- ACADEMIC SERVICES Implementing Sakai: transition and localisation Jon Higham and Robert Sherratt...

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Implementing Sakai:transition and localisation

Jon Higham and Robert SherrattAcademic Services, University of Hull

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Agenda

• Background– VLE Review

• Transition• Technical configuration• Localisation• Plans and concerns

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The University of Hull

• Over 80 years old• Staff: 4000 (2500 FTE)• Students: 22000 • Campus: Hull & Scarborough

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Previously at Hull

• 2 VLEs– Merlin: developed in-house, used for distance learning and research project support – Blackboard 6 basic: mainly used for traditional undergraduate courses

• Reasons for moving– sustainability– limited functionality– lack of integration opportunities

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VLE Review

• March 2006– Review initiated by the Deputy Vice Chancellor

• September 2006– Steering Group formed and plan approved– looking at Moodle, Blackboard Enterprise and Sakai

• June 2007– Votes cast for new system and final report published– sustainable and flexible solution– enable extending and deepening of eLearning– able to participate in the community

• September 2007– Information Systems Board confirm selection of Sakai

• October 2007– Implementation project plan approved

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Implementation of Sakai

• Conditions set by the Review group– Commercial Support for MySQL & Sakai– Migration of Merlin & Blackboard content– £45k hardware– No new staff

• Expectation that Sakai was an off the shelf product

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eBridge, not Sakai

• Looking for a name without association with the underlying technology• Competition with a cash prize - £100• 150 entries• eBridge selected

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eBridge Implementation Team

• 3 FTE eLearning team (nearly 100%)– pedagogic support

• 2 FTE technical staff (100%)– systems support and systems upgrades

• 1.5 FTE training (20%)• 0.5 FTE project manager• Integrated helpdesk support

• = c. 5.5 FTE

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Transition

• Sept 07 – start work with Merlin community– dedicated practitioners, c. 100 staff– many distance taught, off campus courses– dealt with individuals – successfully completed

• Sept 08 – start work with Blackboard community– c. 1000 staff– mix of approaches and attitudes– dealt with department by department

• May 09 – continuing the transition process

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Transition – supporting the change

• Review Group worked well• Continued with a Steering Group

– chaired by PVC Learning & Teaching– full academic representation

• Supported by an Advisory Group– Interested academics

• AG succeeded by the eBridge Peer Support Network– Owned by the University Learning and Teaching Support Unit

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Transition – moving content

• A question of scale• Merlin: Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V• Blackboard looking at automated methods where possible• Committed to content transfer without user intervention

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Blackboard 6 Import

• c. 3000 live Blackboard courses• Options

– bFree• University of North Carolina• http://its2.unc.edu/tl/tli/bFree/

– Import Parser• Thanks to Zak Thomas, Aeroplane Software• SAK-10276

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Blackboard 6 Import contd.

• Import Parser Issues– Blackboard does not map exactly into Sakai– Export file size– Path length– Question pools

• Description length in pool• No equivalent

– Randomised tests– Ordering type questions– Question pool instructions

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Recent activity• Total staff logins, inc duplicates:

– Feb        3508– Mch       4235– Apr         2967

• Total student  logins, inc duplicates:– Feb        31601– Mch       31309– Apr         23154

• Unique staff logins:– Feb        322– Mch       431– Apr         431

• Unique student logins:– Feb        2758– Mch       2893– Apr         3112

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Hardware

Production Environment

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System Integration

• Integration with Existing Record Systems• Authentication

– Active Directory

• 2 Perl cron jobs using webservices– User Management (user details)

• Auto creation of all user accounts– Student Records (sites and user membership)

• Auto creation of all modules• Auto updates of site membership

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Skinning and Branding

• Meaningful name• Fitting in with the University Image

– Colours– Logo

• Changes combination of– CSS– Velocity– Java

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Skinning and Branding

eBridge

Outlook

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Forums

• Readby functionality– Gap analysis with existing home grown VLE– Need for users to see who has read forum posts to create sense of community– Code Changes

• Add extra columns to mfr_permission_level_t table• Add extra permissions view• Display of Readby functionality

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Localisation

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Support and Helpdesk Staff

• Issue with Admin permissions– All or nothing

• Helpfiles– Hidden away in code, difficult to edit and update

• Size of toolset– Large number of tools to provide help and support

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Support and Helpdesk Staff

• Become User– Available to support & helpdesk staff

• User Membership– Available to support & helpdesk staff– Available to all staff, but with restricted view

• Helpfiles– Moved to a publicly viewable folder in Resources

• Restricted toolset

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Restrict Toolset

• To assist Helpdesk and Support Staff• Hide tools

– stealthTools@org.sakaiproject.tool.api.ActiveTool Manager – OSP– Duplicated functionality

• Assignment (non-gradable)• Discussion

– Email Archive

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Additional tools

• Gap Analysis– Missing functionality in core tools

• Tools Added– Melete (renamed Pathway)– Mneme– PreferAble (renamed Appearance)– Site Stats

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Account and Profile

• Enforce use of official University Name & email– University email policy, confirmable delivery– Traceability of users– Removed account from My Workspace– Synchronised Account’s firstname, lastname and email fields with Profile– Removed ability to update Profile’s firstname, lastname and email fields– Relies on ability to update user details from records

• Increase “other” field size

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Localisation

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Other changes & user requests

• Issue and request log– Site Quota

• SAK-8060– Melete module title size– Resources zip file actions

• SAK-800, implemented in 2.6– Wiki print view version

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Plans & Future Developments• 2.6 in July 09

– Update to MySQL 5.1 from 4.1• Portal Integration

– CAS authentication– Unicon MyCourses Portlet

• Evaluate AdminX• Investigate Berkeley’s Course Management• Further tool adjustments

– issue & request logs• Better integration with University record system

– Groups• Virtualisation of servers

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Concerns

• Current localisation into 2.6 & beyond• BB6 transfer to 2.6• Flash compatibility

– Flash 10 required Apache hack• Year end rollover

– Resources and Melete internal links• Speed• Persistence of data

– File system– Database