Micro-tutorial: Upload multiple files to Resources

We’ve shown how to upload/download multiple resources using WebDAV before (Recall “Map a Drive for Windows & Mac”), but there is another way to quickly upload multiple files to your Sakai site. Here’s how in three easy steps.(Click on an image to enlarge it in a new window.)

Step 1: Go to Resources > Add > “Upload files”

Step 2:  “Add Another File”

Step 3: “Upload Files Now”

Note: You can also opt to notify your site members by email that there are new files in the site.

You can try this for yourself using Resources in your My Workspace area.

That’s all there is to it!

Micro-tutorial: Copy & Paste Files Across Sakai Sites

One of the benefits of Sakai is that it allows you to upload a file once and easily move it within or across your sites.

Whether you are a student, faculty or staff member, this tip is useful and simple. Take a minute (literally) to find out how!

We tip our hats to the Carolina Digital Story Lab for inspiring us to embed this tutorial in a hypothetical mini-story. You can learn more about this innovative student group @ http://www.uncstorylab.org/.

September Tip: Manage Your Site Tabs

Many of you are members of several Sakai sites and therefore, a little housekeeping is in order.  You can set your Preferences in your My Workspace area.  See the images below and try it yourself! 

• If you have more than 4 sites, your newest sites are probably listed in the “More” drop-down menu.  (Click to enlarge images.)

• You can move sites to the top tabs and remove sites from your view (although they will be available in the “More” menu).

If you have more questions, submit a help request and we’ll do our best to answer them quickly.

Using Sakai to Serve Up Your Course Web Sites

We have creative faculty who like developing web pages for courses. Sometimes course pages are publicly accessible while others are password-protected. For years, faculty have used the Course Web Space Tool to do this. Unfortunately, the tool is being retired but we are pleased to offer Sakai as an alternative.

• See an example of a BIOLOGY 101 course web site that is publicly available to you but hosted on a Sakai site.  (At the bottom of this post, you can see the actual URL — it’s long!)

Here’s a 1-minute “big picture” overview of what’s involved.

The videos below, demonstrate how you can use Sakai as a way to serve up your own course web pages.

There are a few considerations:

• You have your web site files stored in a single folder
• You don’t mind having students log into Sakai -or- have a long URL (see below)
• You are fearless with a can-do attitude (We salute you!)

See our playlist of short videos each about 1 minute in length. Wow! Six minutes of free professional development!

As promised, here is the URL containing our sample BIOL 101 course site:

• https://sakaipilot.unc.edu/access/content/group/52b150c8-6e07-4112-9b8b-645b4867df92/public/BIOL 101/index.html

If you are faculty who used to use the Course Web Space Tool, we’re here to help you make the transition! Simply call 962-HELP or open a Help Request for “Sakai Support.”

Advanced tutorials:

• Taking it to the next level (learn to hide menu items, create a TinyURL, view as a student, and create a class listserv!)
• Making changes (decide where the “canonical source” of your web site files will reside and then drag and drop as appropriate; edit your HTML pages as you normally would!)

Back to School Sakai Webinars in August!

Summer is full of sun, fun, and webinars! As you prepare for the new semester, grab a snack and log in to participate in a hands-on session (5 Big Ideas) or to find out what new surprises await you in our upgraded UNC Sakai 2.7 environment.

This is a flexible, easy way to connect with colleagues and learn more about the creative ways Sakai is being used on our campus.

Sakai: 5 Big Ideas
Wed., 8/11 @ 9:30 am [or] Thurs., 8/12 @ 3 pm
[Register for one]

Attend this hands-on overview session to learn how Sakai is different from other software you may have used. Find out who is using it on our campus and how!

Sakai: What’s New in version 2.7?
Wed., 8/9 @ 1:30 pm [or] Thurs., 8/12 @ 9:30 am
[Register for one]

Attend this 30-minute webinar to hear about and see the improvements and new features available. Feel free to bring your questions and suggestions, too!

Stay tuned: In September, we’ll show you how to use Voicethread and Sakai to create highly engaging, interactive online learning experiences!

Try this trick to simplify your menu

No 4^th of July weekend is complete without picnics, water parks, family fun, and some quality time spent with your computer! When you have a moment, try this very simple, quick trick to streamline your menu.

We comprehend and learn better when information is “chunked.” (See Brain Rule #4: Can You Read This)

The video below shows how you can create a simpler, organized menu. We call this trick the Fake Divider Tool.

But wait, there’s more! You will also learn how to change your course site view from Instructor to Student - and - you’ll use Page Order to reorganize the menu and hide items as appropriate.

All of this 4^th of July fun in only 2 minutes! Enjoy your holiday weekend!

Sakai Big Idea #3: Permissions

This is the third in our five-part series called, “Sakai 5 Big Ideas.”

You can change permissions. You have roles in your site such as Instructor role, Student role, Tech Support role, and so on.  Each role has an associated “bundle” of permissions. Whenever you see the Permissions option on a tool (Big Idea #2), you can change the permissions associated with a role.

This means you can enable students to contribute more to your course site — whether that is by creating and sharing content, adding announcements, working in groups, and more! (See Craig Carroll’s video about student-generated content.)

Further, for those who want it, there is a lot of control to tweak permissions at a very fine-grained level. Our pilot faculty really like the flexibility of permissions. (See this video of Barbara Wildemuth, Professor in SILS, discussing permissions streamlining committee collaboration).

Only 2 more ideas left to go: public vs. private content and group-aware tools!

Big Idea #2: Tools are managed at the tool level

This is the second in our five-part series called, “Sakai 5 Big Ideas.”

Tools are managed at the tool level — and we have choices! Click on a menu item/tool, and you will see a bar display under the title that provides options for managing it. However, the fun part is that you have choices as an individual — and there are choices at the institutional level.

There is a large set of tools to choose from (see video below) and you can select as many or as few as you like. But there are also choices at the institutional level about which tools to support and how to customize Sakai.  Perhaps UNC will want to add and support “contrib” tools (like OpenSyllabus) that are not in our current list — or maybe UNC will opt to support only one of the testing tools.

Having choices is good!

New Sakai Workshops Scheduled

Drag and drop content into your Course Site

Tuesday, April 20 (12-1PM)

and

Friday, April 23 (12-1PM)

If “drag and drop” sounds like music to your ears when talking about moving content from your computer to your Course Site, join  this workshop and learn how to do it in 3 easy steps using Sakai.

[Register]

How to easily manage multiple sections/groups using only one Course Site

Thursday, April 22 (12-1PM)

and

Monday, April 26 (12-1PM)

Tired of copping enrollments from one Course Site to another?
Do you wish you could manage students from different course sections separately and easily within the same Course Site?

If your answer to any of these questions is yes, join this workshop to learn how to save time using Sakai’s Section/Group aware tools.

[Register]

You have not used Sakai before? Don’t let that stop you, novices are welcome!

To hear Sakai testimonials from UNC-CH’s faculty and learn more about UNC-CH’s Sakai pilot please visit http://www.unc.edu/sakaipilot/blog/?cat=16

Big Idea #1: My Workspace

This is the first in our five-part series called, “Sakai 5 Big Ideas.”

You have your own private workspace area where you can upload, save, create, and move files. You can also view all of your sites’ combined announcements and calendar events. (Students report that these features get two enthusiastic thumbs-up.)

To learn more, see the 3-minute screencast below (for best results, make it full-screen). You can try this today by logging into http://sakaipilot.unc.edu