Collaboration is central to learning on the social Web. This guest post from Karen Schweitzer highlights some great free tools for connecting and sharing with others.
Being in the same room to collaborate on a project is no longer necessary thanks to the many different applications that are available over the web. There are free tools for online conferencing, collaborative writing and editing, file sharing, private communication, and desktop sharing. Here are 15 free online collaboration tools and apps to try today:
Keep and Share – Keep and Share is a group file sharing system. Accounts are password-controlled and secure enough to store sensitive information.
Wridea – Wridea makes it easy to collaborate and share ideas with colleagues, team members, and fellow learners. This brainstorming tool organizes and categorizes ideas onto different pages, provides unlimited storage, and allows users to comment on topics and ideas.
Writeboard – Whiteboard is free collaborative writing software. It can be used to write, edit, track changes, and rollback to previous versions.
Twiddla – Twiddla works very well for online meetings or co-browsing. Groups can use it to mark-up and comment on web pages, images, and other content.
Spicebird – This open source platform is an all-in-one suite of communication tools for people who want to collaborate online. Features include email, instant messaging, and an online calendar.
Stixy – Stixy works like an online bulletin board or whiteboard. It offers a work space where you can place content and collaborate with other people on the web.
ReviewBasics – This free online service is great for people who are collaborating and editing different types of content. ReviewBasics allows users to share, annotate, and markup everything from images and videos to documents.
EditGrid – EditGrid is a web-based application that works a lot like Microsoft Excel. Special features include sharing, collaborating, and publishing capabilities.
ooVoo – ooVoo offers a free 2-way video chat service and a 6-way text chat. The site can also be used to record and send short video messages.
Palbee – Palbee is a free video conferencing tool with multiple capabilities. Users can conduct video meetings with other people or record a video presentation for later viewing.
GroupTweet – GroupTweet is designed for Twitter users who want to be able to communicate and collaborate privately.
Edmodo – Edmodo is rather like a private Twitter. Students and teachers can use this free (and private) microblogging platform to communicate online. Edmodo also provides file sharing and file storage.
SimplyBox – SimplyBox allows users to capture specific images, text, and video and then organize their finding into an easy-to-share box. Conversations and comments can then be placed around the box and shared once more.
Mikogo – This free desktop sharing software can be used for online meetings, web conferences, presentations, remote support, and other collaborative efforts. Mikogo is incredibly simple to use and download.
Vyew – Vyew is a relatively new collaboration platform that can be used for webinars, online conferences, and real-time learning and instruction. No installation is required and all activity can be tracked and logged.
Guest post from education writer Karen Schweitzer. Karen is the About.com Guide to Business School. She also writes about online courses for OnlineCourses.org.P.S. – If you enjoy what you read here on Mission to Learn, I’d be truly grateful if you would consider subscribing to the RSS feed.
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- Where to Find Free Computer Programming Education Online
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- 15 Language Learning Tools for Lifelong Learners
posted on August 12, 2009
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(Disclaimer, I’m on the dev team!)
Yuuguu is another free online collaboration tool. It allows cross-platform screen sharing and remote control. It integrates with all the major IM networks as well as Skype so you can collaborate with your existing contacts.
Regards, Phill.
I hadn’t heard of most of these sites yet. Thanks.
Dropbox is a powerful tool for exchanging files.
It works like a charm. You just have to install it and use with explorer, nautilus or mac browser.
I really recommend this – https://www.getdropbox.com/
Another cool free tool to consider is http://www.comindwork.com, it is an all in one collaboration and project management tool.
Would also like to add DeskAway. We are a project management and collaboration tool with a basic plan that is free. It allows 3 projects and 5 users.
Phill – Thanks for pointing out Yuuguu. Was not familiar with that and am looking forward to taking a look.
Eduardo – I’ve actually used Dropbox some and plan to start using it more, as it makes it easy to move between different machines, which I sometimes need to do. Thanks for mentioning it.
Jeff
Arturas and Priyanka – Thanks! We will take a look at comindwork.com and DeskAway. – Jeff
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for including Mikogo in your list of collaboration apps. Great to see that you’ve been enjoying Mikogo’s ease of use
We’re following you now on Twitter! Feel free to follow back to hear about all the latest development and news via our tweets.
Cheers!
Andrew Donnelly
The Mikogo Team
Twitter: @Mikogo
What are your thoughts on Office Live Workspace? 5GB of space for free and the ability to share your docs with others makes for convenient online collaboration!
Cheers,
Kate
MSFT Office Live Outreach Team
http://www.workspace.officelive.com
http://www.facebook.com/officelive
There are free project management tools like http://www.Teambox.com, you can use them for free online with no restrictions and they’re also available on open-source.
Check also http://www.binfire.com. It offers free collaboration tools plus unlimted file hosting for free!
You can also check tool for collaboration online.
It’s really great and useful.
Personally, I started to use Ubidesk. It provides all-in-one services for all the functions above including calendar, task and timeline management, file & document share. It also supports unlimited number of projects.
Good article jtcobb . Have you tried out Injoos Teamware. I would reckon that they have the most comprehensive integrated collaboration platform. With their latest release they have added a new twist to track and execute projects “the social way”. Checkout their Blog http://injoos.com/blog/2009/10/09/seamless-collaboration-with-release-35/
Fantastic List jtcobb!
Taroby http://www.taroby.com is another web based collaboration suite which helps teams to share email accounts within the team. Taroby is an excellent Collaboration and Task management suite for teams with features like unified communications. Do check it out.
Regards, Andy.
The latest release of http://www.binfire.com has really nice collaboration tools including group folder, permissions, file version & access to any file version, notification (if a file is modified), online chat, file lock and easy multiple files upload.
Great list. Thanks!
This site offers real-time synchronous editing a la Google Wave (text only at this stage though): http://etherpad.com/
Nice list! Please also try WizeHive. You can share files, manage projects, track activity and collaborate with others in secure, private workspaces while communicating with WizeHive via email or Twitter. The task management features really stand out, and it’s free for one workspace with unlimited invited guests.
cheers,
Fern
WizeHive
http://www.WizeHive.com
twitter – wizehive
KeepandShare looks awsome, thats a nice tool for free. I also liked EditGrid its a little like ZOHO
Anyway Great info!
b
You might want to look at our HyperOffice Collaboration Suite. It’s amongst the oldest companies in SaaS and collaboration since 1998, and brings the most comprehesive toolkit (email, project management, workspaces, document management, calendars, contacts, online meetings, web forms, workflows, forums etc).
Nice to see mikogo getting some love…though I still don’t know what that name is supposed to mean. You should give Proxy Networks a look the next time you do one of these. They have great remote desktop software that I feel rivals mikogo point for point.
If you want a structured colaboration , you should check out http://www.semmels.com
It allows you to define the structure, so it can be used for a variety of projects.
It also allows you to change the structure as the project evolves.
This structured approach becomes especially handy if you want to colaborate with a larger group of people.
Thank you for the nice list. Onehub has a free edition as well.
If you are looking for a fully customizable virtual workspace for online collaboration, file sharing and project management check out http://onehub.com. File library, shared calendar, team discussion, tasks list, wiki, and more.
I am amazed this page still gets good comments after 1 1/2 year! Obviously there is great need for collaboration tools. The latest version of http://www.binfire.com has improved collaboration tools and the service is free!
Nice list! Some of them I have to say I use personally.
There is also a new service http://TicTacDo.com – the social way for personal productivity, with a database of almost 20,000 ready-to-use checklists.