An Introduction to Open Source and the Sakai Open Source Collaboration and Learning

Environment: the Theory and the Practice

http://www.sakaiproject.org/

“Community source describes a model for the purposeful coordinating of work in a community. It is based on many of the principles of open source development efforts, but community source efforts rely more explicitly on defined roles, responsibilities, and funded commitments by community members than some open source development models.”

Community Source Projects

“Institutional Investmentsfor Institutional Outcomes”

Thanks to Brad Wheeler

Open Source SoftwareIt’s a license: a way of guaranteeing that the

source code that makes up the software is always available for inspection, modification,

redistribution

Example licenses are General Public License (GPL), Apache, MIT, BSD

These are of two basic types:

1) GPL – “viral” – which says if you change and redistribute, then the redistributed software is

GPL/open

2) Apache – “open-open” – which says you can do what you want with changed, redistributed code;

no requirement to keep it open

Open Source Software

It’s also a practice: a way of building software where a larger community of developers is

brought into the process of constructing the source code.

Here a small set of core developers manage the contributions of a large set of, often globally distributed, code developers and bug fixers.

Not all contributions get into the release of the open source software.

This is a closely managed process.

Many are called, not all are chosen.

How could this work?It’s been a surprise to everyone.

How could a complex artifact be built from the very loosely coupled efforts of so widely distributed a

community?

The only way we can say it does is simply because it has: we have numerous empirical examples – Linux,

Apache, Firefox, wiki’s, blogs, Sakai…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_open_source_software_packages

For best investigation of a theory of open source see:

Steven Weber, “The Success of Open Source”

The radical reduction of communication costs was one contributor; nature of software itself another

Why Do It?Innovation: this is the key to the university’s future; if we

can not innovate at a rapid rate, we will be left behind

This involves innovation in research and administration practices as well as teaching and learning

Control own future: we want to be flexible enough to move in the directions we want to, and be able to decide

independently

Values: Open source fits the academy’s conception of contributing to a common stock of knowledge and

practices

Cost: to be able to predict over the long term, as well as control in the short term

Fit withRequire-ments

AcquisitionCost

MaintenanceCost

SupportOptions

Control ofDestiny

Build Your Own

Tailored to requirements

Full costExpensive

permanent staff or contract

Discretionary Full costs for

changesNo on-going fees

Institution Very highOwn the code

Buy From Vendor

StandardizedTailored via

add-ons

Shared cost + vendor profit as

license fee

MandatoryShared costs + vendor profit via annual license

fees

Vendor(s)Warranties and service

level agreements

Very lowLimited/no access to modify the codeAny add-ons may

complicate upgrades

Build OpenSource

Community

Assembled from

standardized and tailored

Nil, minimal, or shared

DiscretionaryNil, minimal, shared, or full

InstitutionFor fee vendors

PartnersCommunity

Very highFull access to the

source code

Some of us got into this by looking at costs, control of our own destiny

Reflecting on Our Own Efforts

Open Source Projects are crucial to supporting innovation in higher ed

We have some examples now of ‘for higher ed, by higher ed’ OS

efforts

A literature is developing around the dynamics of open source

communities

What can we learn from experience and add to our common stock of

knowledge; we are learning institutions, after all

Part of Much larger WholeMultiplying Open/Community Source Efforts

■integration, standards…innovation

Figuring out how to work together ■Development, operations, maintenance, timing, evolution, building open source community in HE

PKIDartmouth

Chandler/Westwood

Twin Peaks

Navigator

What is Sakai?•A community and foundation—a group of people and resources supporting the code and each other, realizing large scale Open Source efficiencies

•A collaboration and learning product with: ■A set of tools—written and supported by various groupsand individuals—which have been tested and released as a unit

•An extensible framework for building collaboration tyools and services—provides basic capabilities to support a wide range of tools and services—teachingand research

Support Teaching and LearningSupport Teaching and Learning

Support Distributed ResearchSupport Distributed Research

Bringing research to the classroom

Bringing research to the classroom

Tests & Quizzes ToolTests & Quizzes Tool

Discussion ToolDiscussion Tool

Research Team SupportResearch Team Support

OnLine Class SupportOnLine Class Support

Bringing it all onlineBringing it all online

The Sakai FoundationA Foundation to support a community-developed open source enterprise Collaboration and Learning Environment

What’s in a name?

