Instructors making innovative use of CourseWork, Stanford’s course management system, are encouraged to apply for the 2009 Teaching With Sakai Innovation Award. This award goes to an instructor making exceptional use of Sakai (the system CourseWork is based on) in the areas of

• Communication and Collaboration
• Learning Materials
• Learning Outcomes & Assessment
• Course Look and Feel and Usability
• Learner Support

For more information on each requirement, see the Application Rubric.

Last year’s winner, Dr. Aileen Huang-Saad taught a graduate level biomedical engineering design course at University of Michigan. After listening to a series of lectures by guest physicians on clinical challenges in their field, students used Discussion and Wiki tools to self-organize on which problems they wanted to address. They used Materials to share whiteboard snapshots of their brainstorming sessions. They later used those same tools to discuss and document the best solutions to those problems.

Second place winner Salim Nakhjavani used Sakai to teach international law at University of Cape Town, South Africa. His class simulated what it would be like to work as a legal advisor for ten African states in small group sections, and used Forums to share their group discussions. Students used Chat to organize their country groups as well as to ask questions of lecturers and TAs. Rather than requiring students to purchase a printed casebook, they published an e-casebook using Sakai’s Wiki. All assignments and tutorial preparation questions were delivered and completed online, freeing up class time.

Visit the TWSIA Web site to learn more about the award and view Huang-Saad and Nakhjavani’s applications. You can also see a Real Player video of their inspiring presentations at the 2008 Sakai Conference in Paris.

Applications for the TWSIA must be made electronically by February 27 at the TWSIA Web site. Winners will be flown to Boston to address attendees of the 2009 Sakai Conference in Boston.

Please leave a comment below to let the CourseWork team know if you are applying so we may offer support. Your comment will be read, but not published.