Sakai Project expands with Hewlett Foundation grant to Foothill-De Anza Community College District

ANN ARBOR—The Foothill-De Anza Community College District in California has been awarded $600,000 from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to build upon the Sakai project to meet the unique needs of community colleges.

The Sakai project is developing collaborative and learning environment software. Sakai was founded by the University of Michigan, Indiana University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University in December 2003 with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. In January, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation funded the Sakai Educational Partners Program, a community where the Sakai software will be extended and deployed.

“Educators who deeply understand teaching and learning principles are uniquely suited and best equipped to design effective virtual learning spaces,” said Vivian Sinou, Foothill dean of distance and mediated learning and ETUDES Alliance founder. The ETUDES Alliance was established by Foothill College two years ago to represent and support the course management system needs of California community colleges. About 670 faculty and 18,000 students from 50 California community colleges currently use ETUDES per term and will be transitioned to the Sakai Collaboration & Learning Environment software starting Fall 2005.

“The Sakai Project is very pleased that the Hewlett Foundation has awarded Foothill-De Anza this extensive support to build on the community source software emerging from the Sakai Project’s efforts,” said Joseph Hardin, chair of the Sakai Project Board of Directors and director of the collaborative technologies lab and clinical assistant professor at the School of Information, University of Michigan.

For more information, contact Bradley Wheeler, Indiana University, (812) 855-3478, BWheeler@Indiana.edu, or Charles Severance, University of Michigan, (734) 763-3266, csev@umich.edu.