Smarter collaboration

Tlk.io is an extremely simple chat tool that you can use without even creating an account. If you want to start a chat session during a class or to discuss something with colleagues you just go to the site, choose the name of your session and send the link to everyone who wants to participate. To participate you just choose a name and start chatting. You can also use your Twitter ID if you want.

Advantages

• Easy to start, no log-in
• Restricted space, only visible in your group
• The chat is cleared after use
• Works on all devices

Overleaf

MeetingWords was previously known as TitanPad and Etherpad and is probably the simplest tool for collaborative writing. You can create a new document in one click and then share the link with your colleagues. Each participants is automatically assigned a colour to write in so it's easy to tell who has written what. 

Your text is saved on the web, and more than one person can edit the same document at the same time. Everybody's changes are instantly reflected on all screens. Work together on meeting notes, brainstorming sessions, homework, team programming and more!

When you're finished the text can then be saved as a Word document.

Padlet lets you create a digital noticeboard where you and chosen colleagues can write notes and upload documents, slideshows, podcasts, films or links. Just drag and drop files on to the workspace. You can create lots of different spaces and share them with whoever you want, even publically. You can create only a few different Padlet pages on the free version. If you want more then you will have to pay.

Useful for

• Collect ideas, brainstorming 
• Storyboard
• Planning an activity or event
• Collect everyone's lecture or field work notes on one page 

Lino is also a digital workspace where you and colleagues can write notes and upload files, links, films etc. You can write small post-it notes and then arrange them in categories just as you do on a whiteboard in the classroom. Works on all devices.

Useful for

• Collect ideas, brainstorming 
• Storyboard
• Planning an activity or event
• Collect everyone's lecture or field work notes on one page

Scoop.it helps you create your own web magazine featuring all the news, articles, blog posts, films and podcasts that you find interesting. You can quickly install a Scoop.it button in your browser and every time you find something useful you can add it to your magazine with one click. Scoop.it automatically uploads the title, introductory sentence and often a photo but you can also add your own reflections and start a discussion around each item. If your Scoop.it magazine is public colleagues can also comment on your content.

Useful for

• Create a web magazine for your class, group, project to present all your blog posts, news and relevant links in one attractive place. 
• Collect links to articles you need as reference for research 

Diigo is a social bookmarking tool. This means that you can organise all your references, citations and links and access them from any device. When you add a link to your collection you should always tag them with key words so you can easily find them later. You can share your collection publically or with chosen colleagues and you can also follow other researchers and experts and see what they're reading. You can also create groups to collect resources together.

Useful for: 

• Create your own reference library for research and project work 
• Common reading lists for group work 
• Follow leading experts in your field 

Pinterest

Google Keep enables you to collect and organise your notes, links, quotations, references, photos, videos - basically everything digital - and store it in the cloud. You can access your account from any device and everything is automatically synchronised. You can create folders and tag your resources so they are easy to find later. You decide which resources to share and with whom you want to share them. If you already have a Google account then Google Keep is in your Google menu already.

Useful for:

• Collecting notes and references for an essay or dissertation..
• Project work.
• Store for ideas and inspiration.

Trello is an easy-to-use project planning tool that allows you to organise activities, set deadlines, delegate responsibilities and discuss activities. All project activities can be coordinated from Trello and members can comment on all posts. Internal discussion can take place here avoiding filling your e-mail inboxes. Reminders can also be sent for important activities. 

Useful for:

• Organising a project, group assignment, work experience or other planning process 
• Organise your own time

Ayoa visualises your tasks or a group's tasks in an attractive manner, showing how far each task has come, what deadlines are approaching and related discussions. It also features a mindmapping function and you can combine project-planning with mindmapping. You can use it for your own planning or for a project. Works on all devices. 

Useful for:

• Project planning.
• Collaborative brainstorming.

Netvibes gathers all your news feeds (newspapers, magazines, blogs, search results, tags etc.) on one site that you can access on any device. It is an RSS-reader which means that you can subscribe to a wide variety of news sources on the net. Use Netvibes to build your own news site which is constantly updated. You can also keep track of social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Flickr and gather all your e-mail accounts. You can use Netvibes privately but can also create a public page for a group or project.

Useful for:

• News monitoring, both privately and publically 
• For projects group assignments, research 
• All your feeds in one place 

ScreenPal (formerly Screencast-O-Matic) is a really simple screencasting tool - record your voice and show whatever you do on your desktop. You can record with Screencast-O-Matic without even creating an account but a free account is good to have if you want to save and edit what you create. When you have recorded your film (max 15 minutes) you can edit it before uploading it to your computer, to Screencast-O-Matic or direct to YouTube. A Pro account costs only $15 per year and allows you more storage, better security and more features.

Useful for:

• Showing functions in a web site or tool
• Recording short presentations with slideshow and voice 
• Explaining administrative routines 

ActivePresenter is a more advanced screencasting tool that is integrated with Microsoft Office. You need to download the tool first to your own computer. There is a free version that lets you record screencasts in the most common video formats but the full capabilities, including integration with Microsoft Office, are only available in the commercial versions.   

