Sakai Communications List-Serv and Bi-weekly Newsletter

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Sakai Communications List-Serv and Bi-weekly Newsletter

  • #Wednesday 5/3/2006
    • 1. Welcome Mike Wade and Nancy Wallace
    • 2. Hypothetical Future of Sakai: The Next Generation.
    • 3. Confluence Updates
    • 4. IT Times Updates
    • 5. Public Web site Update
    • 6. Communications Tactics Scheduled for Update
  • #Friday 4/28/2006
    • 1. Sakai Public Web Site Update
    • 2. IT Times Update
    • 3. Confluence Updates
    • 4. Provide Updates to Public Site Needs and responsibilities matrix.
  • #Wednesday 4/26/2006
    • 1. Public Sakai Site Content Review by FMFP
    • 2. IT Times Planning Meeting Recap
    • 3. Meet Bill Buchanan, our new senior writer.
    • 4. Kirk Alexander Presents at Educause
    • 5. Picnic Day Flier Consumption
    • 6. Confluence Updates
    • 7. CW out for her Sakai Baby "soft" Roll-out
  • #Friday 4/21/2006
    • 1. Review IET Report Entry for Sakai
    • 2. Public Site Mock-up for Final Development
    • 2. Picnic Day Flier
    • 3. Join the IT Times Planning Team
    • 4. Confluence Updates
    • 5. UCD Sakai Baby Featured in Sakai Newsletter
    • 6. I&E Writer to Help With Faculty Profiles
  • #Wednesday 4/19/2006
    • 1. Contribute to the Implementation Timeline
    • 2. Sakai Fliers at Picnic Day: Sunday, 4/22.
    • 3. Join the IT Times Planning Team
    • 4. Confluence Updates
    • 5. Submit IET Report bullets (Deadline today.)
  • #Friday 4/14/2006
    • 1. IET Report, Entries Reminder
    • 2. Verify the Final Comparative Overview of Tools
    • 3. Tracking Training Sessions and Demonstrations
    • 4. UC TLtC: The Topsy-Turvy World of Wikis
    • 5. TSC Survey Reminder
    • 6. Sakai Pilot Usage Stats
    • 7. Confluence Updates
  • #Wednesday 4/12/2006
    • 1. Help Test the Breeze TSC Survey by Friday
    • 2. Public Web Site Needs Update
    • 3. Flesh Out Sakai Usage Statistics by Quarter
    • 4. Confluence Updates
    • 5. UC Davis Sakai Project in the News
  • #Friday 4/7/2006
    • 1 Confluence Updates
  • #Wednesday 4/5/2006
    • 1 SIGUCCS Awards Information
    • 2 Sakai public Web site Deadlines
    • 3 Sakai Consortium Newsletter
    • 4 External Sakai List-Serv Requests
    • 5 Confluence Updates

Wednesday 5/3/2006

IN THIS ISSUE:

1. Welcome Mike Wade and Nancy Wallace

2. Hypothetical Future of Sakai: The Next Generation.

3. Confluence Updates

4. IT Times Updates

5. Public Web site Update

6. Communications Tactics Scheduled for Update

Here is your update for this Wednesday: 5/03/06

Attention: Items in need of your response are clearly marked with the tag Contribute

=======================================
1) Welcome Mike Wade and Nancy Wallace
=======================================
Just a heads up: Since they will be working closely with Chris, Nancy, and Michael, Mike Wade and Nancy Wallace have been added to the Sakai-com listserv by request of Mark Stinson. This newsletter should help keep Mike and Nancy in the loop.

Mike and Nancy: Hopefully by Friday we will have access to the sakai-com mailing list archive. Michael will forward this to you as reference.

FYI: With the new additions, the current membership is as follows:

Andy Jones
Chris Sarason
Babette Schmitt
Liz Gibson
Kirk Alexander
Pat Kava
Mark Stinson
Michael Giardina
Nancy Olsen
Sandra Stewart
Thomas Amsler
Mike Wade
Nancy Wallace

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2) (Contribute) Hypothetical Future of Sakai: The Next Generation
=======================================
Bill Buchanan, our new senior writer, would like to create a "Future Spin" article in the IT Times, where he will take a look ahead at what tools and features Sakai will have in the future. As a result, he would like to know if other Sakai team members are aware of the Sakai Consortium's future planned projects.

For example, some people have suggested a "Plagiarism Detection" tool for Sakai. Interesting! This is the kind of thing we're looking for. Even if we don't have any specific plans to implement a specific tool that's being developed by the consortium or other universities, providing these examples illustrates the extent of Sakai's expandability and will undoubtedly excite readers.

So, if you hear or have heard of any special future "plans" or "dreams," be sure to let Bill know at wrbuchanan@ucdavis.edu.

