Why Sakai?Durham Tech’s LMS Transition

September 30, 2013NC3ADL

Durham Technical Community College

What is Sakai?

• A learning management system created by and for higher education

• Developed and maintained by a community of educational institutions

• A non-profit foundation (Apereo) co-ordinates ongoing development

Durham Technical Community College

Built by and for higher education

Durham Technical Community College

Who is using it?• UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University

have moved from Blackboard to Sakai• Other institutions using Sakai include:

Durham Technical Community College

How did we choose Sakai?

• In Fall 2009, Durham Tech formed an LMS team– Broad representation– 10 of 11 team members taught online and/or hybrid– Held open meetings

• Evaluated Moodle, Sakai, and Blackboard 9 (which had not yet been released)

• Piloted Sakai in Fall 2010; expanded pilot in 2011• In 2011, revisited Moodle 2• In late 2011, team made final report to the President,

recommending Sakai• In Spring 2012, President announced decision to move to

Sakai

Durham Technical Community College

What do we like about Sakai?

• Lots of tools!

Durham Technical Community College

Durham Technical Community College

Durham Technical Community College

What do we like about Sakai?

• Lots of tools!• Nifty “group” features• Nice calendar tool (that students like!)• Grading enhancements• Project sites• Off-site hosting with the vendor of our choice• Meetings tool (BigBlueButton)

Durham Technical Community College

Sakai Transition Time Line

18-month implementation plan• To train 350 instructors: 290 credit / 60 non-credit

Goal: Everyone trained and ready to use Sakai by Dec 2013

As of today: 331 trained

Durham Technical Community College

Sakai Training

• Minimum requirement to use Sakai:• Completion of Intro to Sakai workshop• Or prior experience using Sakai as an instructor

• Optional workshops on selected tools:• Gradebook• Lessons• Tests & Quizzes

• Intro to Sakai offered online• 77 completers since June 2013

Durham Technical Community College

Sakai Support

• Sakaigers: 8 faculty served as super users during the transition. Received stipend to provide assistance to their peers.

• We maintain a wiki with Help resources for students and instructors

• http://courses.durhamtech.edu/wiki/

• Starting January 2014, Blackboard Student Services will provide 24/7 support for our Sakai users

Durham Technical Community College

Demos

• Intro to Sakai• ACA-122 (Kerry Cantwell)• CIS-110 (Charlene West)• WEB-110 (Becky Roehrs)