Sakai in The Netherlands: one year in the making

Wytze KoopalSURFfoundation (University of Twente)

http://elearning.surf.nl/sakaihttp://sakai-nl.blogspot.com

My goals today• Inform you about our efforts, activities and

goals• Get help from you about future directions

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Agenda / summary• Pre-2006: facts, figures and some opinions

– VLE-’market’ in The Netherlands– SURFfoundation sees potential– Lack of information on open source, open standards etc

• 2006: Sakai SIG NL officially formed– First European Sakai Day(s) in Lübeck– New strategic plan by SURFfoundation

• 2007: conference in Amsterdam!• And beyond

– More pedagogy in Sakai community? How?– How to sell “Sakai as a framework”?– Your suggestions

Beware: I am taking pictures

The Netherlands in a nutshell

• 16.5 million inhabitants; rich history (go for a walk in Amsterdam!)

• Higher Education -> Bologna declaration– All countries are implementing a Bachelor – Master structure (as

of 2004)– Goal: comparable degrees within Europe– Goal: more flexible exchange of students– More? Check out Granow/Wittke: in this room, right after lunch!

• SURFfoundation: the organization that provides HE with ICT and related stuff (e.g. license deals, high-speed infrastructure, advice and guidance on use of ICT, conferences, SIG’s)

Dutch facts and figures (2005)• VLE in primary and secondary education: very

fragmented and small market• Higher Ed: large market share of Blackboard (~ 50 %),

plus local players (TeleTOP, N@tschool), plus everything you can imagine

• HE: Total of ~60 institutions, 500 k students• University of Amsterdam starts ‘monitoring’ Sakai on

behalf of SURFfoundation• Amsterdam puts Sakai in the spotlight for the first time

in Sept: “Crossing the boundaries of your VLE”• Twente is very interested (seeking alternative for

homegrown system): http://www.utwente.nl/elo

Some opinions (2005)• There is lack of information regarding

community source, open source / open standards, and simultaneously

• Very effective market penetration for commercial software vendors (monopoly?)

• Innovation does not scale

Sakai SIG NL is launched (2006)• Interest is gearing up

– March: Twente decides to researchSakai in more detail (Portier)

– April: informational meetingjointly organized by SURFfoundation,Amsterdam and Twente (50 participants)

– July: follow-up meeting with those really interested– September: Severance presents at 2nd edition

“Crossing the boundaries of your VLE”– September: European Sakai Day -> more info to follow

• Official start of Sakai SIG NL (see plan on http://elearning.surf.nl/sakai_nl/sakai_in_nl/3616) -> more info to follow

Sakai SIG NL is official: what does it mean? (2006)

• SURFfoundation is initiator and founder– Assists financially– Provides physical meeting space (and webspace)– Is pro-”open”, since new strategic plan (2007-2010)

• Communication about Sakai – About Framework, product, community– About Who is using it in NL– Using website, weblog, presentations in the country

Sakai SIG NL: what do we do

• 2-monthly meetings with presentations– Lots of different presentations: Hogeschool Utrecht,

Oracle, A New Spring, Utrecht University, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Edia, Hotelschool Den Haag, Portfolio4u, University of Amsterdam

• Be present at conferences and meetings (show flyer)

• Talk at universities about Sakai• http://sakai-nl.blogspot.com & http://elearning.surf.nl/sakai

European Sakai Day (2006)• Organized by Lübeck University of Applied

Sciences• Large attendance from Europe: largest

groups from The Netherlands and Germany

European Sakai Day (2006)

• Presentations from all over Europe:– What should be enhanced in Sakai?– What will Bologna mean for Sakai?– Internationalization

• We started to write a paper on pedagogy and Bologna themes, but then it stopped more or less

• Granow/Wittke (Lübeck) will revitalize this discussion, I think / hope….

Sakai SIG NL – in summary

• Several institutions• Several commercial parties• Not only Higher Ed• Lots of interaction and collaboration: open

communications• Go to http://confluence.sakaiproject.org/confluence/x/nj8

Where we are now

A lot of dots on the Sakai map

Where are we now, really?• Lot’s of institutions for secondary/vocational

education use OSP (serviced by Portfolio4U• Several commercial (distance) learning

companies use Sakai / OSP (we know of at least 3 and counting)

• Two universities (Twente / Amsterdam) have piloted with Sakai

• Two universities for Applied Sciences will start piloting in September 2007

• Still 50 institutions to win?

What have I learned?

• Collaboration and sharing is not easy: especially with such a diverse group

• Community source is a ‘difficult’ subject• Most decision makers are coming from the

old world (which was not ‘flat’)• Sakai should not be “sold” purely on cost

and/or product features

What’s next

• Position Sakai as a realistic solution for collaboratory (or VRE): RAMS?

• Stimulate best-of-breed, service-oriented architecture (Sharepoint, Sakai)?

• Position Sakai as a framework, not as a product?• Position Sakai as “SOA by design”?• Start working on pedagogy, and European issues• Start working on enhancing usability

What’s your advice?

• Any suggestions to move forward?• Any things that we shouldn’t do?• Any other issue that I need to address?

Thank you!

• Questions? Tips?

More pictures athttp://www.flickr.com/photos/wytze/sets/72157594188520810