Content Paralysis

One of the toughest things in the IT world is making decisions, especially in the world of higher education. With all the changes happening in the world of content management and the number of choices that are available, it can make the decision making process even more excruciating. As an IT manager, I am completly overwhelmed by this task. There is a lot at stake here, so if you make a bad decision it could mean a lot of backlash and bad feedback.
Right now we use a CMS/LMS or what is popularly known as a Learning/Course Management System. While these offer alot in terms of how instructors can utilized online tools for the learning process, what it all boils down to is a way to handle content. If you already have a LMS or CMS why would you want other ways of publishing content? That is the question. I have several instructors who have their own websites, publish their own blogs, upload their own content, and they barely use the CMS for anything else but course-related stuff. So what is the draw of Podcasting? Well before we can properly deal with the differences between the two, let’s define ‘Podcasting’ first.
Podcasting was originally a name used for downloading or uploading digital content in the form of a file that Apple’s i-Pod understood. Now it means much more than that. Podcasting could mean anything from blogging, audio-blogging, or v-logging (video), and the tools used come in all shapes and sizes on all ends. This is a new trend that has spawned a million techniques, tools, software, and hardware. You dont have to own an i-Pod to take advantage of this content-rich world of podcasting. In fact you don’t even have to have a portable player of any kind to have access to all this wonderful world, you dont even have to own a computer, although you do need access to one, and an internet connection. What lies at the core of this movement, this revolution in publically accessible content driven world is a concept known as Web 2.0.
Web 2.0 is an ethereal idea that Tim O’Reilly (of O’Reilly’s website for uber-geeks) has really taken under his wing, and basically embraces the idea that the internet is our computer, and that our current systems will eventually become thin clients (or dummy terminals) of the internet. It takes power out of the hands and puts it in the hands of the professional consumer or pro-sumer. Where only professionals at one time had access to the tools of the trade now, the commoner can utilize cutting edge technology to produce professional items, in our case ‘Content’. The tools that are used in Podcasting specifically are many depending on your preferences. I will try to attack the toolset in the next session of Content Paralysis.