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3) Confluence Updates
=======================================
-Added Fall Sakai Workshop Schedule to "Training and Support" as an attachment entitled, "FTC2006to2007."
SITE: http://confluence.ucdavis.edu:8080/confluence/display/UCDSAKAI/Support+and+Training
FILE: http://confluence.ucdavis.edu:8080/confluence/download/attachments/5660/ftc2006to2007.xls?version=1

-Added Team Leads Meeting notes to "Team Leads Meetings" as attachment named, "M-Leads_5.2.06.doc"
FILE: http://confluence.ucdavis.edu:8080/confluence/download/attachments/5375/M-Leads_5.2.06.doc
SITE: http://confluence.ucdavis.edu:8080/confluence/display/UCDSAKAI/Team+Leads+Meetings

-Began Updating Communication Tactics at a Glance. Update to be provided Friday.

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4) IT Times Updates
=======================================
The IT Times production is in full swing. Stories have been planned and several stories are in their initial draft stages. This week, Bill plans to interview a number of faculty members to develop spotlights, profiles, etc.

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5) Public Web site Update
=======================================
The Public Web site copy text is now being reviewed by faculty for clarity and content. The text will be discussed Friday at the FMFP meeting. Changes will be made accordingly and all content will then be ported to a Sakai worksite.

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6) Communications Tactics Scheduled for Update
=======================================
Michael is updating our list of communication tactics and will provide the updated list in Friday's Sakai-com newsletter.

The tactics include both completed and upcoming events, publications, meetings, and workshops.

For each entry, Michael will include due dates, task leads, and additional points of contact.

Please keep an eye out for this document in the upcoming Friday sakai-com newsletter.

Friday 4/28/2006

IN THIS ISSUE:

1. Sakai Public Web Site Update

2. IT Times Update

3. Confluence Updates

4. Provide Updates to Public Site Needs

And responsibilities matrix.

Here is your update for this Friday: 4/28/06. Items in need of your response are clearly marked with the tag Contribute
===================================================
1. Sakai Public Web Site Update
===================================================
A draft of the public Web site has been constructed, printed, and will be presented to faculty pilots at today's Faculty Mentoring Faculty Program. They will be asked to focus primarily on the tools description, the frequently asked questions, and the "Get Involved" section. After incorporating their suggestions, the site content will be ported into the Sakai work site. At that time, faculty pilots will be asked to again review the document in its improved format. After final comments and suggestions from faculty pilots and team members have been incorporated, the site will be ready to go live.

Please note that the faculty will not be reviewing the following items today:

Online Video Tutorials (Captivates)
Sakai Documentation: Student Users Guide
Sakai Documentation: Faculty Users Guide
Student Quick Reference Guide
Faculty Quick Reference Guide
Please keep MG up to date on the progress of these items, especially the Online Video Tutorials.

To review the public site content as it stands before the faculty pilot meeting today, feel free to visit the confluence site: http://confluence.ucdavis.edu:8080/confluence/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=7494

===================================================
2. IT Times Updates
===================================================
Up to speed and raring to go, our new senior writer?Bill Buchanan?is in the process of finalizing a story list for the IT Times and has also developed a preliminary production timeline to meet our internal and external deadlines. In the next few days, either I or Bill will likely be talking to a number of you to finalize facts, leads, etc. For your convenience, I've attached the most recent draft of our story list so you can get a heads up for what kind of information we may be snooping for in the near future.

For those who haven't noticed, I&E has been blessed with another BB acronym. Until a more unique naming plan is adopted in our office, please be advised that "Bb" refers to Babette Schmitt and "BB" refers to Bill Buchanan. Should another 'double-b' appear in our ranks, we will refer to them as John Doe.

Without further hesitation:

IT Times, Sakai edition, story list
Publication date: June 1
Contact: Bill Buchanan (sr. writer, VP-IET), wrbuchanan@ucdavis.edu or 757-5797

1) Overview: A crisp, clean and quick intro to UCD's version of Sakai, written for the layperson. What it is, why it's here, what it will do, why it's worth your time if you teach, research, work or study at UCD (point out that it's a collaboration of several significant universities). With editor's note identifying this ITT as a special issue on Sakai (MG)

2) FAQs as a sidebar/graphic to the overview, with succinct answers. Ten total; (MG) will come up with 10, working with others in the Sakai group, and collect answers.

Some ideas:

1) What it offers

2) Who created it, both off-campus and at UCD?

3) Why did they create it?

4) How it works (now and next year)

5) Why UC Davis is adopting it

6) Why it's eventually replacing that part of MyUCDavis

7) What it does for professors and instructors

8) What it does for researchers

9) What it does for staff

10) What it does for students

3) The first wave: a personable story on the first users of Sakai at UC Davis - the professors, students and support staff who have used the pilot versions. What's their story? What stood out for them? How'd they use it? What do they like about it? With photo of user with something cool that represents his/her use of Sakai. It might be a photo of several students who formed a network through Sakai; it might not have a computer in the photo at all. It must have people. (BB)

4) Q&A interview with three varied faculty pilot users, sprinkled in blocks throughout the pages (one question per block, followed by their answers). With photos of the users. (BB)

1) Why did you join the pilot?

