Clearly, Zoom (more information here) has exploded to become a leading platform for online teaching and learning as well as general online meetings in early 2020, but it is certainly not the only platform/tool available, it doesn’t offer all the functions liked and needed especially in creative studio courses, and recently it raised a series of security concerns.
(more…)FileSender
FileSender initially is a server software file sharing developed to the requirements of the higher education and research community. After installation onto an institutional server, the instutution can host its own filesharing/sending system independent from data safety and security concerns that come with common commercial offers.
(more…)Slack
Slack is a proprietary instant messaging platform, with basic functions similar to other platforms: persistent chat rooms (channels) organized by topic, private groups, and direct messaging etc. It’s core ambition is to replace email as the primary method of communication and sharing within organisations, i.e. to consolidate all communication that might otherwise be scattered across emails, text messages, or in person meetings.
(more…)Discord
In difference to other communication apps, Discord may not be on many instructors’ screen, but it quite certainly is on their students’. Originally mostly frequented in the gaming community as a separate Voice over IP (VOIP) channel used in parallel to any ongoing game to discuss team tactics in private, it’s since developed into a communication tool with much broader appeal in particular with younger audiences.
(more…)