Project Sites
Over 23,000 project sites exist within OWL Sakai. While some project sites are related to, used by, or used like academic course sites, many project sites are not related to supporting the academic mission or the training of staff or students at Western.
All Sakai project sites will be moving from OWL Sakai. Academic course sites are the current priority.
- Sakai project sites that ARE eligible to migrate to OWL Brightspace will do so in 2025.
- Sakai project sites that are NOT eligible to migrate to OWL Brightspace are the responsibility of the project site owner to move to alternate solutions as soon as possible.
- All project sites are targeted to be out of OWL Sakai by the end of 2025.
Why are project sites not moving until 2025?
It is important to note that the decision to delay the move of project sites from Sakai is due to the fundamentally different configuration of the two learning management systems.
Many of the technical requirements in OWL Brightspace to enable a project site to run in the same way that it did in OWL Sakai require further investigation and implementation.
At this time, the project team is solely focused on the migration of academic courses and will not be beginning the investigation into additional configuration until after the start of the Fall 2024 academic term.
What will migrate to OWL Brightspace?
Academic course sites and Sakai project sites that:
- Are academic in nature and/or are used for training
- Include guided training modules AND use tools like Gradebook, Assessments, Tests & Quizzes, Certificates, and Lessons.
What will NOT migrate to OWL Brightspace?
Project sites which do not use guided training modules AND tools like Gradebook, Assessments, Test & Quizzes, Certificates, and Lessons, and are used for:
- file storage/transfer
- committee work
- research sites
- sites in place for non-Western users
These sites will be required to move to alternate solutions such as (but not limited to) Office 365 (Microsoft Teams, OneDrive) or Qualtrics.
More information on centrally supported, alternate solutions is available on https://wts.uwo.ca/data_storage_and_collaboration_tools/index.html
Timeline
- All project sites are targeted to be moved off OWL Sakai by the end of 2025.
- Project sites that are not eligible to migrate to OWL Brightspace should move to alternate solutions as soon as possible.
- Project sites that are eligible to move to OWL Brightspace can continue to use OWL Sakai. Additional communications will follow in early 2025 with migration information.
- If you are unsure if your project site will migrate or not based on the information above, the project team will be developing a process for review, with evaluations targeted to begin in Fall 2024 after academic courses are underway.
For sites eligible to migrate to OWL Brightspace:
- These project site migrations to OWL Brightspace are deferred to 2025.
- The reason for this is that OWL Brightspace is significantly different than OWL Sakai, and there is technical investigation and configuration required to accommodate eligible project sites, which will be completed AFTER academic courses have migrated (targeted for end of 2024).
I think my site needs to migrate earlier than 2025. What do I do?
A small number of Sakai project sites may need to migrate earlier than 2025.
These project sites MUST be related to academic course activities or directly tied to academic course sites in OWL Brightspace. For example, if not migrating before 2025 prevents you from doing something you need to do and there is no work around, it may be eligible for an early migration.
The project team will assess your need based on the following criteria:
- It is technically viable to migrate your site without impacting the academic course migration. The project team may determine investigation is required, in which case, investigation will come after the academic migrations are complete.
- Content is built in the project site which is moved to a Sakai course site.
- The learners in the project site have Western accounts AND you can enroll your own participants.
- At this time, we are not able to provide joinable or Discovery sites. Technical investigation of this will come after academic courses have migrated. OWL Brightspace does not support enrollment of non-Western users.
- The project site contains content in support of teaching people how to use OWL Brightspace.
If your Sakai Project Site meets these criteria, please submit a WTS Helpdesk ticket.
If your project site is a stand alone project site that does not require integration into a OWL Brightspace academic course it is not eligible for early migration.
For sites NOT eligible to migrate to OWL Brightspace:
- Owners of these project sites should begin moving them to alternate solutions now. If a project site is moved or no longer needed, it should be deleted. Instructions for deleting project sites are available on the OWL Help website.
- These sites MUST be moved from OWL Sakai by end of 2025.
Creation of New Project Sites
New project sites should not be set up in OWL Sakai unless they are instructional in nature and are needed immediately to support the academic mission or training.
- New project sites that are needed now that are NOT eligible to migrate to OWL Brightspace should be set up in alternate solutions such as Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, Qualtrics, etc. to avoid having to be set up again when they move off OWL Sakai later. Visit the WTS website for more information on centrally supported alternate solutions.
Research Sites
Research data currently on OWL Sakai will need to be moved to a different, Western-supported platform by the end of 2025. This comes with several implications that may impact protocol, procedures, participant-facing materials, and data handling of human-participant research.
Supported Alternative Solutions
We have identified several Western-supported platforms that will adequately replace current uses for OWL, such as data collection, storage, and sharing. These include:
- Office 365 (OneDrive or Teams for data storage and collaboration)
- Qualtrics (eConsent and survey collection)
- M365 Forms (Survey collection)
- Western Libraries Secure Data Archive (Long-term data archival and retention)
- Western University Repository on Borealis (Online repository for storage and sharing of non-confidential research data)
- OurBrainsCan – A Western/Lawson instance of REDCap, or other online data management tools (e.g. EmPOWER) may also be viable options
This comparison chart of data collection, storage and collaboration tools may assist you in making an informed choice on which tool to use for your specific use case. There is also a description of some of the more common use cases and application specific documentation.
Instructions for OHRE Amendments
For active studies:
Before implementing changes in how you are using OWL, you must submit an amendment via WREM to seek NM/HSREB Approval. Once the amendment has been approved, you may move your data. Approval may take up to ~3 weeks.
For closed studies:
If you are using OWL for long term data retention, you will need to move your data. However, no amendment to the NM/HSREB is required as long as the new location is a solution that is supported by Western.
Help and Support
Please contact the OHRE via ethics@uwo.ca or by creating a Correspondence from your project in WREM if:
- You are unsure which alternative solution is best suited to your study
- There are informed consent considerations
- Your research intervention using OWL is active & ongoing and a transition at this time is not possible
- If you are inquiring about OurBrainsCan