2) What did you use it for?

3) What's your advice to faculty who haven't used Sakai yet?

5) A quick evaluation: I'm a teacher or researcher; how do I know if converting to Sakai is right for me this year? A checklist with questions with answers that award the user points (depending on how they answer), with a scale ranging from 1 to 20 (or so) - from "hold off" to "sign up now." It helps readers decide if they should jump in or wait. w/infobox telling reader they can get a more detailed assessment online at ...(MG/RA/RW)

6) Forward spin: what's next for Sakai, both planned and potential? With infobox pointing to site to find updates (BB/KA)

7) If you want to sign up, here's what you do: a point-by-point graphic on how to get started, with list of phone numbers to call for help, plus reference sites, places to go to learn more (summer orientation, etc.), and where to find the practice/demo site. (MG/BB/RA/RW)

8) The big picture: To step back for perspective – and underscore why Sakai will be a required system in a few years – a short, crisp essay on how Sakai fits the overall tech evolution of UCD's educational mission. (Bb)

Plus minimal space for summer IET updates and advisories (maybe pointing readers to a summer UCD tech update Web site)

===================================================
3. Confluence Updates
===================================================

===================================================
4. Contribute Provide Updates to Public Site Needs and responsibilities matrix
===================================================
Having a status on high priority public site content will be essential for the next few weeks. As a result, please take a moment to review the "Public Site Needs and Responsibilities Matrix" that we have been working with for the past few weeks.

Please read the current status and let MG know if it should be changed to more accurately reflect progress. As I review the recent changes on confluence, feel more than willing to change the status yourself; however, if you don't have time or are unfamiliar with confluence formatting, simply e-mail me any requested changes and I'll make sure it gets done. http://confluence.ucdavis.edu:8080/confluence/display/UCDSAKAI/Public+Site+Needs+and+Responsibilities+Matrix

Wednesday 4/26/2006

IN THIS ISSUE:

1. Public Sakai Site Content Review by FMFP

2. IT Times Planning Meeting Recap

3. Meet Bill Buchanan, our new senior writer.

4. Kirk Alexander Presents at Educause

5. Picnic Day Flier Consumption

6. Confluence Updates

7. CW out for her Sakai Baby "soft" Roll-out

Here is your update for this Wednesday: 4/26/06
Attention: Items in need of your response are clearly marked with the tag Contribute

=======================================
1) Contribute Public Sakai Site Content Review by Faculty
=======================================
This Friday, MG will bring and present the public Web site content to our FMFP participants, who will be asked to review the content and recommend additions, subtractions, edits, etc.

To make sure that our faculty have the opportunity to review as much of the complete site as possible, please drop by the mock up site to ensure that all content you've submitted is currently posted:

http://confluence.ucdavis.edu:8080/confluence/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=7494

By Thursday afternoon, please send any additional information that you believe should be added to the document before pilot participants review it. If there is missing information, please send it to MG. Also send any other documents you'd like included in the presentation.

On that note, if initial captivates, tech-tips, or any other needed information is ready for a cursory faculty review, please send them along so that MG can include them in the FMFP participant packet. They need not be complete, as the faculty will likely have useful feedback to provide you.

Once again, please review for completeness: http://confluence.ucdavis.edu:8080/confluence/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=7494

=======================================
2) IT Times Planning Meeting Recap
=======================================
Thanks to those who came to the 4/25 ITT Planning Meeting. If you were unable to attend, below is a preview of our agenda:

  • Share Key Objectives for the Special Addition of IT Times
  • Plan possible story assignments and identify resources for story writers
  • Overview of initial production timeline
  • Overview and discussion of distribution plan

Attendees generally agreed with the key objectives identified:
1) Introduce the new UC Davis Course and collaboration system
2) Make the new system tangible to the reader
3) Prepare readers and get them involved

For a complete description of these key objectives, please view the attachments tab on confluence, available at: http://confluence.ucdavis.edu:8080/confluence/pages/viewpageattachments.action?pageId=6572

Meeting participants provided a number of good suggestions that have been logged and documented on confluence. These include (but are not limited to):

Feature Story of NO's Sakai Class on Graduate Dissertation
Feature of FMFP, spotlighting active participants
Don, Roger, Kiskis, Holomon, Delano, Meisenheimer, McDonald, Parfit
Additional contacts: Dorothy Frasier, Virginia Hass, Jan, Ray
Address teacher's concern about switching systems.
Encourage participation in the fall
(KA): Address the theme of collaboration amongst UCs. Bring up Educause. Learning form reach other. It's both a software program and a community. UC Davis was "At the right place at the right time" to identify Sakai as a need.
(AJ): "Why should I put my time into this?" - Tools can be used for many contexts, including personal.
"Intelligently hit the highlights"
Suggest spotlighting a mentor that is willing to list himself as such in IT Times.
Circumvent the "Fear & Dread"
Back-up benefits with a timeline to accurately reflect expectations.
Add a preview of future IT Times
Get Peter to write/podcast "How I use Sakai." (Possibly in support of research?)
Work with Jann Ilkew at VetMed
Link to the public Web site.
For more information, see http://confluence.ucdavis.edu:8080/confluence/display/UCDSAKAI/IT+Times+Spring+2006

Open the attachments section if you are interested in downloading the meeting notes as provided by NO.

