Sakai Guide for Students

Sakai is the online course management system used at Claremont School of Theology.
Sakai is a flexible learning environment that can allow for discussion boards (forums), chats, blogs, wikis, documents, quizzes, and assignment uploading.

To access Sakai, you will need a high-speed internet connection and a web browser such as Firefox or Internet Explorer. You will also need a personal email account to receive communications from within your course.

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Accessing a Course Page in Sakai

When you register for a class, your name and email address will be added to the course page in Sakai. Here is how to get started:

  1. You will receive an email confirming your password. Your email address is your username.
  2. Go to mysakai.rsmart.com and log on with your username and password.
  3. My Workspace gives you an overview
  4. My Sites lets you enter a specific course site (also in Quicklinks at top of page)

Sakai Features

  • Note: Some features may not be in use for a given course and have been disabled (are not visible).
  • Announcements: Time-critical information like tests and assignments
  • Assignments: Submit online (text box, attach doc., or offline ) assignments.
  • Blog: Provides blogging capability for the class
  • Calendar: Provides deadlines, activities, and site related events
  • Chat: Real-time conversations with other site participants
  • Forum: Discussion by topic, ask question, and send private messages to others
  • Drop Box: Share files privately with site participants
  • Email Archive: Access an archive of email sent to participants
  • Glossary: Provide contextual definitions for terms used on a site
  • Gradebook: Grade information
  • Lessons: Where instructors present lectures and materials in a book-like format.
  • News: Custom news content from dynamic, online sources via rss
  • Profile 2: Connect with others using in a social networking model.
  • Resources: Material related to the course
  • Site Roster: View a list of site participants and their pictures
  • Syllabus: Summary outline of course requirements
  • Tests & Quizzes: Online gradable (sent to gradebook) or non-gradable assessments
  • Web Page: External web pages
  • Wiki: Create and edit web content collaboratively

Sakai Tips

  • Make sure you’re using a compatible browser: Firefox, Netscape 7.1 and above, Internet Explorer 6.0 and above
  • Use the Reset Button, NOT the browser back button: If you change your mind about a task, use the Reset Button (the small blue double arrow button that appears to the left of the name of the tool such as resources and assignments instead of your browser’s Back button. It will return you to the starting point of any tool, as if you had entered the tool in a new session. You can also use the “breadcrumbs” near the top of the page to move back to a previous location.
  • You can change the number of sites that you see in your site tab bar: Go to your My Workspace and click the Preferences tool. Click the “Customize Tabs” link at the top of the page. Then enter a number in the box labeled “The number of tabs visible in addition to ‘My Workspace’:”. The default is set to seven. Just be aware that setting the number too high will result in wrapping.

Viewing Documents

One of the main uses of Sakai is as a place for students to download and print documents. To view a document, simply click on it. It either opens directly in the Sakai browser window or asks you to download the file to your computer.

Participating in Online Discussions ("Forums" and "Discussion Forums")

Sakai allows you to engage in threaded discussions with your classmates and instructors through "Forums" and "Discussion Forums." The "Forums" tool is a bit more flexible (with more features) than "Discussion Forums" tool; your courses may use both or only one. To participate in a forum, click on "Discussion Forums" or "Forums" on the menu on the left side of your workspace page. Then click on the name of the forum you want.

To add a post to the forum, click on "new topic." The new topic screen appears with fields in which you write the subject and message of the post. When you are finished, click the "submit" button.

Many experienced Sakai users recommend that you first create a post as a Word document and then paste it into the Sakai forum.

To read someone else's post, click on it in the Discussion column. You are then able to reply to that post. Click "post reply," compose your reply, and click on "submit."