GRUBEDGAMTÄTISREVIOTTO VON GUERICKE UNIVERSITÄTMAGDEBURGFAKULTÄTFÜRINFORMATIKDocument OrientedE Learning ComponentsDissertationzur Erlangung des akademischen GradesDoktoringenieur (Dr. Ing.)angenommen durch die Fakultät für Informatikder Otto von Guericke Universität Magdeburgvon Michael Piotrowski, M.A.geb. am 5. Juli 1972 in AachenGutachter:Prof. Dr. Dietmar RösnerProf. Dr. Anne Brüggemann KleinProf. Dr. Helmut SchauerPromotionskolloquium:Magdeburg, den 17. April 2009NU-EKCIREUG-NOV-OTTODocument OrientedE Learning Components©2009MichaelPiotrowskiADesign by Michael Piotrowski. Typeset with LT X in Bitstream ZapfEElliptical 711, Linotype Basic Commercial, and Bitstream Prestige12Pitch.AbstractThis dissertation questions the common assumption that e learningrequiresalearningmanagementsystem(LMS)suchasMoodleorBlack board. Based on an analysis of the current state of the art in LMSs, wecometotheconclusionthatthefunctionalityofconventionale learn ingplatformsconsistsofbasiccontentmanagementandcommunica tions facilities (such as forums, chats, wikis, etc.) and functionality forassessment (such as quizzes). However, only assessment functionalityisactuallyspecifictoe learning. Furthermore,thecontentmanagementandcommunicationfunctionalityine learningplatformsistypicallyrestricted and often inferior when compared with the more generalimplementationsavailableinWebcontentmanagementsystems.