[Announcements] Sakai Newsletter January 7, 2010
Margaret Wagner
mwagner at umich.edu
Wed Jan 13 08:45:57 PST 2010
Sakai Newsletter
January 7, 2010
1. From the Executive Director
2. New Release: SMS Service for Sakai 0.14
3. New Release: Search 1.2.0-rc02
4. New Release: Kernel 1.1.0-beta07
5. Remembering Steve Smail
6. 2.7.0 Update: 2.7.0-b01 (beta); 2.7.x Branch Manager(s) Wanted
7. Invitation: Sakai Learning Capabilities Virtual Meeting
8. 2nd Call: 2010 Multi-Institutional Survey Initiative
9. Job Opening: Distance Ed. Manager at Johns Hopkins
10. Job Opening: rSmart Marketing Manager -- Sakai
11. Job Openings: Two Ed. Tech. Positions at Hebrew Union
12. Recent Email Group Discussions
13. Events
---------------------------------------------------------
1. From the Executive Director
Greetings,
Attached to this email newsletter is the second installment of the
Sakai Executive Brief. The purpose of these briefs is to provide
managers and executives with a brief overview of what has been and
what will be happening in Sakai. I hope you find the information
useful to understanding the current state of Sakai development, what
is taking place in the Sakai community, and how your institution can
further engage in our efforts to make Sakai the premier academic
collaboration and learning environment. You can find the previous
Executive Brief archived on the Sakai wiki at http://confluence.sakaiproject.org//x/NADW
.
I'd love to hear what you'd like to see addressed in these executive
briefs and in other forms of communication. You can always reach me atmkorcuska at sakaifoundation.org
, of course, or use the management list to start a public discussion.
Best regards,
Michael Korcuska
Executive Director, Sakai Foundation
mkorcuska at sakaifoundation.org
phone: +1 510-859-4247 (google voice)
skype: mkorcuska
---------------------------------------------------------
2. New Release: SMS Service for Sakai 0.14
We're pleased to announce the release of SMS (Short Message/Text) for
Sakai. The release addresses 20 issues mostly relating to performance
and handling non-ASCII characters. Details can be found here:
http://jira.sakaiproject.org/browse/SMS/fixforversion/11654
The site for the release can be found at:
http://source.cet.uct.ac.za/release/sms/sms-0.14/
Binary artifact are available from the Sakai repository.
Regards
David Horwitz
david.horwitz at uct.ac.za
---------------------------------------------------------
3. Search 1.2.0-rc02 Released
Search 1.2.0-rc02 is a bugfix release in the 1.2 series targeted at
Sakai 2.7. The release addresses 1 major bug that affected the
digesting of PDF documents:
http://source.sakaiproject.org/release/search/1.2.0-rc02/
The change has been applied to the post-2.6 branch and UCT is
currently running this code in production.
The release site can be found at:
http://source.sakaiproject.org/release/search/1.2.0-rc02/
Regards
David Horwitz
david.horwitz at uct.ac.za
---------------------------------------------------------
4. New Release: Kernel 1.1.0-beta07
Kernel 1.1.0-beta07 is the latest in the 1.1 series of kernels aimed
at the upcoming 2.7 release and beyond. The release addresses 1 issue
-- a potential resource leak in the SqlService:
http://jira.sakaiproject.org/browse/KNL/fixforversion/11703
The release site can be found at:
http://source.sakaiproject.org/release/kernel/1.1.0-beta07/
Regards
David Horwitz
david.horwitz at uct.ac.za
---------------------------------------------------------
5. Remembering Steve Smail
Dear Sakai community,
I am very sorry to have to relay the sad news that Steve Smail,
Programmer/Analyst in Library Information Technology at Indiana
University, passed away on Monday, December 28.
Steve was a generous and long-time member of the Sakai developer
community, and I know that many of you knew him through his work on
the Sakaibrary project, Citations Helper, and previous library
resource integration efforts, as well as through his regular
attendance at Sakai conferences.
In lieu of flowers, Steve's family suggests donations to Hospice of
Bloomington Hospital
http://www.bloomingtonhospital.org/doc/Page.asp?PageID=DOC000161, the
Bloomington High School North Band programhttp://www.bhsnbands.com/donate.shtml
, or WonderLab
http://www.wonderlab.org/membersndonors/donor.shtml.
