Sakai LMS Reviews

“Created by Educators for Educators

Pros

The self-hosted option is available for free which allows us to install the software locally onsite, resulting in faster access times. Its easy integration and the availability of an API make integration a fairly simple. The software is deeply influenced by educators, ensuring its relevance in educational settings.

Cons

The Sakai Wiki and community are expanding, resulting in a wealth of available information. However, there is a need for more video resources.

“Friendly tool

Pros

As both a student and an instructor who has worked with the platform, I find that it provides a welcoming, user-centered environment that is simple to operate and its clear, uncluttered interface makes navigating tasks easy and approachable.

Cons

I find it difficult when attempting to customize the overall layout of the main screen since configuring a comprehensive, personalized view of the dashboard feels overly complex and lacks the simple controls I would expect.

“Sakai Makes College Easy!

Pros

Keeping track of all my classes has been incredibly easy with Sakai. I can easily view the courses I'm enrolled in and monitor my progress in each of them. Taking quizzes and tests is also a hassle free task now, which benefitted me a lot during my college experience.

Cons

The discussion boards can be slightly perplexing at times, making it challenging to differentiate which ones I have already posted on.

“Sakai is functional but not efficient

Pros

One of the things I really love the most about Sakai was how easily I could find assignments and access the syllabus, especially with its integration with Blackboard. The interface made it clear where to locate these important course materials.

Cons

One aspect I didn't like as much was the absence of a dedicated space for weekly modules and assignment submissions.

“Accessible everywhere, when it works

Pros

From my experience, the platform makes it easy to retrieve course grades from virtually any internet-enabled device whether I'm using an iPad, a smartphone or my laptop and it even supports email alerts that include a secure, encrypted link to the information, furthermore, once I became familiar with the various tools and settings, I found them remarkably simple to configure and roll out across new course sections.

Cons

I've faced intermittent service outages with Sakai that from my perspective, make the process of enrolling in new courses frustratingly difficult at times, though once the system is functioning properly the experience feels almost seamless and delightful.

“Simple yet painfully slow

Pros

It provides a very minimal loadout that keeps the interface uncluttered by extraneous details and I find that this simplicity helps me focus on the tasks I need without being distracted by unnecessary information.

Cons

I found Sakai to be a step down from Canvas in several respects, as its visual presentation is hard to parse particularly for users with dyslexia who struggle with tabulated information and the platform's propagation of updates often lagged significantly, sometimes taking on the order of an hour or more before changes appeared.

“good tool with room for improvement

Pros

Managing course membership has felt easy to me and because access is controlled by my assigned role and the constraints each course imposes, I was only able to view the resources intended for my use. For example, instructors could configure an assignment so that it only became accessible to me after a predetermined date and time and being able to monitor my standing through the record of graded assignments gives a clear overview of how much progress I have made throughout the course.

Cons

As a teaching assistant I discovered that grading through it takes more time than it did on Canvas, primarily because Sakai generates a separate grading form for every student on every assignment and then requires us to enter scores and feedback into each sheet individually. When I finish grading one student I must navigate back to the list and then choose the following student before entering their marks and I believe that adding a simple 'Next' control to move directly to the subsequent student's grading page would significantly reduce the time spent on this repetitive task.

“Powerful tools in an old shell

Pros

I find there is a substantial assortment of diverse tools available, grade entry, file storage, assigning homework and exams and so on while I can set due dates and define exam length, which together provide me with an overall solid level of control.

Cons

On my end, the user interface comes across as rather outdated compared with current industry competitors and I often experience sluggish performance while using the platform on my phone proves awkward and difficult.

“Simple but connection issues arise

Pros

I like that the interface embraces a clean, minimalist design which makes navigating Sakai easy and I especially value the built-in auto-save capability that reliably preserves my draft work as I compose it.

Cons

I've come across occasions when pages attempt to load but return error messages after a timeout and because the interface doesn't always indicate that my session has expired, I often fail to realize I must sign in again to re-establish the page connection.

“top choice for extensive courses

Pros

all of Sakai's core functions are simple to locate which made it possible for me to oversee two separate courses with more than a hundred students in each without significant issue and I found the platform's ability to accept uploaded MS Excel files which then automatically populate the system to be especially time-saving, while student communication features also proved to be easy and reliably effective.

Cons

As an end user I don't have visibility into Sakai's pricing and therefore can only speculate that it may be costly, our university has recently transitioned to Canvas and from my perspective financial considerations could well have played a role in that decision.