=======================================
3) Meet Bill Buchanan, our new senior writer
=======================================
If you haven't already, feel free to drop by I&E to meet our new senior writer, Bill Buchanan. Bill will be in charge of coordinating the special Sakai edition of IT Times and will work closely with MG, as well as the rest of the team members. We all look forward to working with him and are certain his contributions will be an essential asset to our project. Below I have included contact information, should you need to contact Bill.

Bill Buchanan
Phone: 7-5797
Email: wrbuchanan@ucdavis.edu
AIM: (N/A)
Location: JVdP's old lair, between Julie McCall and Lisa Howard.

=======================================
4) Kirk Alexander Presents at Educause
=======================================
On Monday, April 24, Kirk Alexander co-presented the "Sakai and System-wide Collaboration" track at Educause. The event discussed the Sakai Foundation and System-Wide Collaboration Opportunities for the University of California. Other co-presenters included Mara Hancock (UC Berkeley), Rose Rocchio (UCLA), Faust Gorham (UC Merced), and George Michaels (UC Santa Barbara). To view the PowerPoint presentation that these folks provided, please see the confluence link below:

http://confluence.ucdavis.edu:8080/confluence/download/attachments/5785/UCLMS.ppt?version=1

=======================================
5) Picnic Day Flier Consumption
=======================================
In the last update, we provided a PDF of our picnic day Sakai flier. We are happy to report that approximately 150 people opted to pick up a flier to read more about the Sakai course management system. We plan to distribute the remaining at future events.

=======================================
6) Confluence Updates
=======================================

=======================================
7) CW out for her Sakai Baby "soft" Roll-out
=======================================
In a previous update, we mentioned that Caren Weintraub would be assisting with faculty spotlights, profiles, podcasts, etc. Unfortunately for us (but perhaps fortunately for her), the baby is on its way and she has decided to stay home in preparation for the grueling next few days. In the mean time, i&e will talk with FMFP participants, as well as AJ and CS to decide on a strategy for moving forward on these projects.

Let's all take a moment to wish Caren the best of luck with the coming of her soon-to-be new-born. Unfortunately, CW doesn't have the benefit of a highly organized pilot project.

Friday 4/21/2006

IN THIS ISSUE:

1. Review IET Report Entry for Sakai

2. Public Site Mock-up for Final Development

2. Picnic Day Flier

3. Join the IT Times Planning Team

4. Confluence Updates

5. UCD Sakai Baby Featured in Sakai Newsletter

6. I&E Writer to Help With Faculty Profiles

Here is your update for this Friday: 4/21/06
Attention: Items in need of your response are clearly marked with the tag Contribute

=======================================
1) Contribute Review IET Report Entry for Sakai
=======================================
Thanks to everyone who provided IET Report bullet point earlier this week. I have reviewed those entries and developed a rough draft of the entry for your review. Please read through the following draft and make suggestions for points that should be added, removed, or clarified. You'll note that there are currently no references to SITT. This will either be added on Monday, or separated out as a unique IET Report Entry.

BEGIN
IET Prepares for Fall Release of Sakai Course Management Software and Collaboration Tools

Working with the Schools of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, IET is coordinating a campus initiative to implement the UC Davis version of Sakai, a set of open source collaboration and learning management tools, which will ultimately replace the course management modules (e.g. Gradebook, Quizbuilder, etc.) now available through the MyUCDavis portal, as well as introduce new collaborative tools, including a discussion board, wiki, chat room, and more.

The first offering of the new course management tools is planned for Fall 2006. In preparation, fourteen (question) participants experimented with the new course management and collaboration tools in the campus' winter and spring pilots, where several applied the new tools to their instructional needs, met weekly to discuss pedagogy and practical applications for Sakai, and offered suggestions for improvements that could be incorporated prior to release. IET has extended its pilot to the Summer and plans to welcome several new faculty members.

To gauge fall support needs, IET will be assisting the School of Medicine by hosting two classes from their Family Nurse Practitioners - Physician's Assistant Program. Meanwhile, support groups?including ET Partners, the Faculty Mentoring Faculty Program, and IT Express (the campus computing helpdesk), have created support strategies, developed online and offline training resources, and planned workshops and training sessions that will kick off in early May.

