4:31 p.m., Sept. 18, 2008----A team of Information Technologies staff members recently received recognition from an international professional organization for their work on the documentation for Sakai @ UD, the learning management system rolled out to UD faculty and students this semester.

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“Basics of Sakai @ UD” won an Award of Excellence in the Printed Instructional Classroom Materials category in the annual Communications Awards competition sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group on University and College Computing Services' (ACM SIGUCCS).

The documentation package was developed by a team of IT-User Services staff members: Ann Amsler, Karen Kral, Nancy O'Laughlin, and Mathieu Plourde.

According to the ACM SIGUCCS Web site [www.siguccs.org], the annual Communication Awards “recognize outstanding Web sites, publications and promotional materials produced by university and college computing centers” in support of university computing users, but also provide other colleges and universities with models “to enhance their own efforts.”

Team leader Amsler said that the group found the award gratifying for two reasons. “Of course it's rewarding to have our work recognized by ACM SIGUCCS, an organization made up of our closest peers in the field of university computing. But it's especially gratifying that this specific set of materials prepared to help faculty move to Sakai, has been judged prize-worthy.”

Amsler said the team was pleased that the judges noticed how flexible UD's Sakai documentation is. “The judges said they liked 'how it was made available in several formats....[and] the reference to Mac and PC users right up front.'”

She added that “Basics of Sakai @ UD” is part of a flexible package of IT-developed resources--documents (print and online), videos and live training sessions. “Since many faculty are using Sakai for the first time this semester, it's important that we provide information that will work no matter what computers faculty use or what 'work styles' they have.”

To see the “Basics of Sakai @ UD” document, go to [www.udel.edu/sakai/training/faculty/basics_faculty.html].

Article by Richard Gordon