Sakai is not a box or a set of predetermined pathways into which you plug in your content. Sakai is a highly flexible and capable framework that works best when you approach Sakai with a vision focused on outcomes. Sakai will support your vision for teaching and learning but it’s important that you understand how content is stored and presented to your audience.
Sakai stores content in an internal repository. Sakai can store the simplest, most fundamental pieces of content (an image, for instance) and it can store very complex pieces of content (an entire textbook in PDF, a link to an external program or even a complete web site). [If you store file types that are understood by your web browser, they can be displayed directly by your browser. If you store file types that aren’t suited for display in a web browser, your browser will offer to download, save or open the file with a desktop program of choice.] Sakai can even create and present highly structured lessons based on international standards, but let’s hold off on that discussion for a while.
The Resources tool in Sakai provides a means to manage content in the repository. When the Resources tool is added to a worksite in Sakai, a separate “container” for that worksite’s content is created in the Sakai repository. So the content managed by the Resources tool in “My Workspace” is kept separate from the content managed by the Resources tool in “English 101.” Learners in English 101 can’t see the content in your workspace unless you explicitly grant permissions for the content on an item-by-item basis.
Instructors have a decision to make when setting up courses. They can place curricular content in “My Workspace” Resources and share each item with their courses, or they can place content related to a specific course into the Resources tool of that course in which case, by default, the content is accessible to students in that course. [There are other options as well. Course content can be drawn from any web site or from any Sakai worksite as long as the permissions are properly set. Instructors can keep master copies of content in My Workspace and copy content into each course Resources tool. Disciplines can create Sakai worksites that operate as a master site from which course content is shared and drawn. And any content can be released and withdrawn from access based on time.] Typically, an instructor will upload content (PDFs, text documents, images, media clips, etc.) into the Resources tool in their private workspace or in a course, then optionally describe the content and set permissions on who can read the content. The process of uploading content is dramatically streamlined by the use of drag-and-drop technologies. [This process is based on WebDAV technologies that are described fully under “Upload-Download Multiple Resources” in the Sakai Resources tool.]
Turning learners lose in a repository of disorganized content is rarely useful. Content in the Resources tool can be hierarchically organized in folders and subfolders but often more structure than that is needed to guide the learner. Sakai provides many tools that create a learning workflow based on the content stored in the Resources tool. For example, the Assignment tool can link to content in Resources. Announcements, tests, discussion postings, e-portfolios and messages can draw on content in Resources.By drawing on the content stored in Sakai, these learning workflow tool s create a rich authoring environment to assemble diverse learning experiences. In fact, the tools in Sakai are designed with this workflow model in mind. Store content in a repository – draw upon that content to create a learning workflow. A Sakai learning workflow might support an online course with highly structured lessons that use time-released assignments and assessments. A Sakai learning workflow might support collaborative, problem-based learning with a relatively unstructured pool of resources combined with tools for communication. A Sakai learning workflow might supplement in-class experiences with ad hoc announcements, pre-class online discussions and spontaneous quizzing. Sakai is a framework – bring your vision!
Because Sakai is a flexible framework, it’s not limited to these methods for authoring learning workflows or lessons. By adding some additional tools, Sakai can present highly structured content that can come from other authoring and learning management systems. Let’s examine two options that are based on international standards – SCORM and Content Packaging.
SCORM, or the Shareable Content Object Reference Model, was adopted in 2004 by the US Department of Defense which led to refinement of the standard for e-learning content. In its latest version, SCORM sets standards for adaptive sequencing of content by the learner (learning pathways that adjust to the learner). It is possible to author lessons in third-party tools (such as Authorware or Dreamweaver with the Manifest Maker extension added). SCORM packages can also record data to assess the learner’s performance. The SCORM Player in Sakai 2.5.x allows you to import lesson packages [compliant with the current SCORM 2004 (1.3) standard] into the Sakai repository and play them but it does not, for example, store grades into the Sakai grade book.
The IMS Content Packaging standard (currently 1.1.4) helps us exchange learning materials among disparate authoring and learning management systems. Authoring systems such as Reload or Dreamweaver (with the Content Packager for IMS installed) can create structured content that can be imported into the Modules tool in Sakai (called Melete). 
The Sakai Modules tool itself can author hierarchical lessons that incorporate a variety of media (text, video, audio). Modules can create two-tiered lessons with timed release of content sections, a table of contents and previous/next navigation links. In the near future, Modules will enable conditional release of content (aka adaptive sequencing) and links to assignments and assessments. There’s a tradeoff in using Modules, however: it doesn’t draw upon content in the Sakai Resources tool and its repository is “hidden” so you have fewer options for managing the content directly.
While the content packaging standard is well specified, not all tools produce a perfectly compliant package which means that to achieve interoperability among different systems, you may need some XML skills to tweak the packages you want to use. Many of these plug-ins are created and maintained by individuals which often means that they fall behind the latest release of the tool they are supposed to extend. Bottom line: if you want to author Content Packages outside of Sakai, make sure you need to use an external authoring tool then pick an authoring tool carefully and be prepared to work out the details to get started.
Be cautious about commercial systems that offer “extensions” to the IMS standards. While it may sound like an enhancement, these proprietary extensions usually break the import process and trap your content in the legacy learning management system.
So here’s the bottom line:
It’s easy to author lessons directly in Sakai, but if you want to create complex, sequenced lessons, consider authoring your content in the Modules tool. If you need to create even more complex lesson structures, or if you simply prefer another authoring tool, export your content in the IMS Content Packaging standard and be prepared to work out some kinks in the process at first.
