A Sneak Peek at Sakai 23: New Features for Innovative Teaching and Learning
Change is on the horizon for Loyolans’ Sakai experience. Read on for a preview of the new and improved features making their way to your web browser in December 2024.
Most notably, Sakai 23—the version Loyola will implement on December 19th, 2024—changes the way faculty, staff, and students will access their courses. “Pinned” and “recent” sites will appear on the left-hand navigation menu; the Site Navigation previously at the top of the screen will give way to more digital real estate for your course content. You may continue to access and organize Sakai sites through the Sites Drawer, which appears to the left of your profile image. This relatively substantial change to Sakai’s user experience may take some time to adjust to. Don’t hesitate to launch the Sakai user tutorial, available in the Account Menu by clicking on your profile image, as you acclimate to your new Sakai navigational experience.
Moving on to new features, Sakai 23 boasts an exciting new tool for tracking tasks, communication, and grades within a single course. The Dashboard tool allows faculty to choose from several widgets to customize student reminders. Faculty can choose from three different Dashboard layouts and select widgets that highlight student grades, updates in Discussions, recent course announcements, and Calendar events. The Dashboard is a promising replacement for the Overview page as a course homepage, as it presents a snapshot of course activity for both students and faculty.
In the same vein of improved communication with students, the Assignments tool’s Grader interface has gotten a makeover. The Grader is now more mobile-friendly and features a horizontal layout for assessing submissions with a rubric. Most notably, however, the Assignments Grader now includes limited inline marking capabilities, allowing instructors to leave targeted comments on submitted documents without downloading and re-uploading the submission file.
These new features and more await you in Sakai 23! If this sneak peek was compelling, explore our website for more information regarding Sakai 23. Consider joining Instructional Technology & Research Support (ITRS) for an upcoming information session; registration opens soon!