[Announcements] Sakai Newsletter May 28, 2009

Sat May 30 14:41:31 PDT 2009

Sakai Newsletter

May 28, 2009

1.  From the Executive Director

2.  10th Sakai Conference Updates

3.  Sakai Fellows for 2009 Announced!

4.  Infusion 1.0 Has Been Released!

5.  From rSmart: New Case Studies and Upcoming Webinars

6.  rSmart and Wassenaar Consulting Enter Into a Partnership

7.  Two Job Openings at Johns Hopkins University

8.  Recent Email Group Discussions

9.  Events

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1. From the Executive Director

I will be holding a series of webinars to provide a high-level  
overview of Sakai 3 and a description of how you can participate in  
this important development for the Sakai community. I'll be describing  
the concepts behind Sakai 3 and showing a brief demonstration. Most  
importantly, I'll be talking about the development projects that are  
already underway and providing an outline of the other functional  
areas where we need community participation.

The webinars will be held at the following dates/times and will last  
approximately 1 hour:

- Session 1:  Monday June 1, 2009 at 9:00 Eastern Daylight Time (US)  
GMT -4

- Session 2:  Monday June 1, 2009 at 12:00 Eastern Daylight Time (US)  
GMT -4

- Session 3:  Tuesday June 9, 2009 at 13:00 Eastern Daylight Time (US)  
GMT -4

Please sign up for one now by adding your name to the wiki page for  
the appropriate session at:

http://confluence.sakaiproject.org/confluence/x/EINDAw

I know these times may not be convenient for those outside the  
Americas and Europe. If they are not convenient (for whatever reason),  
I can set up a separate session that better fits with your schedule.   
We will be recording at least one of the sessions and I'll be     
providing slides and other supporting materials as well.

Sakai 3 is an important effort for the Sakai project and I encourage  
you (or someone at your organization) to attend one of the sessions.   
See you soon...

Best regards,

Michael Korcuska
Executive Director, Sakai Foundation
mkorcuska at sakaifoundation.org
phone: +1 510-931-6559  mobile (US): +1 510-599-2586
skype: mkorcuska

------------------------------------
2. 10th Sakai Conference Updates

DEADLINE REMINDER --
This is a quick reminder that the early registration and hotel  
discount rate deadlines are fast approaching. June 5 is the last day  
to get the group rate at the hotel and the $50 registration discount.   
(Note that Sakai now accepts American Express cards as a method of  
payment.)  If you're planning to come it's definitely time to register  
for the conference and book your hotel room at:

https://educonference.com/sakai/boston/index.php

DRAFT SCHEDULE IS AVAILABLE --
We're pleased to announce that a DRAFT schedule for the 10th Sakai  
Conference in Boston has been published. You will find it at the  
conference website:

https://educonference.com/sakai/boston/index.php

This is a draft and there may be changes over the next few days and  
weeks as we try to accommodate requests from speakers for different  
time slots. If you are presenting at the conference please understand  
that we have hundreds of sessions and it is impossible to meet  
everyone's desires. The program committee and track leads are all  
volunteers who have put in a lot of thought and work into the  
scheduling process. So please understand if we can't move your session.

REGISTRATION NUMBERS ARE STRONG --
Despite the current challenges with travel budgets at many  
organizations, conference registrations are actually slightly ahead of  
the pace of the previous U.S.-based conference in Newport Beach.  So  
we can expect another dynamic, informative and fun event.  We hope to  
see you there!

------------------------------------
3. Sakai Fellows for 2009 Announced!

The Sakai Fellows Selection Committee is pleased to announce the 2009  
Sakai Fellows!

Ian Boston,  University of Cambridge
Jean-François Lévêque,  Université Pierre et Marie Curie
Nicolaas Matthijs,  University of Cambridge
Mathieu Plourde,  University of Delaware
Janice Smith,  Three Canoes Consulting
Steve Swinsburg,  Lancaster University

The Sakai Fellows program seeks to foster community leadership and  
participation in all aspects of community activity through the  
recognition and support of exceptional contributors. This year's  
Fellows were selected from an outstanding group of nominees, the  
largest pool we have had yet. Thanks to those of you who took the time  
to nominate your fellow community members for recognition.

For more information on the Sakai Fellows program:

http://confluence.sakaiproject.org/confluence/x/cS0

Congratulations to all of this year's Sakai Fellow nominees and,  
especially, to this year's awardees!

Best regards,

The 2009 Sakai Fellows Committee

Clay Fenlason
David Haines
Peter Knoop
Michael Korcuska
Seth Theriault
Anthony Whyte
Beth Kirschner
Stephen Marquard
Randy Newbrough

------------------------------------
4. Infusion 1.0 Has Been Released!

