-to-day operations.
PARTNERS — over 100 member organizations contribute $10K per year ($5K for smaller institutions).
BUDGET — funds 4-6 staffers, admin services, computing infrastructure, project coordination, conferences, Sakai Fellows Program, advocacy & outreach activities.
Why Sakai?
UCT decided to move to open source in 2004, migrating from WebCT & a home-grown system. Open source offers the advantages of flexibility & avoids the risks of vendor lock-in & escalating license costs. We were attracted to Sakai by the size & expertise of the community around it.
Stephen Marquard, Learning Technologies Coordinator, University of Cape Town
Why Sakai 3?
Changing expectations Google docs/apps, Social
Networking, Web 2.0 Success of project sites
= Sakai beyond courses New technologies
Standards-based, open source projects JCR (Jackrabbit) Open Social (Shindig)
Client-side programming JavaScript/AJAX
Sakai 3 Themes
Content Authoring and Management
Academic Networking
Breaking the Site Boundary
Academic Workflows, not (just)
Tools
Sakai, Thick or Thin Sakai Everywhere
Content
Content Basics: Simple page creation (wiki-
like) WYSIWG Editing Template-based authoring Versioning
Interactive Widgets Everything is content
Searchable, linkable, portable
Unified content repository
Sakai 2
Site A Site B
Finding something requires knowing which site it belongs to.
?
Tags: System, Organizational &
User
Search + Smart Folders
Sakai 3
Academic Networking
Academic Networking People are important, but “friends” aren’t enough Content-based – Who is reading the same articles? Activity based – Who has taken the same classes?
Content People
Sakai 2: Users & Sites
Site A Site B
Group A1
User 1User 2User 3User 4User 5...User N
Group B1
User 1User 2User 3User 4User 5...User N
Users and groups exist within the context of a site.
Groups & Sites (call them spaces?) Separated
Member of a group – People with something in common
Access to a space – Collection of content & functionality
Support for hierarchy
Sakai 3 Groups & Sites
Space A
Space B
Space C
Group 2
Group 3
Group 1
Group 1.1
Space AA
Space AB Group 1.2
Kernel
Tool
ToolTool
Tool
Tool
Tool
Sakai 2 Architecture
Kernel
Service
Service
Service
Service
Serv
ice
Serv
ic e
• Facilitates independent tool development
• Resists intuitive workflows
• Contributes to inconsistent user experience
Kernel
Sakai 3 Architecture
Kernel
Workflow
Workfl
ow
Workflo
w
Workflo w
Work
flo
w
Workflo
w
Kernel
Service
Service
Service
Service
Serv
ice
Serv
ic e
Kernel
• Workflows built across services
• Encourages presentation & service separation
• Services need to respond to more customers
• UX oversight is more complicated
Academic Workflow
Beyond Tool Silos Academic work flows often cross tool
boundaries Anything can be graded! Anything can be discussed!
This is beginning to appear in Sakai 2 But more needs to be done
Example: Instructor puts into syllabus an assignment to create a discussion post that will be graded. 4 tools for both instructors and students!
Academic Workflow Example
Week Readings Activities & Assignments
1 Course PoliciesTextbook Chapter 1
2 Textbook Chapter 2Jackson Article
Write a response to Jackson article & post to discussion forum
Create Assignment…
Name: Jackson Reading ResponseDue Date: September 10, 2009Points: 10 (of 150)Type: IndividualDescription: Respond to the Jackson article in no more than 500 words. Post that response to the class discussion forum.Link To: Select...
CreateCancelAdvanced Options…
Select text & click “Create Assignment”
Edit Assignment Information
Link to Something
AllMedia
ImagesVideosAudio
ForumsTestsSite PagesPolls
ChooseNew…
Forums
Jackson Response Forum (3 posts)
Class Intro Forum (27 posts)
Some Other Forum (0 posts)
Student View
Week Readings Activities & Assignments
1 Course PoliciesTextbook Chapter 1
2 Textbook Chapter 2Jackson Article
Write a response to Jackson article & post to discussion forum
Assignment: Jackson Reading ResponseDue Date: September 10, 2009 ( due tomorrow)Status: Not submittedPoints: 10 possible (of 150).Description: Respond to the Jackson article in no more than 500 words. Post that response to the class discussion forum. Read more…Link(s): Jackson Response Discussion Forum (Create Post…)
Student View, Graded
Week Readings Activities & Assignments
1 Course PoliciesTextbook Chapter 1
2 Textbook Chapter 2Jackson Article
Write a response to Jackson article & post to discussion forum
Assignment: Jackson Reading ResponseDue Date: September 10, 2009 (due date passed)Status: Submitted and GradedPoints: 9/10 (of 150). View feedbackDescription: Respond to the Jackson article in no more than 500 words. Post that response to the class discussion forum. Read more…Link(s): Jackson Response Discussion Forum (go to Forum now)
Sakai, Thick or Thin
Multiple Configurations Sakai as CMS Sakai as Collaboration System Sakai as Portfolio System
Sakai Integrations Google Applications Social Networks (Open Social, Facebook)
SAKAI DOES NOT NEED TO DO EVERYTHING FOR
EVERYONE
Sakai Everywhere
Sakai 3 Technology Goals
Scalability Remove bottlenecks from Sakai 2 Improve cluster support
Developer Productivity Faster builds UX & back-end development separated
Code Quality & Maintenance Reliance on other open source efforts Increase unit testing
Easier to install/build To improve initial experience for new developers
JCR as Content Store
Standards-based JSR 170 Ships with Apache Jackrabbit, but can be
changed Everything as content
Discussion post, User profile information, etc.
Components put Content into JCR Content store
Sakai Kernel creates relational indices in DB Component doesn’t need to do anything Automatic tracking of most events by kernel
JSON
Sakai Kernel supports JSON microformat Components use REST calls to interact with
Kernel Again, standards based
JAX-RS currently in Kernel (JSR 311) Benefits
Back-end services stay Java-based UX programmers more often skilled in JavaScript
Easier UX developers can work on Sakai Tools like GWT can be used for Java-based UI Components can be written using other languages
Sakai 3 Participation
K2 Working Group http://groups.google.com/group/sakai-kernel
UX Design Work UX list http://groups.google.com/group/3akai
How would you like to be involved? Development
Java & JavaScript Design
Conceptual, interaction and visual
When
Q1 2009: Sakai 2.6 Q3 2009: Sakai 2.6.#
A maintenance release for fall production 2010
Q1: Sakai 2.7 (New assignments tool and gradebook?) Later: First versions of Sakai 3
Not functionally equivalent to 2.7 Suitable for new adoptions “Hybrid” version for existing Sakai schools
2011 Sakai 3 as full replacement Maintenance releases for Sakai 2.7 through 2013 No version 2.8
ありがとうございました