TO THE EDITOR:

I applaud the Information Technology Executive Steering Committee for selecting Sakai as UNC’s learning management system (“ITS votes to transition from Blackboard to Sakai by 2014,” Oct. 19). Besides lowering the total cost of ownership while increasing ease of use, Sakai offers another advantage over Blackboard.

UNC aspires to the top tier of research institutions. A characteristic of the top tier is the production of open source solutions rather than consumption of proprietary products.

That is, top-tier research institutions make their own dog food.

Such collaboration promotes a culture of competence instead of passing the wallet elsewhere.

With Sakai, UNC joins Columbia, Stanford, UC-Berkeley, Yale and Oxford in the development of a culture of competence for instructional technology.

Thanks to the committee for advancing UNC along the top tier path.

Chris Calloway
Applications Analyst
Department of Marine Sciences