Sakai 3, version 8

Sakai 3: An Overview
Michael Korcuska
Executive Director
Sakai Foundation

Sakai 3: Why?
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
Fluid Project (fluidproject.org)
Years of hard-won knowledge
2

Why Now?
Proto by Hubert Stoffels
The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.
John F. Kennedy

What?
Photos by Hobvias Sudoneighm, Massimo Valiani, and Mathieu Plourde
Functionality & User Experience
Technology and Developer Experience
Community Practices and Culture

End User perspective
Sakai 3

Content Organization, Searching & Tagging
Sakai 3 Themes
6
Learning Space Construction
Breaking the Site Boundary
Customizable Workflows (No Tool Silos)
Academic Networking
The unSakai
Open Teaching

Learning Space Construction
1
Photos by Cyprien Lomas
Really “Scholarly Space”
Teaching & Learning plus….
Research, collaboration and portfolios
Principles
Embrace participant content creation
Simple integration of interactive options
Author(s) control presentation and workflow

Academic Spaces: Building Blocks
Simple Content Authoring:
Easy page creation (wiki-like)
WYSIWYG Editing
Templates (page and site)
Versioning
Enhanced with Academic Functionality
Interactive Widgets (e.g. assignments & feedback)
Allows integration of content and activities
8

Templates
Templates provide scaffolding for majority of users
But can be bypassed for advanced needs
Page Templates
Sections with (editable) content
Site Templates
Predefined pages and dashboards

Everything is Content
Not just files to share
Classic “resources” tool in Sakai (of course)
Discussion post, user profile, test questions
Taggable, searchable, linkable, portable, shareable
Unified content repository
Content not tied to site
Everything in one storage area
BUT: Sakai is not a full Content Management System
No complex approval workflows
No fancy layout capabilities
Everyone is an author in Sakai
10
2

Content Management
Sakai2
Photo by Desirée Delgado
Site A
Site B
Users find things by remembering what site they were in when they saw it.
11

Content Management
Sakai3
Photo by Amy Veeninga
Tags: System, Organizational & User
Permissions: Who has access, under what conditions
Smart Folders
Search
12

Academic Networking
Academic Networking
People are important, but “friends” aren’t enough
Related content is also relevant, but not the whole story
Activity based
Who has taken the same classes?
Who is reading the same articles? Participating in similar discussions?
13
3
Content
People

Academic Networking
A platform for exploration
We aren’t competing with Facebook
We do believe we need to drive R&D in this area
Linking networks together
Sakai to Sakai
Sakai, Moodle, Blackboard, D2L
Leveraging existing networks
Particularly LinkedIn and Facebook
Sharing profile and activity information
Creating apps on those platforms
Photo by Joël-Evelyñ-FrançoisDézafit-Keltz

The Site Boundary
15
4
All Art Students
Studio Art 101
User 100
User 2
User 3
User 4
User 500
.
.
.
User 1
User 2
User 3
User 4
User 5
.
.
.
Year 1 Art Students
Year 1 Art Students
Users and groups exist within the context of a site.

Sakai 3 Groups & Sites
Groups & Sites managed separately
Member of a group – People with something in common
Access to a site– Collection of content & functionality
Support for hierarchy
Art Dept.
Art Majors
Art Majors
Studio 101 Students
Studio 101
Guest Judges
Student Work
16

Workflow & Architecture
17
5
Kernel
Tool
Kernel
Service
Tool
Tool
Service
Service
Kernel
Service
Service
Tool
Tool
Service
Tool

Facilitates independent tool development
Resists intuitive workflows
Contributes to inconsistent user experience

Workflow & Architecture
18
Kernel
Workflow
Kernel
Service
Workflow
Workflow
Service
Service
Kernel
Service
Service
Workflow
Workflow
Service

Services need to respond to more customers
UX oversight is more complicated
Workflows built across services
Encourages presentation & service separation

Workflow

Academic Workflow
Beyond Tool Silos
Academic work flows often cross tool boundaries
Anything can be graded!
Anything can be discussed!
This exists in Sakai 2
But it is too difficult and more needs to be done
Example: Instructor puts into syllabus an assignment to create a discussionpost that will be graded.
4 tools for both instructors and students!
19
Photo by Zoom Zoom