Sakai is named after Hiroyuki Sakai of the Food Channel Television program “Iron Chef”. Hiroyuki is renowned for his fusion of French and Japanese cuisine.

And is just a fun guy.

Consolidation & Connection

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•Formed as a non-profit corporation to support, sustain, and promote Sakai.

•Initial foundation board is the Sakai project board with open nominations and election for three retiring Sakai board members.

•Annual budget of $1M from member contributions

■Expect to have 8-10 staff positions funded by the Foundation focused on communication and coordination

■Support two conferences per year at 100K each

•Membership fee is $10,000 per year for educational institutions, non-profits, or commercial partners. For institutions with a student base < 3000, the fee is $5000.

Sakai FoundationSakai Conference

May 20 - June 2, 2005Vancouver, BC

http://sakaiproject.org/

Sakai is 100% open source and an open community.

Membership is 100% optional.

Sakai Foundation MembersAlbany Medical College Monash University University of California, Los Angeles

Arizona State University Nagoya University University of California, Merced

Australian National University New York University University of California, Santa Barbara

Boston University School of Management Northeastern University University of Cambridge, CARET

Brown University North-West University (SA) University of Cape Town, SA

Carleton College Northwestern University University of Colorado at Boulder

Carnegie Foundation for Advancement of Teaching Ohio State University University of Delaware

Carnegie Mellon University Portland State University University of Hawaii

Ceritos Community College Princeton University University of Hull

Coast Community College District Rice University University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Columbia University Ringling School of Art and Design University of Melbourne

Cornell University Roskilde University (Denmark) University of Michigan

Dartmouth College Rutgers University University of Minnesota

Florida Community College at Jacksonville Simon Fraser University University of Missouri

Foothill-De Anza Community College Stanford University University of Nebraska

Franklin University State University of New York University of North Texas

Georgetown University Stockholm University University of Oklahoma

Harvard University SURF/University of Amsterdam University of South Africa (UNISA)

Hosei University IT Research Center Syracuse University University of Texas at Austin

Indiana University Texas State University - San Marcos University of Toronto, Knowledge Media Design Institute

Johns Hopkins University Tufts University University of Virginia

Lancaster University Universidad Politecnica de Valencia (Spain) University of Washington

Loyola University, Chicago Universitat de Lleida (Spain) University of Wisconsin, Madison

Lubeck University of Applied Sciences University College Dublin Virginia Polytechnic Institute/University

Maricopa County Community College University of Arizona Whitman College

Marist College University of California, Office of the Chancellor Yale University

MIT University of California Berkeley University of California Berkeley

University of California, Davis

105 and Growing

Sakai Commercial Affiliates

Apple

Apache Foundation = Independent Projects

TomcatTomcat ReleaseRelease

HttpdHttpd ReleaseRelease

AxisAxis ReleaseRelease

PlutoPluto ReleaseRelease

WSRP4JWSRP4J

CommitterProjectIncubator

Sakai (product)Sakai (product)

Sakai Foundation = Projects + Coordination + Product

FrameworkFramework

ReleaseRelease

ScheduleSchedule

Web ServicesWeb Services

SamigoSamigo

rWikirWiki

MeleteMelete ReleaseReleaseePortfolioePortfolio ReleaseRelease

Committer

ProjectProvisional Project

Foundation Staff

Contributed Project

Sakai2.1

Velocity Based Tools

Legacy Framework

Samigo

JSF Tools

JForum

Provisional

Melete

Framework II

Sakai 2.1 - Just under 1m lines of code

MB

Sakai Distributed DevelopmentSakai 2.1 was an international iniative by an expanding community