World, meet Infusion 1.0.

The Fluid community shipped Infusion 1.0 a couple of weeks ago. Before  
making a splash with announcements about the release, we wanted to  
take some time to revisit our documentation and sample code to be sure  
they are really useful and comprehensive. Recognizing that it's not  
enough just to ship a bundle of code, we try to provide a whole  
package of resources for developers and designers who are using  
Infusion. That means comprehensive API pages, tutorials to get you  
started, and concepts documentation to give you insights into the  
philosophy and design patterns we've built into Infusion. With this  
new documentation in place, now's the time to share the news of  
Infusion 1.0's release more widely.

To read the complete announcement, please visit:

http://fluidproject.org/blog/2009/05/26/infusion-10-has-been-released/

Colin Clark
colin.clark at utoronto.ca

------------------------------------
5. From rSmart:  New Case Studies and Upcoming Webinars

CASE STUDIES
rSmart has recently completed two new case studies:

- Cerritos College -- Doing More With Less
- Marist College -- Innovation. Supported.

The Marist College case study is an updated version reflecting their  
full adoption of Sakai. You can view both of these case studies, along  
with others, on our website: http://www.rsmart.com/cases

UPCOMING WEBINAR
The rSmart Sakai CLE v. 2.6 -- What's New With the Latest Release

Join us for a webinar June 4, 2009 at 11:00 AM PDT (GMT -7)!

Wondering how to best take advantage of the latest rSmart Sakai  
Collaboration and Learning Environment (CLE)?  Let a functional  
consultant guide you through its new tools and features, such as the  
Evaluation System tool, Live Virtual Classroom tool, the ability to  
grade student participation in Discussion Forums, and more.  Topics to  
be covered:

- Brief introduction to rSmart
- Discussion on how rSmart packages and improves on the community  
version of Sakai
- Overview of the enhancements within the rSmart Sakai CLE v2.6
- Short demonstration of the new tools and functionality in the rSmart  
Sakai CLE v2.6
- Brief discussion on rSmart's support and service packages for the  
rSmart Sakai CLE
- Q&A

To register, please visit: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/962511833

UPCOMING WEBINAR
ePortfolios -- The Impact on Learning and Assessment

Join us for a webinar June 18, 2009 at 11:00 AM PDT (GMT -7)!

How can your institution start using open source portfolio software?  
Come join rSmart and Serensoft, two experts in ePortfolios, to learn  
about using Sakai's open source portfolio capabilities for your  
ePortfolio project. The rSmart / Serensoft ePortfolio solution  
combines rSmart's expert Sakai support and maintenance program with  
Serensoft's leading ePortfolio expertise. Together, we can jumpstart  
any ePortfolio project quickly and efficiently, and cost-effectively  
support it for the long term. Topics to be covered:

- Brief overview of research compiled in "The Impact of Open Source  
Portfolio on Learning and Assessment" article published in MERLOT  
Journal

- Introduction to Sakai's powerful ePortfolio capabilities

- Demonstration of the three types of portfolios commonly used by  
campuses, including personal representation, teaching and learning,  
and assessment and accreditation

- Recommendations for how to get started with Sakai for portfolios

- How rSmart and Serensoft are working together to make ePortfolios easy

To register, please go to: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/297525385

Megan Perrone
Marketing Representative
megan.perrone at rsmart.com

------------------------------------
6. rSmart and Wassenaar Consulting Enter Into a Partnership

As of May 1, 2009, rSmart and Wassenaar Consulting Ltd. have entered  
into a partnership to enable rSmart to provide better service in  
Europe. Wassenaar Consulting will focus on support of the rSmart  
portfolio, including the rSmart Sakai CLE and the Kuali software.  
Starting in the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands, both companies will  
support educational institutions that see the advantages of the open  
source software made by and for higher education. Wassenaar Consulting  
is a consulting firm with more than 25 years of experience in higher  
education, including the implementation of administrative software at  
universities and colleges.  For more information visit our websites:   www.rsmart.com 
  or www.wassenaarconsulting.com.

Mike Zackrison
VP of Marketing and Strategy
mike.zackrison at rsmart.com

------------------------------------
7. Two Job Openings at Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University - Engineering for Professionals has immediate  
openings in their Distance Education Department.  Job postings for an  
Instructional Designer (requisition # 39436) and a Training and  
Delivery Specialist (requisition #39303) can be found at the following  
location:

https://hrnt.jhu.edu/jhujobs/job_search.cfm

For more information and to apply, please visit the website and search  
for the requisition numbers above.