“Easy setup, needs polish

Pros

In my experience I can set up a course with very little effort, the installation process is easy and I find the application easy to keep maintained over time.

Cons

I feel it requires improvements in some of the user interfaces and I have noticed a few minor bugs which is understandable since it behaves like many other applications.

“Good tool but lacks a mobile app

Pros

I found the interface very simple from the learner's perspective since I never accessed the administrative console and beyond its standard course-management capabilities, my team also repurposed it for scheduling shared equipment which turned out to be an unexpectedly valuable feature.

Cons

While overall I thought the platform performed well, it seemed to lack a dedicated mobile application or at least I was not aware of any such app and because smartphones and tablets have become the primary way people consume content, being forced to use a browser, go to a website and log in felt somewhat old-fashioned.

“Almost perfect for students

Pros

Sakai is very user-friendly and although we were expected to watch a tutorial after enrolling for the semester, there really was no necessity because I managed to navigate it on my own without trouble. Every tab is clearly labeled, making it easy to locate anything I require. Another feature I appreciate is being able to view the roster for every course which simplifies working together with classmates when collaboration is needed. Users can opt in to receive email alerts for newly posted assignments, announcements or other changes, which is helpful for someone who prefers not to log into Sakai continually. Additionally I appreciate that It functions well on both desktop and mobile devices, I frequently accessed it from my phone and experienced no problems whatsoever any time.

Cons

There isn't much about it I dislike but one frustrating issue is that in the 'Gradebook' I cannot see my overall grade and there is no way to calculate it automatically. I have to add up everything myself to know what grade I have in the class which was quite annoying. Teachers always showed a total percentage, yet students did not have access to it.

“Everything at one place

Pros

When I log into Sakai CLE, I can use it for virtually any task I need as an online student since it consolidates course materials, communication tools and assessments in one place.

Cons

Its quite difficult to use but once I worked through the initial complexity and learned its layout, using it became much easier.

“Confusing and not for seniors

Pros

Having worked with Sakai's online web modules for an extended period, I've come to appreciate how it can gradually feel more simple, once I learn where the controls and settings for the features I need are located, navigating becomes manageable but as I mentioned, it does require patience as it takes time for the system to grow on me.

Cons

I often find the choices within it to be confusing and poorly labeled, so nothing really explains itself, I've seen older learners struggle the most because courses don't automatically appear on their homepage after enrollment and the platform feels fragmented overall, demanding a variety of unrelated skills to accomplish different tasks across its various modules.

“A wonderfully simple document hub

Pros

An excellent place to upload documents, view my work and use because it is very simple and user-friendly, I particularly like the sidebar that displays all the labels/tabs so a single click brings me straight to the section I need. It is wonderful and exceptionally easy to move from one tab to another. Uploading my work is also easy and simple to perform. It accepts all kinds of files which is fantastic.

Cons

I do not really have any cons about this application, it has worked well for me in practice and I am genuinely grateful for its reliability and support.

“Effortless and packed with features

Pros

Having used It in multiple courses, I personally find it remarkably easy to learn and operate with virtually no steep learning curve to overcome, instructors are likewise able to post assignments and engage with students with great ease and the platform's numerous tools make checking grades and submitting coursework online exceptionally simple and convenient for me.

Cons

I genuinely have no complaints about it because in my experience, it remains simple to operate, comes loaded with useful capabilities and consistently performs without any hiccups.

“top-tier system missing one thing

Pros

I consider it one of the top Learning Management Systems available today and I can say without hesitation that its feature set is among the most dependable in the e-learning sphere, in particular I find its discussion forums and the workflow for submitting assignments to be exceptionally effective and consistently reliable.

Cons

The only significant shortcoming I encounter with Sakai is the lack of a built-in, real-time option for conducting live class meetings which I would really like to see added.

“Simple, boring and basic tool

Pros

In my experience, the interface is uncluttered and easy to use on desktop and it provides a useful selection of templates.

Cons

I've noticed that the platform exhibits some odd behaviors, the app's layout is awkward, the functionality feels quite basic and the overall design comes across as dull.

“Perfectly effective but outdated

Pros

For me it's easy to upload assignments, check my grades and complete assessments and I appreciate that even professors who aren't particularly tech-savvy manage to convey course materials and resources effectively through It.

Cons

I'd like to see the user interface refreshed because the current design feels dated and the text editors are antiquated and urgently need modernization to match contemporary expectations.