https://anchor.fm/hitechpod/embed/episodes/3--Collaborative-Document-Tools-erboqo
Google Docs & Word OnlineGoogle Docs and Microsoft Word Online are both easy-to-use online word processing software. Google Docs is completely free and available to anyone who signs up.
They give you and your students the ability to create content in a singular space, comment on each other's work, and suggest revisions.
The Microsoft Word Online tool is also free, but it might be missing some familiar features from what you expect of Microsoft Word. They give you and your students the ability to create content in a singular space, comment on each other's work, and suggest revisions.
The greatest elements of these online word processors are that they provide a space for individual students or groups of students to work through writing their responses to your assignments. Even more than that, they are both consistent platforms. You can train students to use them effectively to generate content, outline and stylize their work, and create references.
The real power of these tools is that they can be used for a plethora of collaboration activities. You can have students generate content together for group projects, create shared notes, generate course wikis to help define course terms or content, and the list goes on and on. Instead of having your students come together or pull together multiple different documents, these tools can give them one place to generate content together at any time. They allow people to come together with shared ideas and collaborate in new ways.
Most folks are already set to use these products. They're a staple of most industries. However, if you want some resources to provide to your students, you can guide them to Google's support documentation or Microsoft's support documentation.
If you are looking to start a project or have your students use the tools in your class for the first time we suggest first looking at your current activities and ask, where could a digital collaborative space enhance or change what we are already doing? Could a group project utilize them to help pull together ideas or content? Are you planning to define a lot of terms or ideas? Then maybe you could have your students create a class generated wiki together that defines those terms or ideas. These tools are pretty simple and therefore can be plugged easily into other collaborative activities you are already doing.