Jon Dunn
Associate Director for Technology
IU Libraries / University Information Technology Services
jwd at indiana.edu
-------
Steve's obituary as provided by the funeral home:
http://www.allenfuneralhome.org/obituaries/steven-r-smail.aspx
---------------------------------------------------------
6. 2.7.0 Update: 2.7.0-b01 (beta); 2.7.x Branch Manager(s) Wanted
JIRA VERSION UPDATE
Given that the 2.7.x branch is feature frozen along with all 2.7-
related projects on an independent release track (e.g., Profile2,
Samigo, Sitestats et al.), I've updated the Jira 2.7.0 milestone M3
version to 2.7.0-b01 (beta 01).
IMPACT ON DEVELOPERS AND QA TESTERS
None. All Jira issues with a fix version of 2.7.0-M3 have been
updated to 2.7.0-b01. If an issue affects version of 2.7.0-M2 and you
want to target a fix for the next tag, choose 2.7.0-b01.
2.7.0-b01 TAG DATE
I expect to provide a sakai-2.7.0-b01 tag for QA no later than midweek
(12-14 January 2010).
HELP WANTED
With Steve Swinsburg joining the maintenance team we have an opening
for one or more volunteer 2.7.x branch manager to assist with 2.7
branch management. We are looking for a commitment for at least the
first quarter of 2010. A longer commitment in support of 2.7
maintenance releases would be appreciated.
Time commitment
3-5 hrs./week (Q1 2010); 1-3 hrs./week (Q2-Q4 2010)
Technical skills:
1. SVN experience, especially merging/reverting between trunk and
branch; ability to apply contributed patches also required.
2. Sufficient proficiency in Java and Sakai development practices/
patterns to be able to review quickly a patch or commit prior to a
merge.
3. General knowledge of Sakai UI frameworks (JSF, RSF, Velocity,
Wicket) is a plus; after all we have to merge this code, too.
4. Knowledge of Sakai Jira practices a plus.
Other intangibles:
1. Ability to work effectively in solo mode as well as in a team
environment.
2. Ability to react quickly to changing circumstances.
3. A friendly, helpful disposition.
If you can help, drop me a note.
Cheers,
Anthony Whyte
arwhyte at umich.edu
---------------------------------------------------------
7. Invitation: Sakai Learning Capabilities Virtual Meeting
Greetings Sakai Community Members,
As some of you may know, the Sakai Teaching and Learning Group (which
now has strong representation from the UX and Portfolio groups as
well), has been engaged in an "instructional visioning" exercise
focused on Sakai 3 for the past several months. Much of our recent
work has involved the generation of a Learning Capabilities Google
spreadsheet, which now consist of over 150 rows of user-centric goals
expressed in simple terms. Some of this work has already begun to be
used by Clay Fenlason, Sakai Product Manager, in the current design
work taking place for Sakai 3 (more on this at Clay Fenlason's blog at http://sakaipm.wordpress.com/)
.
We have reach a point in this process where we feel we need have a
sustained and focused effort in order to organize and refine this
document and "take it to the next level". This work will involve
determining "themes" under which we can group Learning Capabilities,
as well as "activity workflows" that will describe how users might
progress through the learning capabilities. We will also be looking to
identify gaps in the already documented learning capabilities and will
work to fill in those gaps.
Our plan is to convene a "virtual working session" in early February
in which we hope to get as many community members as we can to work
over a two-day period on this effort. We also plan to have some "pre-
event" activities to provide background for those who have not been
engaged to date to help prepare for the work. We are also hoping to
make this a global effort so we are actively encouraging groups
outside the USA to participate and will work to accommodate time
zones, etc., in our planning.
HOW TO GET INVOLVED
If you are interested (or just think you might be), please visit the
Teaching and Learning Confluence page athttp://confluence.sakaiproject.org/display/PED
and follow the link from the notice at the top of the page to our
Virtual Working Session Planning page. There you will find updates,
additional information, and a place to sign up.
Thanks!
