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FirstClass is both a powerful content management system and a fully functional web server.  With RWD, Site Managers can quickly and easily set up and manage website layout and content. Web pages are part of a centralized command and control system that presents a consistent look and feel while still enabling non-technical users to create and contribute content. For those tasked with the design of the website, RWD provides an excellent level of control over the geography and layout of all pages, including extensive graphical and web object support, enabling webmasters and designers to easily support the organization's visual brand. RWD surrounds standard FirstClass web pages with a feature rich 'wrapper' that contains a number of highly configurable objects that enhance the web page. Knowledge of HTML is not required, and no other web development software needs to be purchased to develop a framework for professional looking web sites.

Nvu (pronounced N-view, for a "new view") is a complete Web Authoring System that combines web file management and easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) web page editing. Nvu is designed to be extremely easy to use, making it ideal for non-technical computer users who want to create an attractive, professional-looking web site without needing to know HTML or web coding.

Perhaps it is because I just spent three days in a vortex of design in Moodle after having lived in the WebCT/Blackboard Vista 4 world for a while that I feel some affinity for this article's premise. Perhaps. Still, the issue of a forced pedagogy in the 'CMS/LMS' is a reality and I wonder... just how do faculty go beyond surviving and reach "thriving" in eLearning who have no web design or learning design "skill"? Well, something to consider.

Full citation: Lane, L.M. (April-June 2008). Toolbox or trap? Course management systems and pedagogy. EDUCAUSE Quarterly, vol. 31(2). Available from http://connect.educause.edu/Library/EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/ToolboxorTrapCourseManage/46576?time=1212494680