Re: Integrating Sakai with Google apps

> Depending on the level of integration with Sakai you're after initially,
> the Web Content tool already provides a level of experimentation and
> eliminates the need for intervention of an IT person to install some
> tool or service.  As long as you're not concerned with passing
> information back and forth, Web Content is a powerful tool for trying
> out something for teaching or research that exists outside of Sakai.  
>
> For example, prior to having a wiki available in Sakai, one of the most
> common uses for Web Content at the University of Michigan (U-M) was to
> "integrate" a wiki from some external site into a Sakai course site.
> Similarly for blogs.  
>
> I personally used it to integrate the php-based predecessor of the
> current ImageQuiz tool in Contrib.  Doing so provided folks an
> opportunity to test out the pedagogical benefits of the tool without
> worrying about the IT behind it, nor requiring a large investment
> upfront by building it as a Sakai tool from the start.  Confident that
> it proved to be a good teaching tool, we can now worry about the
> additional nice things one gets by tighter integration with Sakai, such
> as grading and access to content services.  
>
> I've also used Web Content to integrate Google Maps in Sakai sites;
> depending on what you want to do with Google maps, you can now do some
> nice things with much tighter integration with Sakai -- content,
> permissions, etc. -- using Edia's Sakai Maps tool in Contrib.  I used
> Web Content to provide access to a near real-time map of the current
> location of a caravan of vehicles, and to offer push-pins of photos
> along the way for students and their friends and families (and alumni,
> who help fund such trips) to view during a two-week geology field trip
> in the western US.
>
> There are things you run across from time-to-time that don't work well
> with Web Content, such as things that try to take over the whole browser
> screen, but that doesn't prevent you from trying them.  On the whole Web
> Content is an easy, powerful way for any instructor, IT-savvy or not, to
> plug in a URL to some site outside of Sakai they would like to try out
> in their course.
>
> -peter
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Michael Feldstein [mailto:michael.feldstein@...]
>> Sent: Tuesday, July 03, 2007 3:44 PM
>> To: Christopher D. Coppola
>> Cc: Mara Hancock; sakai-dev Dev; pedagogy@...
>> Subject: Re: Integrating Sakai with Google apps
>>
>> Right on.
>>
>> I think it's probably easiest to start with Web 2.0ish
>> gadgetized/widgetized stuff because (a) it's already been designed for
>> this type of thing, and (b) there are a lot more opportunities for
>> teachers to play with these things "in the wild" and bring use cases
>> back to the community. But ultimately, I'd like to see Sakai-internal
>> tools move in this direction as well, to the degree that it's
> practical
>> to do so.
>>
>> - m
>>
>>
>> Christopher D. Coppola wrote:
>>> I'll just pick up on one of those three to say that the idea in #2
> is
>>> one I'm really interested in. If you're not already saying it, I
> hope
>>> the idea gets extended to think about the ability to deploy
>>> tools/gadgets/etc. as simply as you can on the Google portal.
>>>
>>> There was another thread on Pedagogy recently under the subject "Re:
>>> eLearning 2.0 - overview of tools"  talking about the tension
> between
>>> the structured, controlled, learning environment approach and the
>>> "small pieces loosely joined" ad-hoc approach to using various tools
>>> and services...
>>>
>>> This idea seems relevant...
>>>
>>>> 2. *What would need to be done to make this tool work as a
>>>> teacher-installable remotely hosted service? *Since individual
>>>> teachers in many institutions are not empowered to get their IT
>>>> support staff to install new tools, I would like to see something
>>>> like this available as something like a Google Gadget that
>>>> wouldn't require the intervention of an IT person to install. I
>>>> don't have any idea what would be involved technically, but given
>>>> the relatively low overhead of this sort of application, it might
>>>> be an interesting test case for the Sakai community.
>>> /Chris.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ----------------------
>>> This automatic notification message was sent by Sakai Collab
>>> (https://collab.sakaiproject.org/portal) from the DG: Development
>>> (a.k.a. sakai-dev) site.
>>> You can modify how you receive notifications at My Workspace >
>>> Preferences.
>>>
>> --
>>
>>
>> Oracle Email Signature Logo
>> Michael Feldstein | Principal Product Manager | 818.817.2925
>> Oracle Academic Enterprise Solutions
>> PO Box 307, Glendale, MA 01229
>> [see attachment: "unknown.html", size: 3319 bytes]
>>
>> [see attachment: "oracle_sig_logo.gif", size: 658 bytes]
>>
>> [see attachment: "michael.feldstein.vcf", size: 304 bytes]
>>
>>
>> Attachments:
>>
>> unknown.html
>> https://collab.sakaiproject.org/access/content/attachment/4ff13d62-
>> e6e8-492a-00fa-ebc4b9734815/unknown.html
>>
>> oracle_sig_logo.gif
>> https://collab.sakaiproject.org/access/content/attachment/f85621da-
>> 9a02-46cb-00a5-606a6d497aaa/oracle_sig_logo.gif
>>
>> michael.feldstein.vcf
>> https://collab.sakaiproject.org/access/content/attachment/d557e42b-
>> 329a-4832-80c0-c52bcbf8935e/michael.feldstein.vcf
>>
>> ----------------------
>> This automatic notification message was sent by Sakai Collab
>> (https://collab.sakaiproject.org/portal) from the DG: Pedagogy site.
>> You can modify how you receive notifications at My Workspace >
>> Preferences.
>
> ----------------------
> This automatic notification message was sent by Sakai Collab (https://collab.sakaiproject.org/portal) from the DG: Development (a.k.a. sakai-dev) site.
> You can modify how you receive notifications at My Workspace > Preferences.
>