Sakai Project Sites

What is a Sakai project site?

Sakai project sites can be set up by request to facilitate collaboration for college-sanctioned committees, project teams, task forces, departments, etc. Project sites work just like course sites, but are not tied to a semester or to a course roster. The same set of tools are available in project sites as in course sites.

Project sites do not have "instructors" or "students" but instead have the following roles:

• maintain = This role has instructor-like privileges: can add, edit, and remove content, can add/remove users, and can see unpublished sites.
• access = This role has student-like privileges: can view content and submit forum posts, assignments, tests, etc; can see only published sites

The person requesting the site holds the "maintain" role and is responsible for the site's content, adding users, assigning appropriate roles to users, removing users when they no longer need access, and publishing the site so others can see it.

How can I get a Sakai project site created?

A Sakai project can be created at the request of a college employee who has completed the pre-requisites to use Sakai as an instructor.

To request a Sakai project site, send an email to sakaihelp@durhamtech.edu with the following information:

• Title for the site
• Name of person responsible for the site
• A brief description of the purpose of the site and who (in general) the participants will be

It usually takes a few days for us to create your project site. We will notify you by email when it's ready.

After it has been set up, how do I access my project site?

To access your project site, log in to Sakai, click on More Sites, and look under the Projects heading. (The Projects heading is usually near the bottom of the More Sites window. You may have to scroll down to see it.)

How do I add users to my project site?

To add users to a project site, you must know their Durham Tech login ID (ex: jordanm2323). If a user does not have a Durham Tech login ID, he/she cannot be given access to the site. All employees (full and part time), all credit students, and non-credit students who have used Sakai have Durham Tech login IDs.

To add users to your project site:

1. In your project site, go to Site Info > Add Participants.
2. In the box provided, enter the Durham Tech login IDs of the persons you wish to add, one per line, and then click Continue. (You can copy/paste login IDs from an Excel column, Word document, or other similar source.)
3. Select the role you want the users to have. If unsure, choose the "access" role, and then click Continue. (Later, you can give particular individuals the "maintain" role if needed. See step 6 below.)
4. You can opt to have an automatic email sent to users letting them know you have added them to the project site. (Do not choose the email option if the site is "unpublished".) Click Continue to move on.
5. Click Finish to add the users.
6. On the lower half of the screen, you will see a list of all users who have been added to the site, and you can change anyone's role if needed. (Remember to click UPDATE at the bottom after changing any roles.)

• TIP: Limit the "maintain" role to a small number of trusted users (one to three, as a rule of thumb) and to those who have completed Sakai instructor training. It's against good computer practice to give too many individuals (especially untrained ones!) the full editing and deleting capabilities that come with the "maintain" role.