Josh Baron
Director, Academic Technology and eLearning
Marist College
Josh.Baron at marist.edu
---------------------------------------------------------
8. 2nd Call: 2010 MISI (Multi-Institutional Survey Initiative)
To All Sakai-Using Institutions:
The Sakai Community is once again joining together to conduct a multi-
institutional survey of instructors and students in order to assess
how Sakai is being used, what activities and tools users value, and
how best to inform development of Sakai for the future.
In 2009, fourteen institutions participated in this initiative,
surveying over 10,000 instructors and students. We hope to expand this
effort to include even more participating institutions in 2010.
To indicate your interest, please add your information on this
Confluence page: http://confluence.sakaiproject.org//x/ew8AB
Thank you to the following institutions that have already indicated
their interest:
Marist College
Rice University
Rutgers University
Texas State University
University of Delaware
University of Michigan
University of Virginia
Université Pierre et Marie Curie
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech)
Here's a quick Q & A about MISI:
Q: Who Can Participate in MISI?
A: Any institution running Sakai 2.4 or higher in pilot or production.
All levels, languages, and locations are invited to participate.
Q: Who Conducts the Survey?
A: Your institution will run its own online survey. In the past,
institutions have used commercial applications (e.g., SurveyMonkey),
home-grown systems, and self-coded surveys.
Q: Who Decides What Items Are On the Survey?
A: The collective group of participating institutions will decide on
the items via email, conference calls, and the Confluence wiki.
Ultimately, each institution can decide to opt in/out of each "core"
survey item, but are strongly encouraged to participate in order to
maximize data collection.
Q: When Will Meetings Begin?
A: In late January 2010
Q: How is Survey Data Shared?
A: Anonymized data (not aggregated) is uploaded to a shared Sakai
site. Michigan has volunteered to combine the data into one big
spreadsheet and run an initial summary. Each participating institution
may use the combined dataset to run their own analyses.
Q: When Should the Survey Be Administered?
A: In order to minimize variability, each participating institution is
asked to administer their survey for 2-4 weeks in March, April, or May
2010.
Please let us know if you have any other questions / comments.
Thank you,
Steve Lonn & Stephanie Teasley
Steven Lonn, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
CTools / Sakai Team
slonn at umich.edu
Web: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~slonn/
Stephanie D. Teasley, Ph.D.
Research Associate Professor
Director, Doctoral Program
School of Information
steasley at umich.edu
---------------------------------------------------------
9. Job Opening: Distance Education Manager at Johns Hopkins
Johns Hopkins University has a position opening for a Distance
Education Manager. You can apply at:https://hrnt.jhu.edu/jhujobs/job_view.cfm?view_req_id=42270&view=sch
April M. Wille
Assistant to the Associate Dean
Johns Hopkins
---------------------------------------------------------
10. Job Opening: rSmart Marketing Manager -- Sakai
rSmart is looking for a Marketing Manager for its Sakai line of
business. Click here for details: http://www.rsmart.com/news/open-position-marketing-manager-sakai-cle
Mike Zackrison
VP of Marketing and Strategy
rSmart
www.rsmart.com
---------------------------------------------------------
11. Two Job Openings: Two Educational Technologist Positions at
Hebrew Union College (New York and Los Angeles campuses)
The Educational Technologist has primary responsibility for the
development of faculty projects on her/his local campus. S/he will
also serve as a resource and trainer for any eLearning classroom/
seminar facilities and related equipment for their campus. In
addition, each Educational Technologist will participate in/coordinate
aspects of national or multi-campus educational/academic projects
(e.g., Sakai CLE, Continuing Alumni Education, Assessment/ePortfolio)
as assigned by the National Director. As a member of a dynamic and
creative professional team, the Educational Technologist has the
opportunity and is expected to significantly contribute to Hebrew
Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion's continuing efforts in
the expanding field of e-Learning, Distance Education and Educational
Technology in Higher Education.
