On forming a Sakai Special Interest Group NL September 7, st European Sakai Day including results of feedback of participants Wytze Koopal We have just started!

Agenda Some facts and figures from NL Some (personal) viewpoints Some context Sakai SIG NL (Some) Discussion What’s next?

Dutch facts and figures VLE in primary and secondary education: very fragmented market Higher Ed: large market share of Blackboard (~ 50 %), plus local players HE: Total of ~60 institutions, 500 k students Within HE: some 3-5 institutions that are evaluating Sakai Some commercial interests in Sakai…

Sakai at our institutions Amsterdam (University of Amsterdam and VU) University of Twente Utrecht Rotterdam Saxion Stoas & Hotelschool The Hague Leidse OnderwijsInstellingen (LOI) 3TU: TU Delft & TU Eindhoven

Some viewpoints - 1 There is a lot of discussion in NL about VLE’s recently etc But: there is lack of information regarding –open source / open standards, and –how to move forward –how to collaborate (really!) Although: 80% of our (administrative) processes are the same….[mainly based on thorough legislation] But: we are ‘direct’ competitors in certain ways

Some viewpoints - 2 ICT in Education: NL HE sector is very well organized; thanks to SURF ( SURF is really active on the forefront of innovation, for example: –NL standards community ( –E-framework –Studielink ( –Elearning research programme ( –NL portfolio community ( –Sakai community (

Some context More and more interaction (quite recent) between SIS and VLE ‘specialists’ SURF has formed Sakai SIG NL (more on this in a minute) SURF is more and more involved in e- framework (close collaboration with JISC) Almost no fuzz (or ‘spin’) regarding Blackboard patent in NL

What is Sakai SIG NL? Informal, virtual community, started in July 2006 Coordinator (1 day/week, this is me ) Work plan: communication, communication, exchange of experiences Website / weblog: just to inform those that do not know (yet) Just getting started: focus of different member institutions of different subjects

1 st results Sakai SIG NL There is more to Sakai than programming! There is –QA (UvA) –General requirements for tools (Resources, –Requirements for OSP –European (Dutch) requirements: Bologna, Lisbon (see Portier, Koch & Oldsjö) –Localization & Internationalization (I18N & L10N) –…

Challenges Sakai SIG NL Lurking… ?! Them (US) and we: there is no they!there is no they Lack of knowledge of Open Source/Access/Standards Not invented here Is there a longterm leadership commitment on institutional level?: relationship with strategic plans of our institution

Discussion Take a look at pilot.utwente.nl/sakaiwiki/european_dutch_enh ancements (also on handouts) pilot.utwente.nl/sakaiwiki/european_dutch_enh ancements Divide in 4 or 5 groups Ask yourself (and take 5 minutes): –What’s missing on this list? I need at least one item from every group –What should have high priority? Only 3 please –Are you willing and able to work on it? –Who will (wants to) be ‘owner’ of this list (or a subset) ?

Result: What is missing on the list? Regarding the Dutch community: we need a sort of roadmap (what are reasons that will result in management buyin) Migration support (how to migrate from current VLE to Sakai): technical stuff, but also user support materials Regarding issue of surnames: first collate use cases (might not be the same all over Europe) and then write down requirements.

Result: What should have priority? Item #6 (international date and time formats): 7 votes.

Result: What is not an issue (any more)? There is a patch for #6 (date and time format) # 9: (sort of) you can use webservices to overcome problem; this is a hack #12: seems to be solved in Version 2.2 # 5: is actually a localization issue

What’s next Check out: – – –Wiki: play/EUROSAKAI/Home play/EUROSAKAI/Home –Collab: DG: Euro SakaiDG: Euro Sakai Let’s talk: leave your business card / address

Thanking you for your attention and collaboration!