Implementing Sakai A Panel Discussion Feliz Gouveia, Magnus Tagesson,

Michael Osterman, Josh Baron, Lance Speelmon

Josh BaronDirector, Academic Technology and eLearning

MARIST COLLEGE

iLearn Project Role[iLearn = Innovative Learning Environment and Resource Network]

Institutional lead & faculty and student support

MARIST COLLEGE• We are NOT a large research university! • Founded 1929 – small complex liberal

arts college• Located in Poughkeepsie, New York, USA• Approximately 5700 students (FTE)• 200 full-time faculty, 500 part-time• Strategic focus on distance learning

Implementation Timeline

• Phase I: Testing the waters (June 2005)– Sakai 2.1 with 25 students, 2 instructors

• Phase II: Expanded Production (Fall 2006)– Sakai 2.2.2 with 100 students, 10 instructors

• Phase III: Transition Start (Fall 2007)– Sakai 2.4 rSmart CLE w/ 200+ students– Implementing OSP, Messages and Forums

iLearn (Sakai) Environment

• Blade 64 bit servers (app, web, & database)– Important for future scaling and performance

• Running Linux, Apache, Tomcat, mySQL• Considering move to DB2/WAS• Limited integration currently, major issue

– LDAP authentication, moving to CAS– SIS integration critical (enrollment & drop data)

Implementation Resources

• One dedicated (mostly) IT Java Developer– Currently also handling server administration

• Part-time IT Project Manager (15% FTE)• 100% of Me (but I put in 400% effort)• 20% FTE Support Specialist (open position)

– Will increase over time

• High-level administrative support

Local Lesson Learned To Share

• “Production Pilots” provide a lower stakes real world deployment – good balance– Be wary of using the term “production pilot

• Select a range of users and subjects– They teach differently, have different needs

• Implement an upgrade early!• Change is hard, be ready for resistance

Mondo – Stockholm University Implemention of Sakai

Magnus Tagesson

IT Educational Developer

Introductions and Background

• Stockholm University– Stockholm, Sweden– Teaching/Research (Humanities, Law, Social

Science, Natural Science)

– ~1500 courses, 127 programs

– ~39000 under graduate students,

– ~4600 staff

Implementation Timeline

• Pilot with Sakai 1.5 Autumn 2005• As of May 2nd 2007, in production with Sakai 2.3.1

• Future goals/objectives:– Upgrade to 2.4 in the autumn/winter– Enterprise integration

• Local course management integration• Plagiarism detection system• Calendar

– Course Evaluation

Mondo

Tech Environment

• Linux, Apache mod_proxy balancer, – 2 servers, 4 tomcats

• MySQL• AFS for file storage• Shibboleth for authentication

– Externalized authentication for WebDAV

Implementation Resources

Currently:• 0.2 FTE on technical side• 2.0 FTE on support and training

• Centrally funded

Local Lesson Learned To Share

• Collaborate with the University Teaching and Learning Centre

• Try to meet user requirements– Give feedback on opinions and requirements– Honest, open approach on limitations

• Internationalization? – Terminology consistency

• Keep local hacks to a minimum– Work with the framework rather than against it!

Michael Osterman Middleware Analyst, Emerging Technology

Introductions and Background

• Institution Information– Whitman College– Walla Walla, Washington, US

Population 35,000– Undergraduate liberal arts

and sciences– 1454 students, ~120 full-time faculty

Implementation Timeline• Began pilot project Fall 2005 on Sakai 2.0• Fully migrated from Blackboard Basic in Fall 2006• Currently running Sakai 2.3.x

– 1/2 full-time faculty using Sakai– 3/4 student body with one or more course– Continue to add more faculty each term

• Future priorities determined by advisory committee– Spring 2007

• Photo roster• More visually appealing skin

Tech Environment• 1 x production server, 1 x hot standby• Apache Tomcat standalone, MySQL server• Future plans

– Load balanced multi-instance app servers– Connect to MySQL database cluster– SSL performance enhancements

• Integration:– central authentication web service– LDAP for demographic data– Load SIS enrollment data via web services

Implementation Resources• Technical Staffing

– Pilot - 0.5 FTE – Conversion - 0.75 FTE– Production - 0.25 FTE

• Support Staff– 0.25 FTE between terms

• Material costs & expenses– Foundation membership $5,000/yr– Server hardware & licensing ~ $20,000/4 yr– Travel - variable

Local Lesson Learned To Share• Build executive awareness & buy-in• Be extremely thorough• Transparency in processes• Acknowledge Faculty volunteers• Let users market whenever possible• Participate in the Sakai community• Manage scope and expectations• Customize carefully

Common Lessons Learned

• Importance of contributing to the community– Contribution can take many forms

• Managing “change” (driven by innovation)• Communication with users

– Importance of transparency

• High quality support is critical• Conversion from “old system”

– Importance of local branding