Sakai
Sakai is a combined set of software tools designed to help instructors, researchers, and students create websites for collaboration. Using a web browser, users choose from a set of tools to create a site that meets their needs. Sakai contains many tools to help keep classes organized, the ability to post announcements to keep students informed, a calendar/schedule to help students stay organized, and areas for class resources and information. Sakai has an Assignment tool that allows students to submit their assignments online, and the option to create online self-grading quizzes and anonymous surveys. Instructors can also use the gradebook tool to keep track of their classes' grades online. Sakai is an easy to use tool for managing your course completely online, or as a supplement to a face-to-face course.
Tool Changes in Move to Sakai Version 2.6
The JHU EP program will be moving to a new version of Sakai in December 2009. The new version 2.6 has a new look, a few tool name changes, and some new tools for faculty to use. More information about access to the new version will be provided shortly. In the mean time, watch this video to see what changes have been made.
If you have questions, sent an email to training@ep.jhu.edu.
How To Access This Tool
To get an account on Sakai email EP Training at training@ep.jhu.edu.
To access into Sakai, go to http://sakai.jhu.edu and login with your JHED ID and password. If you do not know you JHED ID, please see our instructions on how to find your JHED ID.
Faculty Training Materials
The full Faculty training guide and Fact Sheet is available inside the Faculty Intranet. Please login there to access these materials.
For access to our 1-Page Quick Reference Guides please see the Sakai Help page.
For access to the online Sakai training materials as well as a preview of a Sakai course site please email training@ep.jhu.edu.
Course Site Requests
Course sites can be requested by sending an email to site@ep.jhu.edu. The email should include:
- Primary course instructor JHED ID and co-instructor information (if applicable)
- Full course name, full course number and section, and semester
- Whether the course will be copied from a previous site
- Which course tier is required. (An explanation of course site tiers can be found here.)
How Sakai Might Be Used in Your Online Course
Course Information/Content
Important and relevant information about your online course will be posted on Sakai. This includes the course syllabus and course content. Faculty will be able to upload existing syllabi onto their Sakai course site. Course content can contain an outline of the course schedule. Both items are extremely useful and important to the students and should be included on the Sakai course page, both for online-only and face-to-face courses.
Announcements/Schedule
The Announcements tool can be used to inform site participants about current items of interest and important dates. Faculty are strongly advised to use the Announcement tool to communicate important information to keep their students on track, especially if the class runs entirely online. The Schedule allows instructors or site organizers to post items in a calendar format. Many instructors use Schedule to post readings for each class on the day they are due to be read.
Assignments/Tests/Quizzes
The Assignments tool allows instructors to create, distribute, collect, and grade online assignments. Assignments are private and student submissions are not visible to other users of the site. This tool allows you to create online assessments (i.e., tests, quizzes, and surveys) for delivery via a web interface to all of your students, or individual groups. Additionally, the Test/Quizzes tool can be used to administer online tests. Anonymous surveys may also be created to gather information or informal course feedback. Depending on the instructor, these may be completed directly online or offline and uploaded/submitted at a later date. Grades from these areas can also be calculated by the instructor and viewed by the students online.
Class Forums/Discussions
The Chat Room tool can be used for real-time, unstructured conversations among site participants who are on the site at the same time. The chat room is a good tool for interactions between students and the teacher, but it is suggested that instructors use Abode Connect for functions such as online office hours, student meeting space for group projects, and occasional guest lectures.
Individual forums can also be created so that students can discuss various class-related issues and topics. The instructor may also assign weekly discussion topics to be discussed within the Discussion forums on Sakai.