The Sakai Project is a landmark venture to create open-source course management, collaboration, and online research support tools for the higher education community. Begun through a collaboration involving the University of Michigan, Indiana University, MIT, and Stanford University, it now includes approximately 100 universities, colleges, and institutions of learning around the world. Marist has been a Sakai Partner since 2005, and now plays a prominent role in the Sakai community.
At the Sakai conference in Newport Beach, California in December, eight Marist graduate students were presented with a "Sakaiger" award (pictured) for their contributions to Sakai's quality assurance efforts. The Sakaiger was introduced in 2007 as the logo of the Sakai community. Stuffed Sakaigers are in very limited supply and are only given to those demonstrating significant leadership in Sakai quality assurance activity.
Congratulations to Ajay Parimi '08, Lochan Chhetri '09, Pashupathinath Rajendran '09, Sravanthi Tipirneni '08, Omprakash Vadapalli '09, Venkatesh Subramanian '08, Vidhya Kolappa Pillai '09, and Vidhya Rajan '08 for this terrific recognition. These students' work in Marist's Office of Academic Technology and eLearning gave them the opportunity for significant hands-on experience with Sakai.
In addition to our students' achievements, Marist faculty and staff are becoming known as leaders in the Sakai community. Sakai development work is underway through the IBM Joint Study project, and Director of Academic Technology and eLearning Josh Baron has been elected to the Sakai Foundation Board. Through his board membership, Josh will have the opportunity to help shape the future of Sakai. Marist faculty members are also increasingly adopting the Sakai course management system. The College has branded its version of Sakai "iLearn," which stands for Innovative Learning Environment and Resource Network, and it has proven to be a powerful tool for course management and for supporting ad hoc collaborations.
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