Content Management Systems (CMS). Who's in charge here? The centralized, time intensive framework of one all-powerful, autocratic webmaster is fast evolving into a new frontier of creative synergy at the user level. As individual schools set up their own webpages, a system administrator faces a nightmare of exponential proportions. How
to manage 50+ sites? The answer may surprise you....turn loose control with user - friendly applications This week's session focuses on the pros and cons of decentralized
control made possible by applications such as Joomla. How are schools capitalizing on these applications? What have been their successes and their struggles? Learn from pioneers in the field by tuning into this week's session.

Our discussion this time is focused on Content Management Systems and specifically, the decentralization of such web management systems in school organizations. The mindset of a once all-powerful webmaster is evolving into a less centralized way of managing websites in schools. Such decentralization has been made possible by the emergence of tools like Joomla. These tools have a "funneling effect" which build in layers of access and control assigned to various parties. This enables a webmaster to "delegate" and diffuse the control of the system but not lose the needed security and quality desired. This also unleashes the socially constructed productivity, creativity, and enthusiasm that is possible with a webpage creation that meets the needs of the people using it .

The benefits are that anyone can control the content. They create it, they learn it, they maintain it at the individual user level which allows the webmaster to support the many users. This exponentially increases the power of the tool, the productivity of the webmaster, and the creativity of the users. The power of Content Management Systems (CMS) is they are so simple that updates in content can be made by anyone. What used to crush an individual webmaster creating 50 different sites literally cuts the encumbrances to creation that used to exist in the tools of the past. The back end of the platform is also easy to manage...some tools, Joomla in particular, are almost like the super friendly simplicity of something like Facebook.

Joomla allows users without sophisticated training in HTML to create classy, slick, and effective products. Users have access to many options and WizyWigs which result in a quality result.

It should be cautioned that if web masters go down the road of creating their own HTML on these tools they will encounter glitches that can be avoided if they'll just learn the tool and use the options already built into the CMS controls. Use one's own HTML codes instead of those controls built into the tool may require the use of tools like Sorcerer which is one way to work around the CMS controls but really that isn't necessary of the technology "sophisticates" and "HTML purists" will just go with what the tool already provides them.

How do schools actually use the Joomla webpage tool? What are some of the best practices that have emerged? Some of these include a school newspaper where students were given access and allowed to post their own articles without direct supervision or control of an administrator or editor. These students came to understand that their work was going to be published and that certain standards were non-negotiable. No one needed to demand or control this. The students took ownership themselves.

It is true that direct student posting of unfiltered content can create problems. There will always be that one or two students who violate the standards. How the school deals with such violations are critical to the management system.

Joomla and other CMS tools have an Access Control List (ACL) that gives certain users certain levels of privilege such as author, editor, and publisher. This allows webmasters and school administrators to control access and creation power in a variety of degrees. It allows a buffering of risk.  

Some of the school level uses of CMS systems like Joomla include both internal and external school calendaring such as calendaring of the library, gym, and computer labs as well as the overall school event calendar for the year. This tool facilitates parent communication with administration during emergency events; between parent and teachers; between teachers and between teachers and administration to name a few. Students can showcase their own assignments and can collaborate with one another on the creation of products that can be linked to the website. The website itself can be the collaborative project. The possibilities are nearly endles.

There are other CMS platforms besides Joomla. Our consensus is that none are as user friendly nor have as much capacity as Joomla to create a high quality product. Some other CMS platforms are Weeblie. It appears simple, but it is insufficient for sophisticated development. When it comes to a block, one is locked into other Word Press platforms. Weeblie is really easy but it is not for running on a large scale such as at a district level. Joomla is open source but serves the enterprise sufficiently.

Word Press is leaps and bounds over what it was 5 years ago but amongst the members of this team is untested on a large scale. There is no plug in we don't like that's associated with Word Press.

Droopal is another CMS platform but we wouldn't recommend for the "non-geek" techie. A high-power geek can run it but the question of that geek's longevity in the district is an issue. Once that high-powered person leaves the system is in a panic. The security and stability of this platform is very good but is also requires a high degree of technical sophistication to manage. All CMS platforms have strengths and weaknesses. It's like the debate over choosing Ford or Chevy.

The beauty of any chosen CMS platform, however, is that once they hit the road in a system, they can quite quickly and easily become self-sustaining. There's a point where the platform deployment hits a critical mass and through cross pollination that occurs between users, these platforms can become quite independent of the webmaster.

We agreed that staying current on updates no matter the chosen platform is critical. Failure to do may result in a mass crash and loss of all that's been created. Get a good backup tool. Also, maintain your plug ins and firewalls. This helps the webmaster to manage the security side of things.

All tools, no matter which is chosen, have an ecosystem of support around them. It's easy to go in and read the available reviews on a tool. Each tool has an open source culture that has emerged and there are many forums full of help which can be a great source for learning for the inquiring mind. All in all, we are in agreement that decentralized content management systems are THE place to be right now. Their collaborative and synergistic capacity matches the vision of best learning practice in schools.