Workflow Example
20
Select text & click “Create Assignment”
All
Media
Images
Videos
Audio
Forums
Tests
Site Pages
Polls
Jackson Response Forum (3 posts)
Create Assignment…
Name: Jackson Reading Response
Due Date: September 10, 2009
Points: 10 (of 150)
Type: Individual
Description: Respond to the Jackson article in no more than 500 words. Post that response to the class discussion forum.
Link To: Select...
Class Intro Forum (27 posts)
Forums
Edit Assignment Information
Some Other Forum (0 posts)
Create
Cancel
Advanced Options…
Link to Something
Choose
New…

Student View
21
Assignment: Jackson Reading Response
Due Date: September 10, 2009 ( due tomorrow)
Status: Not submitted
Points: 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
22
Assignment: Jackson Reading Response
Due Date: September 10, 2009 (due date passed)
Status: Submitted and Graded
Points: 9/10 (of 150). View feedback
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 (go to Forum now)

The unSakai
Multiple Configurations
Sakai as CMS
Sakai as Collaboration System
Sakai as Portfolio System
Sakai Integrations
Google Applications
Social Networks (Open Social, Facebook)
23
6

The unSakai
24
Kernel
Service
Service
Service
iGoogle
Facebook
Kernel
Service
Service
Service
Documented data feeds allow Sakai to appear anywhere
Mobile Apps
Windows/Mac Widgets

Open Teaching
Easy to make (parts of) course sites public
or .auth
Connections to OER repositories?
Inbound, Outbound

Sakai 3 Functional Architecture
Public
Users
Groups
Collaboration Spaces
Personal Spaces
PLE
Learning
Research
Project
Portfolio
Profile
Meaningful Arrangements
Dynamic, Collaborative Pages
Dashboards
Defined & Custom Workflows
Fundamental Capabilities
Wiki-like Content Editing
Page Templates
Interactive Widgets
Unified Content Repository
Authored Pages
Uploaded Files
Contextual Content

Sakai 3 Technology
Why Sakai 3?

Sakai 3 Technology Goals
Scalability
Millions of users
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
28
Photo by Luiz Castro

Using Open Source
Don’t write our own code
If we can help it
Criteria:
Functionality
License-compatible open source
Open standard
Approachable community

Sakai and Apache
Sakai 3 Kernel built on Apache Sling
RESTful web development framework for content management
Sling incorporates Jackrabbit and Felix
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
30

Sling Mindset
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
Philosophy similar to CouchDB
Will require developer education

JSON
Sakai Kernel supports JSON microformat
Components use REST calls to interact with Kernel
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
32

Community Practices

Community Practices
Functional Leadership
Design First
Minimize Technology Frameworks
Quality Focused
Unit (and other) Tests

Timelines and adoption

Timelines
36
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Sakai 2.5
Sakai 2.6
Sakai 2.7
Hybrid
Mode
Sakai 3.0
Official Releases
Previews
Sakai 2.8?

Adopting Sakai
Adopt 2 or 3?
Not the first question to answer
First Question:
Yes! Or probably
Do you want to be using Sakai (and be in the community) in the long run?
We can help you figure out how to get there

Path to Sakai
Straight to 3? Start with 2?
It Depends!
What did you expect?
On what?
Your production timeline
Your appetite for “.0” software
Your functional needs
Your support model

Adopting 2 or 3?
Sakai 2.6 or 2.7
Sakai 2 works well today
3 doesn’t exist yet
Sakai 2 will be a good path to Sakai 3
Bb/WebCT migration to 2 is well known
Many will be migrating from Sakai 2 to 3
Straight to Sakai 3
You don’t have a CMS or you are using something like SharePoint
Your production timeline is 2012 or later
You have a very strong preference for Sakai 3

Adopting 2 or 3?
Maybe the wrong question
Adopt both!
Hybrid mode
Sakai 2 for courses, Sakai 3 for project collaboration
Gradually move users to Sakai 3