New Sakai to link with Facebook, Google Docs

Two years after the transition of WebCT to Sakai as the university's primary educational resource network, university officials are preparing for yet another update: Sakai 3.0.

Ian Dolphin, executive director of the Sakai Foundation, spoke to university faculty and staff last month to discuss the current use of Sakai and present preliminary plans for the new version.

University faculty and students currently use version 2.6 of Sakai but will soon switch to version 2.7. Mathieu Plourde, project leader for IT-Client Support and Services, estimated that the launch of version 3.0 will not be for another two to four years.

He said Sakai 3.0 will provide a different user experience than the previous version. The new version will include the option of connecting the service to Facebook and integrating Sakai with Gmail Google Docs.

Plourde said Sakai developers are working to determine the origin of network outages and loading problems the site has recently experienced during peak hours of faculty and student use, and use that information in the new version.

According to Plourde, as of Oct. 7, there are 1,476 courses listed on Sakai, which is an increase from the 978 courses that were registered in Fall 2009. He said Sakai 3.0 is in the "pre-alpha" stage and is still undergoing testing before its release.

"At some point, you need to think of it as, instead of building on what's there, you start over with a new foundation and start fresh," Plourde said. "A lot of people in the community don't want to migrate to yet another learning management system right now. It needs to be done smoothly."

As a way to make this transition easier, he said there will be a hybrid version available before Sakai 3.0 replaces the old version. In this hybrid version, the university will be able to run Sakai 2.0 and 3.0 at the same time. People can use the older tools from 2.0 while using the new functions in 3.0.    

Plourde said he has not heard many complaints from faculty or students about Sakai.

"I don't get people screaming at my door about Sakai," he said. "It's easy and it's running fairly smoothly."

Plourde said some faculty members have suggested solutions for certain problems with Sakai.

"Some people appreciate using Sakai," he said. "They're not thrilled about it, but it fits their needs."

English professor Stephen Bernhardt said he thinks the switch to Sakai 3.0 will push the university community to be more socially active. However, he said he is unsure about connecting the site to Facebook features.

"I like segmentation between my personal life," Bernhardt said. "There are certain advantages of having privacy on Sakai. I am happy with Facebook being a social tool, not primarily a professional one."

Chemical engineering professor Richard Wool said he hopes the new version of Sakai will be easier to navigate.

"I assume it will be more user friendly and versatile," Wool said. "If that's the case, I welcome the change. I'm a cyber-techy guy."

Junior Brittany Calabro said she would not mind connecting Sakai features to Facebook because it will allow her to better communicate with her classmates, but upperclassmen may dislike having to adjust to a new website.

"I don't think people will use it more because of a newer version, they use it because they need to," she said. "New students may like it more but older students might not like getting use to a new program."