Your Course's Website


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Course Management Systems (CMS)

Many of you are likely going to be teaching in an organized system used by your department. Below is a list of a few common systems in use. While you will not receive hands-on training in using any of these systems on this website, you can still get a "taste" for CMS designs via online tutorials or training workshops. Some LIS programs offer technical support for faculty and staff who want to learn how to use the CMS in place within their program.

 

Some common course management systems, with links to tutorial videos:

 

 

Wikis

Alternately, some courses are taught completely independently of a CMS. Blogs and wikis are common vehicles for these courses. For example, this on-demand website was created using the wiki product PBworks. Wiki courses can allow students to add and edit pages by adjusting user privileges with password protection.

If wikis are new to you, here's a link to a short video that helps explain them: Wikis in Plain English

 

Blogs

With a blog-based course, you can post lectures, updates, and assignments as blog entries, and students post their responses and messages as comments on your post (in place of the discussion-forum format that's commonly used in CMS courses). Because the people who made the wiki video above have also made a video to explain blogs, I've linked it here for anyone who wants a more general introduction to them: Blogs in Plain English

 

Second Life

Another course setting can be found in virtual systems like Second Life. This last method, and virtual librarianship in general, is still controversial among library scholars, though interest in the academic applications of Second Life (and similar virtual universes) has made it a popular venue for online instruction.

 

The following article provides further information about instruction in Second Life: Virtual Worlds, Real Libraries: Innovators Describe Pioneering Library and Educational Projects in Second Life and Other Virtual Environments

 

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