Minimal Functionalities of Course Management Systems: A Faculty Perspective

In this article the authors offer a faculty perspective on desirable features of a Course Management System (CMS). This article is the result of our Web teaching experiences over a period of eight years using three different CMS platforms. The authors anticipate that this article could help guide software developers in developing appropriate CMS tools and would help institutions to gain greater insight into the selection of an appropriate CMS for effective Web-based or web-enhanced education (WBE). We develop a list of necessary functionalities that a CMS must provide for web-based education. The discussion could also assist current and future Web course instructors by increasing their awareness to take advantage of many features that might exist in their CMS. [Article copies are available for purchase from InfoSci-on-Demand.com]