Working together can be of great advantage. Education having the same purpose of serving society for the overall benefits of human race can work at best when worked together.
Collaboration plays an important role and is a hot topic at present in education sector.
In, The Case for School to School Collaboration, Chris Smith considers the idea of collaborating and understands the importance of working together.
Based on his findings he quotes,
“According to an Ofsted report published in 2010, one of the most important reason behind London having a higher proportion of outstanding schools was collaboration, which was cited as a “key driver for improvement”. But it was more than simply taking two schools and telling them to collaborate.” – Chris Smith (Researcher, coordinator at SSAT where he also works on The Student Impact Programme.)
Online tools hold a significant mark as they provide easy medium to the institutions collaborating on various projects and schemes. Have a look at the various tools popular for school-to-school collaboration.
1) Google Hangout
Hangouts bring conversation to life with providing users ways to exchange photos, calls, and video calls even group calls. Institutions can come face-to-face using this effective tool. Collaborating can be very easy with the use of Google Hangout as it can be accessed by android, apple devices or windows user. HD video meetings make it easy for conversations to happen and up to 15 people can be added to a call at once. Some of the great features of hangouts are:
- Free of cost.
- Available for those without Google apps account.
- Admins can change settings as per requirement.
- Easy to use.
2) Skype
Most people think of Skype as merely video calling. But the fact is that the Skype is a lot more than that. It can be used by institutions to hold meetings and collaborate with their peers.
Users can use it for the following purposes:
- VoIP (voice over IP) service for placing and receiving calls.
- File transfers.
- Telephone calls.
- To send text messages.
- Get Wi-Fi hotspot access.
- Leave voice and video messages.
- Share your screen.
- Business and consumers alike can now use the service to make Skype-to-Skype group video or voices calls for free and add up to 10 participants.
All the features mentioned above make Skype just apt for collaborating with other institutions over web.
3) Show document
“Show document lets you do quick and easy real time collaborations with others with no software required.” – CNET (An American media website that publishes reviews, news, articles, blogs, podcasts and videos on technology and consumer electronics globally.)
The review by CNET on itself speaks a lot about the platform. The platform can be used by students, companies, tutors, and individuals for collaborating with their peers or other institutions.
Following are the features that make the app loved by most users:
- Share and edit documents online be it PDFs, text, word, videos or any other type.
- Voice, video and text chat for better meetings and conversations.
- Access to Google Maps in case final meetings are happening in person.
- Chat translator that helps in removing the language barriers.
- Share screens and online white board. Annotations over white board can be printed or saved.
The app has got all the features one may need for web-based meetings.
4) Vyew.com
The platform aims to provide users with powerful collaboration tools. Vyew allows users to meet online, share content anytime and upload files documents images and other resources.
Features of the platform are:
- Online platform that can be accessed by any web browser hence does not require any specific installations.
- Great compatibility with PC, Linux, PowerPoint, Documents, Images, Videos, Mp3s, and Flash Files.
- 4 distinct conferencing features user can chose from. Whiteboards, video conferencing, screen sharing and voice over IP available.
- Makes collaboration an easy process by providing saved and continuous rooms, contextual discussion forums, voice notes, tracks and log activity.
The user gets a free 30-day trial and is charged for services afterwards.
Word from the user itself when experienced Vyew:
“A high school adventure in online collaboration. When the Vyew was introduced to the class personalities began to come out and quieter students especially began to communicate with the class” – Pat Aroune (Social Science Teacher in Iroquois school, New York.)
Read the success story of the school at the bottom of the page when they used Vyew in their classroom for better learning experience of the students.
5) Redbooth
A communication and collaboration platform that facilitates users with vast features. The platform incorporates task management, discussions, file sharing, notes, chats and HD video conferencing accessible through web or mobile. Supporting both small businesses and large global organizations, platform has gained more than 4,00,000 users including organizations such as BBC, Cisco, Duke University, Harvard University, Subaru, Volkswagen and Audi.
THE PRODUCT IS HIGHLY RECOGNISED FOR THR FOLLOWING ACHIEVEMNETS:
- Gold Medal for The Best New Product or Service of the Year, 2014 – Cloud Platform.
- Silver Medal for The Best New Product or Service of the Year, 2014 Software – Collaboration/Social Networking Solution.
- Top Solution for Road Warriors – InformationWeek
- Must have app- Forbes…………………… And a lot more.
What’s your take on collaboration between schools? Can collaboration be the reason behind the success of educational sector?
Share your views with us in the comment box below.
