Chapter 1: Facing The Future: Adaptability and Flexibility of Course Management Systems in the Face of Emerging Threats

Higher education has embraced e-learning, but it can be difficult to define and identify just what this means in practice. Course management systems (CMSs) are, however, an exception to that observation since they are one of the more definable aspects of e-learning in higher education (Dutton, Hope-Cheong, & Park, 2004). In fact, course management systems have become the very embodiment of e-learning in many universities. However, they may be popular with higher education institutions as much for their administrative aspects as their pedagogic ones, and herein lies part of the problem. There is the risk that what should be a key tool for learning and teaching in many universities lapses into being a merely bureaucratic one. In this chapter the argument will be put forth that CMSs are in danger of becoming, if not irrelevant, then at least peripheral to contemporary pedagogic practice. CMSs have evolved over time, but the changes have brought problems as well as benefits, and it could be argued that they now show the characteristics typical of “mission creep.” As a consequence they have lost their initial specialized focus to become bigger, some might say bloated, systems (Stiles, 2007). If CMSs succumb to the general tendency for systems to become increasingly complex over time, this may lessen the net benefits they offer universities. Complexity aside, other factors further call into question whether they are flexible and adaptable enough to survive in such a dynamic and highly demanding sector.