learning about learning….

LMS – SAKAI December 28, 2009

Read Open Source…Open Minds for some good information about SAKAI. Below are excerpts from the article:

“Learning management systems (LMSs) support and use the tools associated with traditional teaching methods, in which the instructor controls the learning environment. The instructor decides what to teach and how to teach it. Students have knowledge gaps that need to be filled with information. In short, the traditional teacher causes learning to occur. (Novak, 1998).”

“Sakai, on the other hand, is based on collaborative learning, which by definition, asks students to cooperate to reach consensus in open-ended activities. The collaborative learning environment (CLE) is best suited to group work, where students can freely interact with each other and construct their ideas together. Finally, because the CLE is student-centered, students are in control of their own learning and ultimately, the outcome of their learning.”

“With Sakai, students are active learners and contributors, and the instructor is a facilitator. Specifically, the instructor activates tools and gives students or groups of students permissions to use as few or as many tools (and some or all of the functionality of the tools) as they like; the instructor does not have to know the tools inside and out. Students can self-organize and make their learning/knowledge visible, and instructors build a community of learners where responsibility is shared among the group rather than owned by the instructor.”

“Its ability to offer group collaboration sites is one of Sakai’s most powerful features, and the sites are easy to set up, so users can serve themselves.”

Potential drawbacks:
“For some, the fact that Sakai is a Java-based application is a deterrent, because to contribute to Sakai’s development, a programmer must have or acquire Java expertise. Schools typically need Java developers (or a vendor to provide hosting) to help them understand the possibilities for customization, integration with other enterprise systems, and so on. Java expertise is in high demand and can be costly.

Also, because multiple institutions are developing Sakai, the user experience can be somewhat inconsistent (for example, in some institutions the “save” function might be a text label; at others, it could be a Save button. Thus, one big push for Sakai 3 is on consistency of the User Experience (UX).”