Sakai in The Netherlands: one year in the making Wytze Koopal SURFfoundation (University of Twente)

My goals today Inform you about our efforts, activities and goals Get help from you about future directions

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, 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):

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 research Sakai in more detail (Portier) –April: informational meeting jointly organized by SURFfoundation, Amsterdam and Twente (50 participants) –July: follow-up meeting with those really interested –September: Severance presents at 2 nd edition “Crossing the boundaries of your VLE” –September: European Sakai Day -> more info to follow Official start of Sakai SIG NL ( see plan on ) -> 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 ( ) 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 &

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

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 at