UC Davis is working closely with both UC Berkeley and Stanford, providing programming support for enhancements to their GradeBook and QuizBuilder modules. These tools are expected to be completed and available for campus use by Winter 2007. For this reason, Sakai will initially be provided in support of research, collaboration, and teaching for those instructors with small, single-section classes.

To ensure the campus community is aware of the most up to date information concerning Sakai, a public Web site has been developed that provides a comparative overview of tools, an implementation timeline, tutorials, frequently asked questions, video demonstrations, and other support materials.

To learn more about the Sakai implementation at UC Davis, visit http://sakai.ucdavis.edu. (coming soon)
END

=======================================
2) Contribute Public Site Mock-up for Final Development
=======================================
In the next few days, all public-site copy text and material that has been submitted by team members will be added to a single confluence page, entitled: "Public Sakai Mock-up." When all submitted information has been moved to this single page, Sakai team members will be asked to look over the contents, and then suggest additions, subtractions, and edits.

The process of merging this content has already begun. To get a sense for the scope, see the page linked below: http://confluence.ucdavis.edu:8080/confluence/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=7494

Uploaded into confluence in this way, all team members can edit the content and update it dynamically without having to work with HTML documents. When all members have had a chance to add and delete content, it shouldn't take more than a few hours to port all content directly from confluence into the public Web site. This task will be performed closer to the release date. As a result, few changes will be made to the existing public Web site prototype on the Sakai server unless necessary or requested. Feel free to respond with any questions or concerns regarding this.

By the end of the day Monday, if you notice that I have neglected to incorporate content for the public Web site that you sent to me earlier this month, please contact me ASAP and I will add that information as a top priority. Ideally, we would like to get all team-submitted content on that page by the end of the day Monday, so that everyone can review and make suggestions by Thursday, to then show to faculty at the FMFP meeting on Friday.

=======================================
3) Picnic Day Flier
=======================================
Yesterday, Roger Ashton, Michael Giardina, and Robin Weir developed a Sakai flier to distribute to picnic day attendees. Copies of the flier were delivered to Joe Castillo on Friday. For your convenience, a PDF of this flier has been attached to this e-mail message.

=======================================
3) Contribute Join the IT Times Planning Team
=======================================
If you would like to play a role in the development of the Sakai Special Edition of the IT Times, please contact Michael Giardina to join the IT Times planning team and receive e-mail updates of upcoming meetings.

The first meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 25, 2006 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM.

=======================================
4) Confluence Update
=======================================

  • Added "What can I DO with Sakai?" to "IT Times, Summer 2006" and filled in added information per KA's request about the personal uses of Sakai not directly related to teaching.
  • Reminder of Tuesday's IT Times planning session (4/25) added to IT Times, Summer 2006
  • reminder re: IT Times planning session (bring ideas and identify faculty who can help plan)
  • Added "Public Sakai Mock-up" to archive/organize/prepare Public Sakai Site copy text for completion.
  • Sandra added a comment to "Implementation Timeline Summary for Fall 2005 - Winter 2007" making a distinction between public and private timeline content.
  • Sandra added a comment to "Communications," clarifying support strategies.
  • Sandra added a comment to "Training and Support: Strategy and Tactics," clarifying several of the support related questions mentioned in the document.
  • MG will incorporate Sandra's comments into the document next week.

=======================================
5) UCD Sakai Baby Featured in Sakai Newsletter
=======================================
Take a moment to take a peek at Sara Catherine Donnelly?7 pounds, 3ounces, and 19 1/2" long, born to Brian Donnelly. His baby girl was featured in this weeks Sakai newsletter, accessible via the PDF below. http://collab.sakaiproject.org/access/content/attachment/d69ce3ed-9c91-495c-805e-3ca5667162fb/SAKAI.NL.April.20.06.pdf

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6) I&E Writer to Help with Faculty Profiles
=======================================
I&E Writer, Caren Weintraub, will be helping us draft a number of faculty profiles that will be used for IT Times, HyperText, and the Public Web site. Working with pilot participants, Chris Sarason, and the ET Partners, Caren will get the faculty-profile wheels spinning.

Please feel free to offer her any suggestions or requests. Let's hope she's able to get a few of these looking beautiful, before her beautiful baby decides its time to pop into the real world. For those counting, that will make baby number 3 for UC Davis' friends of Sakai.

Cheers to everyone. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and, of course, enjoy picnic day if that's the sort of monster event you fancy trudging through. Until Next week...

Wednesday 4/19/2006

IN THIS ISSUE:

1. Contribute to the Implementation Timeline

2. Sakai Fliers at Picnic Day: Sunday, 4/22.

3. Join the IT Times Planning Team

4. Confluence Updates

5. Submit IET Report bullets (Deadline today.)

 

Here is your update for this Friday: 4/19/06

Attention: Items in need of your response are clearly marked with the tag Contribute

=======================================
1) Contribute Contribute to the Implementation Timeline
=======================================
Please note that the Sakai implementation timeline has been added to confluence and is now available for all team members to flesh out. As a reminder, we eventually would like this list to properly to track our progress and remind us of upcoming deadlines associated with past and upcoming pilots, Sakai-related events, Publications, etc. Please forward any additions or corrections that you would like made. If you have the time or inclination, feel free to edit the implementation timeline confluence site manually.

http://mediaworks.ucdavis.edu:8080/confluence/display/UCDSAKAI/Implementation+Timeline.