X (formerly Twitter) needs little introduction since it is used by millions all over the world. However it can be an extremely useful networking tool both for your studies and professional career. You write short messages (280 characters) to all who follow you or follow a discussion theme (hashtags like #edtech or #library). You can tweet links, comments or questions. If you see a good tweet from someone else you can forward it to your network (retweet).

Start by following people you know who are already active. See who they follow and follow the ones who look intersting. Some will follow you back. Slowly you build your network and if you offer interesting comments and provide good links to news, articles etc. people will star following you. 

• Tweeting in higher education - best practices (EDUCAUSE).
• Article from London School of Economics: Using Twitter in university research, teaching, and impact activities.

LinkedIn

Slack is a tool for group communication with the focus on messaging and can replace e-mail for internal communication within a project or small company. It is basically an advanced chat service but it also integrates other social media tools such as Dropbox, Google Drive, Twitter, Trello and many more. Works on all devices.

Whereby is an attractive and easy-to-use tool for video meetings and you can invite people to a meeting without having created an account. Your meeting gets a unique address and your colleagues simply click on the link to join the meeting. 

• No installation required
• Free video meetings for up to 4 participants 
• Screen sharing

Avidnote

Avidnote helps you to collect your notes on scientific articles. Organize your research using tags. Sort papers by research area, people or any category of your choosing by using tags. Avidnote can be used together with your reference management software, including Mendeley and Zotero. You can import or export your bibliography to any citation manager of your choosing.

Zotero

Coggle is a free mindmapping tool that is easy to use and you can quickly start creating mindmaps with different structures and colours. You can easily drag and drop images into your mindmap and all versions are automatically saved so you never lose anything. You can also share your mindmaps with colleagues or publicly and you can invite colleagues to collaborate on the same mindmap. There is an inexpensive pay version with added features.

Popplet is another attractive and versatile tool for creating mindmaps together. Works both as an app on your tablet or simply in your laptop's browser. You can colour-code your diagrams and easily include videos and photos. Easy to invite colleagues to collaborate either as a closed group or publicly.

MindMeister is also a collaborative mindmapping tool with more features than Coggle but theses are only available in the pay versions. The free version is very limited but gives you a taste of what the tool can do. Works on all devices.

Powtoon is a versatile and easy-to-use tool to create animated presentations that can then be easily uploaded to YouTube. There are lots of templates to get started with and there is a library of images and background music to choose between. You have certainly seen many Powtoon videos already on YouTube.

Create animated videos and presentations with Moovly. You have probably seen films where a hand writes text or draws cartoon figures that start moving - that's what you can do with Moovly.

Sway (by Microsoft) enables you to produce creative presentations but can also be used to create online course material, reports and storyboards. It offers lots of templates, guides as well as inbuilt search functions that will automatically suggest media you could use in your presentation or report. Sway is available if you have an account with Microsoft Office 365.

Readymag is another attractive e-publishing tool for online magazines, articles, books or brochures. As with the others it's adapted to all devices and has lots of templates to get you started. No coding is needed - just drag and drop.

Canva enables you to create attractive digital or print newspapers, magazines, brochures and certificates. You can choose from hundreds of templates or you can create your own designs. There is also an advanced photo editor and you have access to thousands of photos and images to use in your publication.

Google Forms is a feature of Google Drive and all you need is a Google account to get started. You have many templates to choose between and can quickly create a professional questionnaire or registration form. All replies are then collected in a Google spreadsheet that you can then export for further analysis. As with all other Google Drive tools you decide who can view, comment or edit your forms.

AnswerGarden is a simple and effective tool for brainstorming ideas and for word association. You can ask a question and gather in short answers or key words that are then compiled in a word cloud, with the most common words larger than less common ones. Can also be used together with the word cloud tool Wordle to create attractive clouds from your discussion.

Mentimeter helps you to gather ideas, ask questions and do quick surveys, usually in a classroom or conference. You can write different types of question (multiple choice, free text, key words etc.) and the participants answer, usually using their mobiles or tablets (go to www.menti.com and key in a 6-digit code). You can then show all the answers that come in in real time on your screen and the result can be a word cloud, a diagram or a list.

SurveyMonkey is a popular and versatile tool and the free version allows you to create surveys with up to 10 questions and receive answers from up to 400 respondents. There are many templates and you can easily export the results. The pay version has of course more features. 

Tricider is a simple and effective tool to prepare for more effective meetings or seminars. You post a question and send the link to your colleagues. They can all add answers to that question, provide advantages and disadvantages to each suggestion and vote on the best ones. Then when you actually meet the main issues have already been identified and you can use the meeting time for deeper discussions.

Useful for:

• Prepare a meeting or seminar by activating the participants in advance
• Brainstorm ideas for a project or event
• Identify advantages and disadvantages of a proposal