Wk2 - Comment on Sarah Hodge Blog

(Picture of Sarah Hodge and Nephew)

Wk 2 Reading: LCMS. What are they for?

Learning Content Management Systems


The different purposes of the systems can help provide the necessary factors for success. It is first important to understand the functions and purposes of such systems. The focus of this blog entry is to provide a detailed explanation of a LCMS (Learning Content Management System) and its purpose.


Ellis (2001) states, “An LCMS provides authoring, sequencing, and aggregation tools that structure content to facilitate the learning process (¶1).” Leija, in the same article, stated, “Using an LCMS, an organization can aggregate content in a single system, then manipulate it and apply structure to create and deliver courses. An LCMS lets an organization take control of content (¶2).” An LCMS allows that type of flexibility in allowing content to be a major factor and focus for the learner. In addition, “An LCMS combines the learner administration capabilities of an LMS with the content creation and storage capabilities of a CMS (Ellis, 2001, ¶8).”


In addition, Wikipedia (2010) defines an LCMS as “a multi-user environment where developers may create, store, reuse, manage, and deliver digital learning content from a central object repository. The LCMS can create, manage and deliver not only training modules but also manage and edit all the individual pieces that make up a catalog of training (¶7).”


There are many advantages to an LCMS. However, one may still forget its main purpose when using such a system. Leija states, "It's easy to get lost in the technology. People forget about training's true goal: To provide learning to a certain population. That's where an LCMS lives. Its purpose is to add value to content by manipulating it as needs change, and to deliver that same content as quickly as possible with context and meaning (Ellis, 2001, ¶11)." LCMS allows that value to be added but people using it cannot allow themselves to forget the main goal of its design.


Resources


Ellis, R. (2001). LCMS roundup. Learning circuits. Retrieved July 14, 2010 from http://web.archive.org/web/20071012195821/http://www.learningcircuits.org/2001/aug2001/ttools.htm


Learning management system. (2010) In Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved July 17, 2010 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_content_management_system




Thourn Heng

Sarah,
Being able to manipulate created content and then reuse it is a great feature of LCMS. Why reinvent the wheel? Just take the wheel you already have and add on or resize it to fit your needs.
Sunday, July 18, 2010 - 01:48 AM