------------------------------------
8. Recent Email Group Discussions

[Building Sakai] New User Role
http://n2.nabble.com/-Building-Sakai--New-User-Role-td2992232.html#a2992232

[Building Sakai] How do I setup my sakai instance with xsl-portal?
http://n2.nabble.com/-Building-Sakai--How-do-I-setup-my-instance-with-xsl-portal-td2954832.html#a2954832

[Building Sakai] Site advisor vs Observer?
http://n2.nabble.com/-Building-Sakai--Site-advisor-vs-Observer--td2994244.html#a2994244

[Building Sakai] Agora Functionality
http://n2.nabble.com/-Building-Sakai--Agora-Functionality-td2992909.html#a2992909

[Building Sakai] display ids in forums
http://n2.nabble.com/-Building-Sakai--display-ids-in-forums-td2988868.html#a2988868

[Building Sakai] Site Management Patch
http://n2.nabble.com/-Building-Sakai--Site-Management-Patch-td2973911.html#a2973911

[Building Sakai] Sitebrowser description
http://n2.nabble.com/-Building-Sakai--Sitebrowser-description-td2986288.html#a2986288

[Portfolio] FCK editor freeform portfolio item plugin
http://n2.nabble.com/-Portfolio--FCK-editor-freeform-portfolio-item-plugin-td2982252.html#a2982252

[Portfolio] Portfolio tool in My Workspace
http://n2.nabble.com/-Portfolio--Portfolio-tool-in-My-Workspace-td2953320.html#a2953320

[Portfolio] Portfolio tool QA scripts
http://n2.nabble.com/-Portfolio--Portfolio-tool-QA-scripts-td2946282.html#a2946282

[DG: Teaching & Learning] Students taking on academic networking
http://n2.nabble.com/-DG%3A-User-Experience--Students-taking-on-academic-networking-td2978274.html#a2978274

[Building Sakai] [DG: Teaching & Learning] Interface Mock-Ups In Sakai
http://n2.nabble.com/Re%3A--Building-Sakai--Interface-Mock-Ups-In-Sakai-td2953462.html#a2953462

[Using Sakai] Import from Site
http://n2.nabble.com/-Using-Sakai--Import-from-Site-td2990364.html#a2990364

[Using Sakai] Poll -- Sakai & SCORM... successes? failures?
http://n2.nabble.com/-Using-Sakai--Poll----Sakai---SCORM...-successes--failures--td2985307.html#a2985307

[Using Sakai] randomizing the question ordering from tests&quizzes?
http://n2.nabble.com/-Using-Sakai--randomizing-the-question-ordering-from-tests-quizzes--td2979245.html#a2979367

[Building Sakai] [Using Sakai] Mailtool for 2.6
http://n2.nabble.com/-Building-Sakai--Mailtool-for-2.6-td2956391.html#a2957075

[Using Sakai] Configuring Section Info tool -- creating categories?
http://n2.nabble.com/-Using-Sakai--Configuring-Section-Info-tool----creating-categories--td2953930.html#a2953975

[DG: User Experience] Dev server gets an update
http://n2.nabble.com/-DG%3A-User-Experience--Dev-server-gets-an-update-td2995279.html#a2995279

------------------------------------
9. Events

2009 MoodleMoot San Francisco and 2nd Sloan-C Symposium on Emerging  
Technology in Online Learning
June 17-19, 2009
Hyatt Regency San Francisco
San Francisco, California
http://moodlemoot.org/course/view.php?id=9 http://www.emergingonlinelearningtechnology.org/

Advanced CAMP: Identity Services Summit for Higher Ed Open/Community- 
Source Projects
June 18-19, 2009
Radisson Plaza-Warwick Hotel Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
http://net.educause.edu/content.asp?Section_ID=434&bhcp=1

10th Sakai Conference in Boston
July 8-10, 2009
Cambridge Hyatt
Cambridge, Massachusetts
https://educonference.com/sakai/boston/index.php

AuSakai '09
September 17-18, 2009
Charles Sturt University Bathurst Campus
Bathurst NSW, Australia
http://www.csu.edu.au/division/landt/ausakai09/ausakai09.htm

Assessment Institute in Indianapolis
October 25-27, 2009
The Westin Indianapolis
Indianapolis, Indiana
http://www.planning.iupui.edu/institute

Online Educa Berlin 2009
December 2-4, 2009
Hotel InterContinental Berlin
Berlin, Germany
http://www.online-educa.com/the-conference

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