This is the presentation made at the UNC Faculty Showcase on November 2, 2012. It tells the story of Sakai @ UNC: Where we've been and where we can go...

1. A story of adventure, intrigue & overcoming all odds
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2. The setting of our story is Chapel Hill, NC.
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3. The time and context is ancient.
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4. 2007
Things happening outside & inside our setting
Sakai Action Group
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5. 2008
Sakai Pilot
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6. 2009
Sakai grows (RomL)
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7. 2010
Sakai grows, is approved
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8. 2011
Formal announcement
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9. 2012
Migration complete
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10. Consider:
If you gave birth to a child in 2007, when she
takes her first breath, the iPhone is released.
By the time she sets foot on the school bus
for kindergarten, the iPad retina display is
released, e-books are common, and
instructors are teaching online courses to
classes of 160,000 students. That’s lot of
change in 5 short years!
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11. At the same time, Sakai at UNC was a
twinkle in our eye in 2007 and 5 years
later, we are completing our migration.
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12. The rate of (rapid) technological change
versus the (slower) rate of institutional
change creates a natural tension.
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13. Not only are there rapid technological
changes affecting our heroes and heroines,
but there are other dark forces...
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14. The rising cost of education calls into
question access and value.
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15. Year after year of budget cuts have left
state-funded institutions reeling.
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16. And there is more wickedness lurking about.
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17. There is an abundance of freely available,
high-quality content.
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18. And while we thought we were taking an
innocent walk in the woods, we now
realize that we’re in the thick of it.
Education today is complicated and we
can’t walk out the same way we walked in.
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19. Further, learners today know how to collaborate
online quickly, cheaply & instantly if they wish.
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20. They expect to be able to participate fully in
their communities - producing & consuming.
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21. These changes can be unsettling and leave
us questioning our roles as educators.
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22. Our team shares this unease. We are
responsible for the campus learning system -
arguably the most important academic system
for higher ed institutions. There has been
dramatic change in this realm as well.
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23. 1997 1999 2005
2008 2010 2011
2012
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24. This is a snapshot of a few selected systems.
1997 1999 2005
However, since April 2012 there has been a
dramatic increase of platforms released for
large scale online courses.
New technologies become “the new normal”
and all of our expectations are shaped by
2008
them. 2010 2011
Everything is changing...
2012
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25. Change is often hard to accept. It can be
scary. Some might believe the best approach
is to “hunker down” and hope the storm
passes.
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26. But look around. Doing nothing won’t get
you out of the forest. And going back doesn’t
appear to be a good option, either. Looks like
we need to build a path forward...
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27. We can do it!
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28. This is one of the fundamental reasons we
moved to Sakai. While we can’t control the
rate of tech change outside, we can manage
the evolution of our learning platform in ways
that are fiscally and pedagogically
sustainable and responsible.
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29. There’s no place like home. We have the
energy, creativity & material resources
needed to be successful!
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30. Intention
+
Effort
+
Community
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31. We are asking you to be the hero of this
story and help us build a path out of the
woods.
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32. It will require your participation.
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33. And one of the wonderful things about
community is that everyone has a role to play.
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34. We propose 3 things: We wish to form a
oversight group of faculty, staff & students to
review & improve Sakai.
1
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35. We want to contribute to a culture of learning
& experimentation @ UNC by piloting new
techs that show educational promise. 2 35

36. We want to collect, publish and share data
about our system and pilots to inform our
campus discussions and debates.
3
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37. Join us on this journey.
It’s going to be fun!
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38. Well, (spoiler alert) it won’t always be fun.
There will be monsters & threats at times.
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39. And there will be days when you just don’t
have the energy to slay another dragon.
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40. But we know you will be successful -
because you already have a record of it.
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41. n=3,800
97% courses in Sakai
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42. 3,800
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43. D.I.Y. migration
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44. That said, you’re clever. You were born on a Sunday
but not last Sunday. We have had some problems.
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45. Performance
At times, Sakai was slow. We fixed that.
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46. Performance
Managing large classes
We are working with faculty who are teaching large
classes (hundreds of students) to identify problems
& solutions.
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47. Performance
Managing large classes
Doing things differently
Doing things differently takes time.
Just that fact alone can be annoying.
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48. It’s always darkest before dawn...
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49. If you can stick with it, you will see a return
on your investment of effort.
The dawn is breaking...