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2) Announcement Sakai fliers at Picnic Day: Sunday 4/22

=======================================
As an FYI, Sunday is picnic day. As 500 folks usually stop by our IET-focused events, we're designing a Sakai-related informational flier to handout to all interested parties. Any addition questions, concerns, or requests related to Picnic Day can be forwarded to Michael Giardina at mvgiardina@ucdavis.edu

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3) Contribute Join the IT Times Planning Team

=======================================
If you would like to play a role in the development of the Sakai Special Edition of the IT Times, please contact Michael Giardina to join the IT Times Planning team receive e-mail updates of upcoming meetings. Several folks have expressed verbal interest, but a written confirmation would be helpful.

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4) Announcement Confluence Update
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5) CONTRIBUTE IET REPORT DEADLINE PASSED

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A reminder to please get your 2-3 bullet points for the IET Report to Michael Giardina before the end of the day, Wednesday. We'd like to make sure the summary of our activities reflects the key messages and key developments/accomplishments you'd like communicated.

Friday 4/14/2006

IN THIS ISSUE:

1. IET Report, Entries Reminder

2. Verify the Final Comparative Overview of Tools

3. Tracking Training Sessions and Demonstrations

4. UC TLtC: The Topsy-Turvy World of Wikis

5. TSC Survey Reminder

6. Sakai Pilot Usage Stats

7. Confluence Updates

Here is your update for this Friday: 4/14/06. Items in need of your response are clearly marked with the tag Contribute

===================================================
1 Contribute IET Report, Entries Reminder
===================================================
The deadline for final IET Report entry submissions to Lisa Howard is Wednesday, April 19th. Please use the following deadlines to guide this process.

1) By Monday, January 17th, please submit the two to three most important points that you believe should be covered in the IET report. Include any relevant facts or figures you believe I would not otherwise have access to.
2) I will draft the entry between the end of the day Monday and the beginning of the day Tuesday
3) The working draft will be forwarded for your final approval.
4) The entry will be submitted Wednesday, April 19th.

===================================================
2 Contribute Verify the Final Comparative Overview of Tools
===================================================
It appears that different team members have been simultaneously developing a comparative overview of tools. Lets not duplicate work and agree on a final implementation and feature description and comparison page.

===================================================
3 Contribute Tracking Training Sessions and Demonstrations
===================================================
Please be aware that on confluence we are tracking all training sessions and demonstrations (times, dates, locations, topics), as well as hosting digital materials that may be of help in the future. confluence.

Recently added is a presentation entitled "Teaching and Technology Demonstration (PPT)," provided to by Andy Jones and Nancy Olsen.

===================================================
4 UC TLtC Submissions
===================================================
In the upcoming months, we would like to begin submitting appropriate articles, such as those in the IT Times to the UC TLtC News by E-mail service. The UC TLtC Webzine and Online Forum (http://www.uctltc.org) is a publication of the University of California Office of the President, Department of Academic Initiatives.

They recently published an article on wikis, entitled "The Topsy-Turvy World of Wiki."

This column may be of use to faculty pilot participants, so please consider reviewing the excerpt below and passing on the full text to any potentially interested parties.
_________

For people (of a certain age?) who are accustomed to the old publishing paradigm in which information is written, published, and maintained in a controlled process, the usefulness of wikis may be difficult to understand. As consumers, we wonder why anyone would trust information that is editable by the masses and has no single person in charge of vetting it for accuracy, style, and other editorial standards on which we've come to rely (the Wikipedia controversy proves our point). As writers, we are uncomfortable with joint authorship, hesitating to give up control of what we've written.

(FULL STORY) http://www.uctltc.org/news/2006/04/wiki.html

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5 Contribute TSC Survey Reminder
===================================================
As a final reminder, we are planning to poll TSCs to better gauge their role in supporting course management tools, especially those external to MyUCDavis. Please take approximately five minutes to access and arbitrarily mock-answer by Friday the virtual survey we have stored at: http://breeze.ucdavis.edu/cmsurvey. By providing your mock answers, we will be able to test the effectiveness of Breeze Presenter's database and reporting functionality.

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6 Contribute Sakai Pilot Usage Statistics
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Please help us keep track of pilot participants by updating this confluence matrix with the data you have available.

http://confluence.ucdavis.edu:8080/confluence/display/UCDSAKAI/Sakai+Usage+Statistics+by+Quarter

The goal of this document is to: a) feature on the public site specific information faculty will find useful and b) provide a mechanism for the point persons in IET, VetMed, The School of Medicine, etc. to continually update this information to create one, single, up-to-date record. We will continue to update it ourselves, but need your input to create a complete, useable document that contains quarter, campus unit, department, courses, faculty participants, number of students, tools used, the URL to their Sakai site.

