Students often prefer personal and informal to digital contact with their peers. However, there are various types of online collaboration with the potential to complement, simplify and enrich group work. Some collaborations, such as web conferences, are synchronous, while others are asynchronous – for instance, blogs, forums or shared file processing. When first discussing an assignment in your group, make sure to identify when it is best to meet in person or virtually and what kinds of asynchronous tools you would like to use.
Try out…
At the HSLU, various web conferencing tools available. Use one of them for your next meeting.
Check out the following programmes suited for shared file processing. Use one of them for your next online collaboration:
- Office 365 with its OneDrive data storage – access granted by the HSLU.
- Edupad. Simple collaborative word processing.
- CryptPad. Shared document processing with advanced features and data protection.
Resources
- Web conferencing tools at the HSLU
- IT introduction of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts
Cover picture: “Conference” by Vectors Point from the Noun Project