Publishing Content in the Cloud: opportunities and challenges

Abstract

When distance education went online, content developers installed authoring tools on their desktop. A content authoring tool refers to a software package which can be used to create and offer learning content to users. The advent of Learning Management Systems (LMSs) resolved many problems since they could host multimedia-based learning content on one single platform. There was no longer need to have independent software offering independent facilities. Thus, LMSs offered options like e-mail, drop-boxes, forums, threaded conversations among others to keep teacher and learner connected. However, despite the reduced cost and increase scaling possibilities associated with LMSs, they still remained an expensive and almost inaccessible platform for providers of distance education. Typically LMSs were still hosted on desktops that had to be niched in expensive servers. Organizations had to control installation, storage as well as security. Cloud-based content authoring has changed this landscape.