One of the most significant uses of the Goal Management work that we did at Syracuse was the RIEPS (Rhode Island Electronic Portfolio System). RIEPS is a product of the collaboration between rSmart, IBM and RINET (Rhode Island Network for Educational Technology). RINET reminds me a bit of the NYS BOCES system and has created a technology and social infrastructure for the Rhode Island School districts to support the goal of meeting standards across the curriculum without degenerating into a high stakes testing situation. The RINET team is hosting the first Sakai conference from with a K-12 focus to share what is happening around the country with K-12 Sakai. This is a different audience with slightly different needs from the higher education community and its cool to see them coalescing as a group. I am here to co-present a higher education perspective to this primarily K-12 audience and to see how K-12 is using (and wants to use) Sakai and OSP.

Michael Korcuska introduced the idea of P-80 and introduced himself by giving his brief biography from elementary school, through high school and then on to college and beyond. He emphasized the commonality and overlap between the needs of K-12 and higher education. There is a common thread and a continuity through life. He mentioned that open source software (like Sakai) is no longer considered "bleeding edge". He made the point that for K-12 systems with very tight budgets, an open environment that does not differentiate features and functionality based on price is a key factor that districts need to consider when making a choice about an LMS. He showed a clip of Father Guido Sarducci's "Five Minute University" (its out there on YouTube) to illustrate the difference between the learning that might occur in an environment of high stakes testing versus the deep learning that happens in collaborative learning environments.

He drew a chuckle when he suggested that the teachers in K12 get involved in the Sakai community by participating in the lists, checking out the wiki and coming to the Sakai conference in Paris this summer (hahahaha!). Remember those tight budgets?

I spoke with Bill Fiske, who has been involved in training teachers in Rhode Island. I asked him how the implementation of the Sakai course management and portfolio system had an impact on the culture of the classroom. He said he believed that teachers still measure their own success each day on their perceived success as presenters. He stressed that the emphasis needs to shift to how well the students did today.

Responses to the question, "What do I want in my collaborative Learning Environment?"

A session was held where the K-12 community was asked what their expectations of Sakai might be. Steve Foehr took notes...here is what he passed on to me:

• Professional social networking tool
• Good content management tools
• Flexibility – build from a variety of learning models
• Interoperability with other tools
• Ability to pull out tools when useful to purpose
• Allow equal access
• Engaging to students
• User friendly, opportunities for professional development
• An environment that replicates what happens in a classroom.
• Remove the walls between educators
• Breaking down the distinctions between learning and accounting for learning
• Equalize technology skills among teachers
• It’s not more work, it’s different work
• How do we manage performance issues when we get big?
• Seamless access to each user’s data, the data you own.
• Multiple loci of control.
• One to two minute videos to show how we use Sakai.
• Showcase of best practice.

Michael Korcuska pledged to get the complete list up on the K-12 wiki.

K-12 issues for coalescing effort

During an afternoon panel discussion a few strategic areas were suggested around which the K-12 community could begin coalescing.

1. Student portfolios
2. Professional development
3. AP courses and credit recovery (making up courses for students that fail a class)

The first two areas definitely resonated with the discussion in the morning in which the participants discussed their current projects with Sakai.