Preparing the Campus Community

Preparing the campus community:

Make it possible for campus members to experiment on a limited basis with the system

  • Organize a "Sakai Day" (open house, with presentations, demos, interactions with faculty participants, access to computers, etc.)
  • Offer on-site demos
  • Provide public access to demo/prototype
  • Provide publicly joinable courses for individuals
  • Share best practices
  • Encourage 'baby steps'

Make results of planning efforts visible to others

  • Develop public informational Web site
  • Set up feedback/inquiry mechanisms
  • Publicize availability of pilots, outcomes and recommendations
  • Find opinion leaders or early adopters and engage them/work through them

Develop the perception that this new system is not complex, is easy to understand and use

  • Testimonials and case studies (e.g., podcasts of students and faculty who've used the system)
  • Online documentation, self-run tutorials, brief demos
  • Peer Support

Emphasize the familiar

  • Similarities with traditional teaching methods
  • Resemblance to the MyUCDavis CMS

Show the relative advantage of the new system

  • "One-stop shop" for educational, collaboration and research tools
  • Support pedagogical innovation
  • Shared learning and collaboration environment
  • Research environment

Engage the campus community

  • Needs assessment (focus groups, online surveys, listservs, etc.)
  • Recruit vital departments
  • Use mass media, interpersonal communications (esp. to address concerns late adopters may have)
  • Identify and engage faculty 'champions'