From course management to open learning

In the past years, different course management systems for the World Wide Web have been developed. Usually they assist in providing courses for distant or distributed learner communities (tele-learning). Most course management systems are quite restrictive concerning the way to be taken through a course material and the tests and assessments to be done to complete the course. This paper suggests a different approach to tele-learning: a less restrictive environment for the learner to work with and modify the course material provided and to communicate with other learners and experts of the field. The system design is deducted from experiences with the course management system CMS-W3 which has been developed and used at Fraunhofer IGD Rostock since 1996.