Development

•Individual committers = 36

•Institutions of higher-ed represented = 10

•Commercial affiliates represented = 2

•Continents represented = 4 ■(North America, Europe, Asia, Africa)

QA

•Individuals Testers = 52

•Institutions of higher-ed represented = 27

•Countries represented = 6 ■(Portugal, South Africa, Sweden, The Netherlands, UK, USA)

The Sakai ProductA Collaboration and Learning Environment—Suitable for use in teaching and learning, research collaboration, and ad Hoc group communication

Placing the Sakai ProductA Collaboration and Learning Environment

Collaboration (including eResearch)

TeachingandLearning

Teaching and Research CollaborationRequirements Overlap

PhysicsResearch

Collaboration

HumanitiesCollaboration

Teachingand

Learning

Grid ComputingVisualization

Data Repository

Large DataLibraries

QuizzesGrading Tools

SyllabusSCORM

ChatDiscussionResources

Sakai 2.1 ToolsPresentation

Profile / Roster

Resources

TwinPeaks - Repository Search

Samigo - QTI Assessment

Schedule

Section Management

Syllabus

Web Content

Wiki

Worksite Setup

WebDAV

Announcements

Assignments

Chat Room

Threaded Discussion

Drop Box

Email Archive

Gradebook

Melete - Content Editor

Message Of The Day

News/RSS

Preferences

Melete – Lesson Authoring - Student View

Navigation is created automatically

content

Authors can license their content

Open Source Portfolio – Tools for Self Publishing, Non-Traditional Evaluation, Life-long review of competencies and experiences

Part of the Sakai Suite of Tools -contributed by a community open source effort

Now the electronic portfolio tool is released in step with Sakai releases, and the OSP community is part of the Sakai Community

iTunes Tool in Sakai

Implementation

Publishing 1200 Courses

Site Highlights

Syllabus

Course Calendar

Lecture Notes

Assignments

Exams

Problem/Solution Sets

Labs and Projects

Simulations

Tools and Tutorials

Video Lectures

Sakai

UMOCW

Web Siteor

other InstitutionalRepository

Publication PipelineDigital Course Materials:(1) Exporting from CTools(2) Matching OCW Categories(3) Increasing Production Values(4) Standardizing (5) IP Management

RawCourseContent

VettedOCW

Content

Teaching

Research

What Student Sees –

Really, a Bunch of

Stuff

What World Sees –

TargetedRe-use

Publishing from Sakai

MIT OCW process doesn’t scale.How automated can we make this process?

Sakai in Production

Text

Sakai Enterprise Technologies

JavaJava1.41.4

OracleOracle

Apache - SSL, mod_jk, WEBISO, Apache - SSL, mod_jk, WEBISO, virtual hostingvirtual hosting

MySql 4.1MySql 4.1

Sakai is aimed at Enterprise Deployments.

Sakai supports organizations with > 100,000 users in a single installation

Sakai consists of technologies chosen to be common in Java Enterprise Environments.

SakaiSakaiTomcat 5.5Tomcat 5.5

SpringSpringHibernateHibernate

Java Server FacesJava Server FacesVelocity (legacy)Velocity (legacy)

ToDoPresentation

Persistence

Browser

ToDo ServiceCode

MyMonolithicToDo ListServlet

MyMonolithicToDo ListServlet

Browser

Service Oriented Architecture

Persistence

ServiceInterface(i.e. API)

Web Services and Web Applications

FrameworkFramework

ApplicationApplication

ToDo Code

ToDo Layout

PresentationWS Client

Axis

WS End Point

Web SvcsWeb Svcs

Other Tools

Layout

PresentationAbstraction

SAF—Kernel

SAF—Common Services

Other Services ToDo ServiceToDo ServiceToDo ServiceToDo Service

ServiceInterface (i.e. API)

Sakai Roadmap

Going forward, Sakai needs to increasingly function as a component of a larger enterprise architecture along with many other applications. Each enterprise will evolve their mix of applications independently over time.

