Centralization Decisions: Supporting the Needs of Online Learning Designers through a Centralized Instructional Content Management System

Penn State offers nearly 2,000 online courses per academic year. Since the late 90s, various online learning units emerged across the university, each adopting specific instructional content management systems (ICMS) to support online initiatives. Currently, dozens of individuals and teams are working and supporting specific ICMS tools at the unit level. Much duplication of effort is evident. In late 2011, a taskforce was created to assess ICMS needs of online course designers and developers, and assist administrators in making centralization decisions. This session outlines the research-based process used by the taskforce, as well as the research findings.

Learning Objectives:
* Describe a process to assist in making decisions about centrally supporting technologies at large institutions
* Identify "tension points"—areas that are often critical to understand before making centralization decisions specifically around online course authoring tools
* Compare and contrast various toolsets designed for online course authoring, focusing on important features required for future online course design and development