bSpace Collaborations & Projects

"Sakai" represents at least 3 things in the world of educational technology. It is first of all a Collaboration and Learning Environment (CLE), the platform and suite of Web applications that have been branded and adapted as bSpace at UC Berkeley. Sakai is also a community of institutions, both schools and commercial partners, whose members are dedicated to building, supporting and improving the software through their collaborative efforts. Lastly, Sakai is a non-Profit Foundation that plays a critical role in orchestrating the collective activities of the community via an ongoing project.

ETS has been involved in Sakai since 2004. Over the years, we have contributed to the research, design, and development of key Sakai services and functionality, including the first Sakai gradebook, the photo Roster, the Section Info management tool, and the Course Management API. The  contract the Course Management API defines forms the basis of the soon to be released IMS Learning Interoperability Specification, which is poised to become the industry standard for passing data between Student Information Systems (SIS) and CLE's such as Sakai and Moodle.

ETS continues to be a major contributor to the Sakai project. We are currently involved in the development of "Sakai 3," a reimagining of the platform that will incorporate the technology and establish integration points with the popular commercial software that many Berkeley students, staff, and faculty regularly enjoy. Yet, while Sakai 3 promises major changes in relation to other web-based applications, it will still retain and aim to improve the experience of the vital capabilities specific to the educational context that it now provides.