ABSTRACT TACTICAL, DOCUMENT-ORIENTED E-LEARNING COMPONENTS

Most university e-learning strategies mandate the use of a centralized university-wide learning platform. The learning management systems typically employed in this function are “integrated ” platforms, i.e., large-scale systems providing most common e-learning functions in a single application. There are, however, a number of issues with this type of systems: Due to their size and complexity they can be difficult and expensive to operate and administrate; and we feel that they are not flexible enough to allow teachers to make tactical decisions; and, since these systems cannot be used for the management of “normal ” Web sites, they separate learning content from other content and duplicate functionality and administration. This paper presents an alternative approach: E-learning components that extend a general-purpose content management system with e-learning functionality, enabling the use of a single platform for learning and non-learning content and the creation of tailor-made e-learning environments