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7 Confluence Updates
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Sakai-COM Updates for FRI, April 14

Wednesday 4/12/2006

IN THIS ISSUE:

1. Help Test the Breeze TSC Survey by Friday

2. Public Web Site Needs Update

3. Flesh Out Sakai Usage Statistics by Quarter

4. Confluence Updates

5. UC Davis Sakai Project in the News

Here is your update for this Friday: 4/12/06

Attention: Items in need of your response are clearly marked with the tag Contribute

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1) Contribute HELP TEST THE BREEZE TSC SURVEY BY FRIDAY

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As a reminder, we are planning to poll TSCs to better gauge their role in supporting course management tools, especially those external to MyUCDavis.

Please take approximately five minutes to access and arbitrarily answer the virtual survey we have stored at: http://breeze.ucdavis.edu/cmsurvey

By providing your mock answers, we will be able to test the effectiveness of Breeze Presenter's database and reporting functionality.

On the last screen, the program asks you to supply your name, contact e-mail, etc. Please use this final screen to enter any comments, suggestions, requests, or concerns.

As the quiz will take less than five minutes, please take the time to complete it and submit comments by the end of the day on Friday, April 14.

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2) Contribute PUBLIC WEBSITE NEEDS UPDATE
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Thanks to everyone who has downloaded a copy of the public site needs and responsibilities matrix. Even greater thanks to those who have already submitted the requested documents.

If you have not yet reviewed the Public Web site Needs Matrix, please visit the following site on confluence:

http://mediaworks.ucdavis.edu:8080/confluence/display/UCDSAKAI/Public+Site+Needs+and+Responsibilities+Matrix

If you believe the identified party is incorrectly identified, please e-mail corrections to mvgiardina@ucdavis.edu

At your earliest convenience please forward an update on these projects and an estimated time they will be available for uploading to the public Web site. Please keep in mind that we hope/envision all items listed as High Priority to be available for site roll-out day. (Fast Approaching)

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3) Contribute SAKAI PILOT USAGE STATISTICS BY QUARTER
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The Sakai pilot usage statistics page has been created on confluence and can be accessed at the address below. We encourage the point persons in IET, VetMed, The School of Medicine, etc. to proactively update this information in order to develop a single up-to-date record of Sakai pilot usage statistics. As this information will be used to develop copy for the public Web site, adding your contributions should be a relatively high priority.

http://mediaworks.ucdavis.edu:8080/confluence/display/UCDSAKAI/Sakai+Usage+Statistics+by+Quarter

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4) View or Contribute CONFLUENCE UPDATES
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Every Wednesday and Friday, all major updates to Confluence are tracked and included in this newsletter. Although you are welcome to edit confluence yourself, all desired changes can be forwarded to Michael Giardina who is available to implement edits and inform the list of the most recent updates.

– *Updated "Teaching and Learning: User Concerns" with FMFP feedback. http://mediaworks.ucdavis.edu:8080/confluence/display/UCDSAKAI/Concerns

– *Updated "Concrete Applications to Teaching with FMFP feedback. http://mediaworks.ucdavis.edu:8080/confluence/display/UCDSAKAI/Concrete+Applications+to+Teaching

– *Updated "Support and Training" with FMFP feedback. http://mediaworks.ucdavis.edu:8080/confluence/display/UCDSAKAI/Concrete+Applications+to+Teaching

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5 View Sakai in the News
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Thanks to Michael Giardina, three articles were published in the Sakai Consortium's weekly winners. The full text of the articles appears below:

-University of California Davis Hosts Sakai Programmers Boot-camp
Last February, thirty-seven Sakai programmers from as far away as Tokyo Japan met at the University of California in the cozy, rural city of Davis. In a three-day boot-camp led by Davis' Sakai System Architect, Thomas Amsler, participants dove head first into the intricacies of effectively developing Sakai tools to meet institutional needs.

The goal of the event was not to develop a specific tool, but rather to learn as much as possible about the tool writing process, the Sakai framework, and the logistics of using collaboration in process of coding.

The interactive, hands-on sessions grew organically; these meetings generally take on a life of their own, as programmers feed off each other's excitement and dedication to building new and innovative solutions for their development needs.

To that end, the boot-camp agendas were kept loose, open, and ready to accommodate the needs and desires of participants. After morning introductions and planning, programmers broke up into groups, each working in parallel on different parts of the same project to later regroup and merge their parts into a single Sakai tool. In this case, the group worked to develop a simple quiz and polling tool.

The event went off without a hitch and several new constructive technical dialogs were initiated. Following the event, UC Davis was asked to host a similar conference in Vancouver, where the action-packed three-day program will be refined into a single-day session that the campus believes people will find both enjoyable and rewarding.