Sakai Foundation Thrust Areas•Improve our current product

■Complete work in progress■Documentation

■Practices / Developer / Installer / User

■Licensing / Intellectual Property

•Iterative Improvement on the Sakai Product■Guided by the Sakai Requirements process

•Standards Activity

•Make Connections to Other Products (Web 2.0)■Other Collaboration and Learning Environments■Portals■Repositories

Short-Term Technical Agenda•Finish the Sakai 2.0 Framework

■Refactor to separate legacy and framework■Improve Import and Export (support IMS Content Packaging)■Clean up Presentation Support (JSF)■Improve Support for Digital Repositories (DR OSID/ Sakaibrary / Twin Peaks)

■Support Course Management API■Improve Accessibility of User Interface

•Documentation■Broaden coverage of developer documents, organize, and publish on the web to suppliment existing Java Doc

■Work towards a “Sakai Devlopers Book”

Sakai Requirements ProcessGathers and prioritize use cases and refine design documents to set long-term strategy for the Sakai Product. •Anyone can submit a requirement (using JIRA).

•Two phases of prioritization■Community - wide (anyone)■Sakai Member Representatives

•Sakai Staff (Project Coordinator) attempt to “match make” between high priority requirements and community developers

•Iterative Process - Once for each major Sakai release■First round produced 385 requirements.

Sakai Requirements (Sample)•REQ-282 Users should have more information and control over site import

•REQ-26 Emails Should Contain Site URL and Item URL

•REQ-173 Chat should allow users to search for messages from a particular user

•REQ-159 Graphical content in rich text editor

•REQ-65 Email Archive should be deep-linkable/bookmarkable

•REQ-375 Timed Release of documents/files in Resources tool

•REQ-109 Search across site and sites

•REQ-124 Add SCORM Player to Sakai

•REQ-129 Support for Learning Design and other Work Flow Engines

Sakai and StandardsSakai needs to use its position and resources to influence ever richer standards so as to insure an ecology of many different collaboration and learning systems which are highly interoperable.•JSR-168 Portlet / WSRP 1.0

•JSR-286 Portlet 2.0 / WSRP 2.0

•IMS Tool Interoperability

•IMS Common Cartridge

•OKI OSID Version 3

Sakai and Web 2.0Web 2.0 is about making sure data is available in some form beyond just displayed in the Sakai Tool Set. •Formats

■RSS / Atom■Resource Description Framework (RDF)■HTML

•Protocols■RSS / getData / SOAP / REST

•Consuming Applications■Portals■Google■delic.io.us

Sakai Integration Efforts•Repositories

■Read/Search - DR OSID / Sakaibrary■Writable repositories / DR OSID / JSR 170■Export / long-term archival - Fedora / DSpace

•Learning Design - LAMS / CopperCore

•Collaborative Learning Environments (IMS TI)■Moodle / ATutor■Blackboard / WebCT / Angel

•Portals - JSR-168 portals / PHP based portals

•Desktop - PLEX / VUE / Apple

•RDF - Haystack / Piggybank / Welkin

A Sakai Web 2.0 Future

... interoperability

and data portability are key elements...

EnterpriseEnterpriseDirectoryDirectory

StudentStudentInformationInformation

AuthoringAuthoringEnvironmentEnvironment

PersonalPersonalLearningLearning

EnvironmentEnvironment

PortalPortalEnvironmentEnvironment

CollaborationCollaborationEnvironmentEnvironment

ContentContentManagementManagement

AgileAgileDevelopmentDevelopment

DataDataRepositoryRepository

Sakai: More Information •Main site:

■www.sakaiproject.org

•Bugs:

■bugs.sakaiproject.org

•Sakai-wide collaboration area

■collab.sakaiproject.org

■sakai-dev@sakaiproject.org

■sakai-user@sakaiproject.org

hardin@umich.edu