The OLL Web site serves as a central repository for the myriad of learning objects and artifacts generated by the staff of the OLL. The intent is that the web site will facilitate dispersion of the technologies investigated by the OLL staff to faculty throughout the University. Graduate Assistants, both Masters and Doctorate, populate the lab which is under the direction of Dr. John Dempsey.
I served in the OLL twice, first from 2001 until 2004, during which time I was the senior designer and managed the day-to-day operations of the OLL. My second stint was in 2007/08 when my main responsibility (Other that finishing my dissertation) was leading development of an undated web site that utilized cutting edge content management technology. After a thorough review of the available technologies, the Drupal Content Management System (CMS) was selected for development.
Drupal is a robust platform that is one of the most popular open source CMS's, the open source characteristic being a major factor in out decision to use Drupal. Drupal is published under a GPL (General Public License) which means that Drupal is free for use with few restrictions on reuse of material. In simple terms, this means that Drupal can be used as is, with the many publicly available modules and with independently created modifications. Once downloaded and installed, you essentially own the Drupal installation and are pretty much free to use it as you wish.
