Web-Based Content Management System for Digital Resources In Ethiopian Universities: The Case of Wollo University
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Date
2013-03
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
As content management is a set of processes and technologies that support the collection,
management, and publishing of information in any form or medium, its application
becomes crucial in different institutions that utilize and produce digital contents in day to
day activities. Higher education institutions are one of such institutions that hold a vast
amount of digital information that need to be managed including course contents,
employee and student databases, academic and administrative rules and regulations,
public notices and internal communications, laboratory manuals, maps and images,
multimedia contents and so on. As the volume of digital information increases, its
complexity of sharing and management also increases. To overcome this problem, there
should be a content management system that can ensure the efficient management and
sharing of these digital resources. Therefore, the objective of this study is to assess the
current practice in digital resources sharing and management in Ethiopian Universities, in
particular that of Wollo University, and to identify the possible problems occurred in the
current system and to propose a content management solution by developing a particular
content management application for the Intranet of Wollo University that improves the
teaching-learning process and enhances communications between users by allowing
members of the University community to easily create, edit, review, publish, re-use, and
manage different digital resources in various formats.
To come up with some solution, we have studied the current practice in teaching and
learning and administration activities of Wollo University and we have identified problems
of the current system. The identified problems that are related to the traditional teaching
and learning and administration activities have been solved by developing and
implementing a content management and sharing system. The system is implemented on
top of the University’s Intranet so that it can run without the need to have Internet
connectivity. Moreover, the system can be used to share digital course contents that
improves shortage of text and reference books, can facilitate self-learning opportunities to
students, can support administration activities in terms of digital resource sharing and
integration of modern ways of communication methods such as discussion forums,
messaging, and chatting. We have implemented the system, and System Usability Test has
been done by using Wollo University community members as participants and real
environment data. As the feedbacks collected from users showed, the system has brought
great improvements for Wollo University and has shown promising results to be used by
other Ethiopian Universities.
Key-Words: - Content Management, Digital Resource Sharing, CMS, Course Management
Systems, Digital Communication
Description
Keywords
Content Management; Digital Resource Sharing ; Cms, Course Management Systems; Digital Communication