Supporting Open Source Software for Education
Readers of our Smart Talk newsletter may recall the "2+3 Hybrid" project, which was the focus of an article earlier this year. With many community members contributing to Sakai 3 development, this project's goal is to help provide a smooth transition from Sakai 2, by creating a "hybrid" mode for Sakai 3. In this mode, users log into Sakai 3, but still have access to the Sakai 2 environment.
Project member Lance Speelmon, who works for Indiana University and with the Sakai Foundation, recently announced a new step forward in the development of the hybrid mode. When in this mode, users will now be able to access individual Sakai 2 tools, and not just entire sites.
This new capability promises some important advantages. Instructors, for example, will be able to combine tools in Sakai 3 course sites, choosing the Sakai 3 tools they'd like to explore while keeping their favorite Sakai 2 tools. Instructors will also be able to embed both Sakai 3 and Sakai 2 tools on a single page, to create custom workflows for students. Click here to see a video explaining these latest improvements.
The 2+3 hybrid mode is made possible with Basic LTI widgets. LTI is an independent standard for web-based applications, developed by the IMS Global Learning Consortium. It’s one of several standards that Sakai 3 will use to provide integration with a broad range of external solutions.
If you're attending the 2010 Sakai conference, you'll have a chance to learn more about the 2+3 Hybrid project. Lance and fellow project member Christian Vuerings--from the Centre for Applied Research in Educational Technologies (CARET) at the University of Cambridge--will be giving two presentations on their work integrating Sakai 2 and 3.