For more information, see the full job description at http://huc.cle.rsmart.com/access/content/group/75668102-e010-499b-0046-803d8f25bfaa/Personnel/Educ.TechnologistJobDescrip.v7.pdf
Michelle Lazarow
Sakai Administrator
Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion
mlazarow at huc.edu
---------------------------------------------------------
12. Recent Email Group Discussions
[Building Sakai] Question about the user profile
http://n2.nabble.com/Building-Sakai-Question-about-the-user-profile-td4289580.html#a4289580
[Building Sakai] Sakai Calendar outside of Sakai
http://n2.nabble.com/Building-Sakai-Sakai-Calendar-outside-of-Sakai-td4288221.html#a4288221
[Building Sakai] Allocating memory to tomcat(s)
http://n2.nabble.com/Building-Sakai-Allocating-memory-to-tomcat-s-td4293444.html#a4293444
[Building Sakai] Thin Client Support for Tests & Quizzes
http://n2.nabble.com/Building-Sakai-Thin-Client-Support-for-Tests-Quizzes-td4288382.html#a4288382
[Building Sakai] SAK-17171/KNL-66 (plain text handling)
http://n2.nabble.com/Building-Sakai-SAK-17171-KNL-66-plain-text-handling-td4293823.html#a4294445
[Building Sakai] Wicket related JVM death on Java 1.6
http://n2.nabble.com/Building-Sakai-Wicket-related-JVM-death-on-Java-1-6-td4284219.html#a4285014
[Building Sakai] Thin Client Support for Tests & Quizzes
http://n2.nabble.com/Building-Sakai-Thin-Client-Support-for-Tests-Quizzes-td4288382.html#a4288382
[Building Sakai] Is Agora still ACTIVE?
http://n2.nabble.com/Building-Sakai-Is-Agora-still-ACTIVE-td4292505.html#a4292505
[Building Sakai] Question about the user profile
http://n2.nabble.com/Building-Sakai-Question-about-the-user-profile-td4289580.html#a4289580
[Building Sakai] changing text for matrix status colors
http://n2.nabble.com/Building-Sakai-changing-text-for-matrix-status-colors-td4288025.html#a4288025
[Building Sakai] sakai-2.6.x-qa branch and sakai-2.5.x-qa branch
http://n2.nabble.com/Building-Sakai-2-6-2-update-sakai-2-6-x-qa-branch-externals-refreshed-r71353-td4287573.html#a4287764
[Portfolio] Rubric forms in OSP - weighted averages
http://n2.nabble.com/Portfolio-Rubric-forms-in-OSP-weighted-averages-td4288245.html#a4288245
[Portfolio] Reporting Out > Sakai T&L Learning Capabilities Effort
http://n2.nabble.com/Portfolio-Reporting-Out-Sakai-T-L-Learning-Capabilities-Effort-td4267641.html#a4267641
[Portfolio] Evaluation and Group workflow
http://n2.nabble.com/Portfolio-Evaluation-and-Group-workflow-td4266674.html#a4266674
[Portfolio] OSP 2.7 Code Review / Fixes
http://n2.nabble.com/Portfolio-OSP-2-7-Code-Review-Fixes-td4252374.html#a4252374
[DG: User Experience] UX packageing (SAKIII-119)
http://n2.nabble.com/DG-User-Experience-UX-packageing-SAKIII-119-td4262865.html#a4262865
[DG: User Experience] input needed on two new nightly 3akai servers
http://n2.nabble.com/DG-User-Experience-input-needed-on-two-new-nightly-3akai-servers-td4293388.html#a4293388
[DG: User Experience] Identity proxies (was Re:The createsite servlet
should create the appropriate groups and ACL's)
http://n2.nabble.com/DG-User-Experience-The-createsite-servlet-should-create-the-appropriate-groups-and-ACL-s-td4291866.html#a4293359
[DG: User Experience] Priorities for Sakai 3 UX dev
http://n2.nabble.com/DG-User-Experience-Priorities-for-Sakai-3-UX-dev-td4288865.html#a4288865
---------------------------------------------------------
13. Events
Connexions Conference 2010
February 2, 2010
Houston, Texas
http://cnxconference.rice.edu/
Jasig 2010 Ten Years of Open Source Innovation
March 8-10, 2010
The Town and Country Resort
San Diego, California
http://www.ja-sig.org/conferences/10spring/index.html
11th Sakai Annual Conference
Date and Time:
Tuesday - Thursday, June 15-17, 2010
Pre-conference sessions: Monday, June 14, 2010
Hyatt Regency Tech Center
Denver, Colorado
http://sakaiproject.org/annual-conference
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