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…)Already before Covid-19 Google offered a very comprehensive toolbox of applications and resources that could cover most – if not all – needs and requirements of the classroom at all levels for free. In response to the situation as developing since March 2020, they’ve aggregated and explained their efforts in one dedicated website: Teach from Home.
(more…)Mural offers digital workspaces (=online whiteboards) for visual collaboration between up to 50 participants (for the cheapest plan). As a collaboration tool Mural enables users to build, share and collaborate on projects from any location and on any device either on a browser or via the native Mural app.
(more…)Presenting online via a videostream or conferencing app requires some additional preparation compared to conventional physical presentations in a classroom/meeting/conference. Here are some preparatory considerations.
(more…)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 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…)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…)Initially Jamboard was a piece of hardware, an interactive whiteboard, essentially a huge touchscreen on a stand that collaborators could log onto via a dedicated app. Since its inception in 2017, the Jamboard app now may also stand alone, i.e. collaborators may directly connect and work with each other without the hardware.
(more…)Miro is an online collaborative whiteboard platform to enable teams working together by means of a very pleasing visual interface. Miro focuses on real-time collaborative work on canvases with different templates: diagrams, mind maps, workflow board, etc. Each board is “infinite”, thus can keep lots of stuff in different forms (digital sticky notes, minutes, sketches, images, charts etc.).
(more…)Zoom is a software that offers remote conferencing services combining video conferencing, audio conferencing, online meetings, chats, and mobile collaboration for up to 500 participants (only in paid-for plans). Additionally, it offers a host of supplementing functions that make it possible – with fairly little practice – to host classes almost as if on campus. The most useful such functions for classes are
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