Preparing Campus Community
Preparing the campus community:
1. 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'
2. 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
3. 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
4. Emphasize the familiar
- Similarities with traditional teaching methods
- Resemblance to the MyUCDavis CMS
5. 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
6. 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'