Technology for web production is available at UVI, and more is being acquired. The Web-CT software provides a complete system with features like threaded conferencing and student tracking. More flexible applications with less pre-determined structure can be implemented using microsoft back office or cold fusion. We don't yet have enough experience to know all the tradeoffs between using an integrated package and components, and the best selection of software systems will no doubt vary from course to course. There are institutional benefits from selecting standard packages and interfaces, and when tools have been used in several contexts a pool of expertise among both faculty and support professionals is created.
Standardization can, of course, reduce options and in some cases impact quality.
UVI isn't yet in a position to make such decisions.