Online+Collaboration

//The following was originally published by Rhonda Clark on March 9, 2009 at http://rclark.edublogs.org/2009/03/09/collaboration///

To me the term collaboration is just a fancy way of saying teamwork. However, it can certainly mean much more than the type of teamwork most would expect. There is certainly enough evidence from traditional classroom environments, nontraditional face-to-face environments, and online learning environments to indicate that collaboration can enhance learning.

The new technology standards from are all about communication and collaboration. Policy changes, re-thinking Internet filtering, and privacy/safety issues seem to be the biggest hurdles to jump. My experience has led me to many blocked websites on our school network. We now have a “staff-override” feature on our Internet filter. It still won’t allow some of the new online tools but whoever said that change was easy? Here are some links to some of the ones I have looked into:

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One thing that I like about the idea of an online collaborative project – it can give students the opportunity to collaborate with someone from another location – state, country, etc. There are so many online tools available it is hard to choose. I’m becoming familiar with Google Docs and I think I’ll just stay right there – I’ve always been a big Google fan. So, if Google Docs does what I need, why go anywhere else? I’ve seen some other collaborative sites out there that are great, too. I just can’t manage them all – I only need my Google.

Check out these resources to help with collaborative projects.

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Hope these resources give you lots of help in getting started with collaborative projects.