For those who were unable to attend February's boot-camp, UC Davis has set up a podcast of the entire three-day workshop, available by pointing any podcast-capable media player (such as iTunes) to http://podcast.ucdavis.edu/sakai_bc/sakai_bc.rss.

In the future, the team hopes to stream both audio and video versions of their Sakai presentations over the internet using Macromedia Breeze.

Join The UC Davis Sakai Programming Team
UC Davis is hiring Sakai programmers. For more information and to access the position description, see http://jobs.hr.ucdavis.edu/jm/ViewVacancy?id=4860 or contact Kirk Alexander at kdalex@ucdavis.edu.

Position Responsibilities: This position serves as an advanced programmer/developer on the LMS/Sakai programming team. Serves as a lead developer of functional tools within the LMS, and performs advanced-level programming in multiple languages, provides expertise in architecture, design, programming in support of campus-wide web-based learning management systems, including the campus' UC Davis Learning Management Software (powered by Sakai).

Listing: VL# 4860 External (Extended) (1-2 positions)
Senior Programmer - Sakai Tools Specialist (PROGRAMMER V UCD)
$4,209.00 - $7,155.00/Mo.
Open Until Filled

On 10/29/2005 one of our Middleware gurus, Brian Donnelly became the first campus Sakai-father! Born 7 pounds 3 ounces and 19 1/2" long, his daughter Sara Catherine will undoubtedly appreciate the joys of collaborative learning some day!
Thomas Amsler, Sakai Programmer and System Architect, is expecting a baby girl in May! The team will be celebrating the impending delivery with a pot luck celebration luncheon on April 12th. What does this mean for Thomas? Java - config - xml - baby girl - reboot - servers - diapers - coding - bottles - late nights - Sakai - rattles - no more sleep!

Friday 4/7/2006

IN THIS ISSUE:

1 Confluence Updates

4/7/06

1) Every Wednesday and Friday, all major updates to Confluence are tracked and included in this newsletter. Although you are welcome to edit confluence yourself, all desired changes can be forwarded to Michael Giardina who is available to implement edits and inform the list of these most recent updates.

Here is your update for this Friday:

Wednesday 4/5/2006

IN THIS ISSUE:

1 SIGUCCS Awards Information

2 Sakai public Web site Deadlines

3 Sakai Consortium Newsletter

4 External Sakai List-Serv Requests

5 Confluence Updates

1) SIGUCCS Awards Information
Please note that the deadline for submissions to the SIGUCCS 2006 Fall Conference is April 24, 2006. This conference presents an opportunity for professionals involved in the support of Information Technology (IT) at institutions of higher education to network with peers, learn and share ideas about supporting clients and delivering services, and discuss the future of IT support on campus. Each year SIGUCCS sponsors Communication Awards to recognize outstanding Web sites, publications and promotional materials produced by university and college computing centers. So please keep a look out and make suggestions for possible materials to submit.

http://www.siguccs.org/Conference/Fall2006/awards.html
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2) Sakai public Web site Deadlines

Before the public Web site can go live, there are a number of projects that need to be completed by members of the Sakai Communications List-serv. To get an overview of what projects need to be completed, our lead contact, and its relative priority, please visit the following site on confluence:

http://mediaworks.ucdavis.edu:8080/confluence/display/UCDSAKAI/Public+Site+Needs+and+Responsibilities+Matrix

Please note at the bottom of the page, that Chris Sarason has provided an update on her projects, with estimated completion dates. If possible, please send similar information regarding your project status so that we can track progress and meet our target roll-out date of April 15th. If you need anything from I&E to help this process along, please contact Michael Giardina at mvgiardina@ucdavis.edu.
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3) Sakai Consortium Newsletter
Three articles were sent for publication in the upcoming Sakai Consortium Newsletter. These articles included the Sakai February Programmers Workgroup (a.k.a Boot camp), Sakai-related job opportunities at UC Davis, and last but not least an announcement about our Sakai babies; that is, the little bundle of joy recently born to Brian Donnelly, as well as the soon-to-be father, Thomas Amsler. A link to the articles will most likely be available by Friday's sakai-com update.
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4) External Sakai List-Serv Requests
Communication teams like to be in the know! So, if you are subscribed to any particularly useful, sakai-related list-servs that are external to the UC Davis community, please forward them to Michael Giardina at mvgiardina@ucdavis.edu, so that we all can get the right people subscribed, and the right ears pried open.
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5) Every Wednesday and Friday, all major updates to Confluence are tracked and included with this newsletter. Although you are welcome to edit confluence yourself, all desired changes can be forwarded to Michael Giardina who can implement them and inform the rest of the members of the updates.

Here is your update for this Wednesday:

  • Added "Public Sakai FAQ Questions" section to Public Sakai Web Site." - This page should be ready to begin fleshing out for eventual release alongside the public site. Please send your comments/requests/additions/subtractions/etc.