Sakai Question of the Week

Q. The menu in my course has some buttons I don’t need and others that don’t match the organization I want for my course. How can I remove or rename menu buttons?

 A. Navigate to the Site Info tool in your menu and click on Page Order at the top of the display. You can click on, then drag and drop, each of the menu items (tools) in this list to reorder the left-hand menu. For each tool, you can click on the icons to rename, hide/unhide, or remove the tool. Don’t forget to click “Save.”

Q. My Workspace has a place where I can load my bio; I have done that, but I can’t find a like spot in my course sites.  Is there a way to link the bio in my Workspace to my course sites?

A. Course sites do not have the Profile tool. However, you can add the url for your profile to your course site as a Web Link – you can put it in Resources or in Lessons. If your students click on the url they will be able to view everything that you have made public in your Profile. Students can also go to their Profile tool and search on your uvid or last name to find your Profile.

Q. How do I add a YouTube video in Sakai?

A. Follow these instructions to embed a YouTube video in your Sakai course:

1. In YouTube, find the video and highlight the URL in the address box of your browser.
2. Select Edit > Copy.
3. Log into Sakai and go to your course.
4. Click on the Lesson Builder tool in the menu.
5. Click on the Add Multimedia button at the top of the page.
6. Paste the YouTube URL into the URL: box.
7. Click Save.

Q. In order for email sent from a Sakai course to be from the course address, one has to set up the email archive. Is that correct?

A. Yes, an instructor would need to set up the email archive to have email come from either the course address or (if they choose to set it up this way) from their own email address. If they send email from Messages, it will show as coming from Postmaster@sakai.luc.edu and students will have to log in and go to Messages to see it.

Q. How do I remove courses from earlier semesters from my course tabs?

A. You can choose to hide sites (e.g., course sites from previous semesters), or reorder them (i.e., choose which sites to display in tabs), using the Preferences tool in My Workspace.

1. From your My Workspace in the menu, click Preferences.
2. Click Customize Tabs.
3. Under Customize Tabs you can use the right and left arrow buttons (< and >) to move sites form the Sites visible in Tabs box to the Sites not visible in Tabs box and vice versa.
4. Click the double arrow buttons (<< and >>) to move all sites from one box to the other.
5. Note: Sites in Sites not visible in Tabs are also hidden from the – more – drop-down list.
6. To determine the order in which tabs are displayed, click a site in the Sites visible in Tabs box and then use the up and down arrows to change the order.
7. Note: Your My Workspace tab will always appear to the left of your other sites.
8. You can change the number of tabs you see with the drop-down list next to Tabs displayed.
9. Click on Update Preferences to save your changes.

Q. I need to see an exam taken by a student in one of my classes . How do I do that in Sakai?

A. Here are instructions for viewing student results for tests and quizzes:

1. Click on the Tests & Quizzes link in the course menu.
2. Select the Published Copies tab.
3. Click on the --Select Action–drop down menu and choose Scores.
4. From the list of participants click on the student’s name to view his/her answer choices.

Q. I have seen a lot recently about migration from Blackboard to Sakai – what does “migration” mean?

A. To migrate a course from Blackboard to Sakai refers to converting an existing Blackboard course with content so that as much material as possible that exists in the Blackboard course can be brought into the Sakai course. Not all content will migrate, e.g., assignments in Blackboard do not recreate as assignments in Sakai, and the structure of the content will not be the same as the structure in Blackboard.

For more on migration, visit this link: Working with Migrated Blackboard Content in Sakai.

Q. Where can I find a list of Sakai training offered by Loyola?

A. You can find the Sakai training schedule at http://www.luc.edu/sakai/facultytrainingschedule/scheduleofsessions/. Clicking on any of the sessions will take you directly to the registration page for that session.

You can find out much more about Sakai at Loyola, including information on migration of courses and communities from Blackboard and a project timeline on The Sakai Project webpage at http://www.luc.edu/sakai/index.shtml.

Welcome to the Sakai Question of the Week Blog!

The Sakai  Question of the Week Blog provides a weekly opportunity for Loyola faculty, students, and staff to find out the answers to questions sent to Sakai@luc.edu. Each week,  one question from the many received at Sakai@luc.edu that represents the concerns of many others will be answered, and the question and answer will be posted in the blog.

To ask a question or report a problem with Sakai, email Sakai@luc.edu.

To see answers to the most pressing questions of the week, read the Sakai Question of the Week Blog!