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50. We are committed to doing all we can
to support you & to improve Sakai!
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51. We only have this last ambiguous phase
before the migration is complete.
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52. Then we can build our path out of the woods.
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53. Once out, we can build bridges and new
structures to support learning at UNC!
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54. It is your turn to take center stage & help us
shape the future direction of Sakai
in 2013 and beyond.
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55. 2013
Sakai
Enhancements Pilots Upgrade ???
Cmte
Thank you!
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56. kim_eke@unc.edu
slideshare.net/kimeke
twitter.com/kimeke
linkedin.com/in/kimeke
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57. Photo credits
Slide # URL
1 http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandoncwarren/5559822846/sizes/l/
2 http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobistraveling/7189600000/sizes/l/
3 http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldpatterns/6187195817/sizes/l/
4 http://www.flickr.com/photos/franktentlercom/5707611837/sizes/m/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bike/3336040653/sizes/m/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alwaysbecool/2542177818/sizes/m/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/spitzgogo/286917522/sizes/m/
5
6 http://www.flickr.com/photos/mknowles/47457221/sizes/m/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/xissey/3662005702/sizes/o/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/amagill/4490525847/sizes/m/
7 http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuckincustoms/6756753669/sizes/m/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33939293@N02/3611745956/sizes/m/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivyfield/4667604054/sizes/n/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/3bilder/5113921580/sizes/n/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shekharsahu/4649040661/sizes/m/
8 http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinboke/5423491978/sizes/m/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wilbertbaan/5553501665/sizes/n/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andyi/6344492411/sizes/m/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/interactegypt/7029060535/sizes/m/
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58. Photo credits
9 http://www.flickr.com/photos/roopaw/6985954465/sizes/m/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/5577603704/sizes/m/
10-12 http://www.flickr.com/photos/crowolf/499441035/sizes/o/
13 http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandoncwarren/5974689394/sizes/l/
14 http://www.flickr.com/photos/crowolf/501119839/sizes/o/
15 http://www.flickr.com/photos/26959633@N05/3274680992/sizes/l/
16-17 http://www.flickr.com/photos/pareeerica/4010712798/sizes/l/
18 & 26 http://www.flickr.com/photos/maistora/7971713326/sizes/l/
19 http://www.flickr.com/photos/katmary/5513557007/sizes/l/
20 http://www.flickr.com/photos/glissgliss/3933601933/sizes/l/
21-22 http://www.flickr.com/photos/brenda-starr/5673928508/sizes/l/
25 http://www.flickr.com/photos/14554939@N08/4017999350/sizes/l/
27-28 http://www.flickr.com/photos/28124437@N03/3106141675/sizes/z/
29 http://www.flickr.com/photos/jo-h/5862537591/sizes/l/
30+ http://www.flickr.com/photos/27613359@N03/6750396225/sizes/l/ (background)
31 http://www.flickr.com/photos/goodfeeling/2973690619/sizes/l/
32 http://www.flickr.com/photos/jox1989/5143301136/sizes/l/
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59. Photo credits
33 http://www.flickr.com/photos/garlandcannon/5060168658/sizes/l/
34 http://www.flickr.com/photos/hellomumhellodad/6859222285/sizes/l/
35 http://www.flickr.com/photos/25297401@N08/5089581212/sizes/l/
36 http://www.flickr.com/photos/angelic0devil6/471072774/sizes/l/
37 http://www.flickr.com/photos/pareeerica/3259402367/sizes/o/
38 http://www.flickr.com/photos/25802865@N08/7553264082/sizes/l/
39 http://www.flickr.com/photos/walkadog/3484426248/sizes/l/
40 http://www.flickr.com/photos/katmary/5286999494/sizes/l/in/photostream/
44 http://www.flickr.com/photos/46401094@N00/270306444/
49 http://www.flickr.com/photos/givemeajobsoicanmovetocanada/4427572541/sizes/l/
50 http://www.flickr.com/photos/wererabbit/4130473745/sizes/o/
51 http://www.flickr.com/photos/27940366@N07/4111908354/sizes/o/
53 http://www.flickr.com/photos/afeman/24491742/sizes/l/
54 http://www.flickr.com/photos/95572727@N00/2474372195/
55 http://www.flickr.com/photos/garibaldi/502180224/sizes/z/
56 http://www.flickr.com/photos/lovestruck94/6777303159/sizes/l/
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