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Choosing Communication Tools

  1. Choosing Communication Tools
    1. How do I choose a tool? 
    2. Course Organisers Toolbox
      1. Collaborative Writing Tools
      2. Social Bookmarking
      3. Video Streaming Services
      4. Audio Streaming Services
      5. Voice/Video Conferencing Services
      6. Phone Conferencing Services
      7. Collaboarative Document Editing
      8. Group Email / Forum Messaging Services
      9. Source Code Sharing Services
      10. File Sharing Service (Cloud Based)
      11. UML Diagram Drawing Services
      12. URL Shortenting Services
      13. Image Sharing Service
      14. Screen Capturing and Screen Casting
      15. Presentation and Document Sharing
      16. Video Hosting
      17. Surveys and Questionaires
      18. Scheduling
      19. General Resources
      20. Webinar software
      21. Aggregation hubs for multiple types of objects
      22. Widget makers
      23. Modeling
      24. Writing math beautifully (and easily)
      25. Bookmark and reference aggregation
      26. 3d worlds, virtual reality
      27. Additional Instant Messaging / Text Chat
      28. Video Transcoding

 

How do I choose a tool? 

 

Basic guidelines:

 

  • Free of charge (for anyone, not just you): We avoid tools that P2PU might get sponsorship for, but that others could not use.
  • Open as in open source and standards: This is better than free of charge, because it gives us and you even more control and assurance that the tool will always be available (free of charge might not be free of charge at some point). 

 

Other things to keep in mind:

 

  • Learning aspects: If there are particular learning objectives, or styles that you have for the course - choose tools that support them. 
  • Technical aspects: Not everyone can evaluate the technical quality of a tool, but it's worth thinking about stability (is the tool reliable and robust) and scalability (if you have 70 people in your course, will the tool support a group that large?). Most tools have been used by other course organizers before so ask about other peoples' experiences before making a final choice if you are not sure.
  • Less is more: Offering too many different tools confuses users. Keep it simple and provide links to tutorials or give users basic introductions to the tools you will use. 

Course Organisers Toolbox

These communication tools have been gathered by community members.  Feel free to update and add to this list where appropriate.

 

Collaborative Writing Tools

Class participants may want to collaboratively edit documents or to aggregate their work together. There are a number of tools which are suitable for this.

 

  • Etherpad
    • Etherpad is an open-source, real-time collaborative writing tool. It is and easy-to-use tool that is excellent for keeping track of meeting minutes and for sharing ideas in real-time. There is also a chat-box on the side where participants can discuss what they are working on. 
    • Etherpad does not require users to have an account.
    • User contributions and collaboraration can be tracked and viewed using the Time Slider.
    • P2PU has its own installation of Etherpad. This installation of Etherpad has been suffering from a lot of downtime. You may prefer to use the PiratePad installation of Etherpad
  • Google Docs
    • Google Docs allows users to collaboratively edit a range of document types including spreadsheets, word processed text and presentations. The range of formatting options is large and files are easily exportable to popular office software. 
    • To use Google Docs users require an account with Google.

 

Social Bookmarking

 allows people to share share, organize, search, and manage bookmarks of web resources through tags. 

 

Learning objectives include:

  • Conduct research, contribute to course content repository
  • Connect course topics with current events, personal experience or concepts across courses

 

☞ For more learning objectives and strategies on how to use forums to accomplish, visit Learning Objectives Alignment.

 

Social Bookmarking in Plain English

Video by Lee LeFever

 

 

Benefits of social bookmarking:

  • Provides personal management of potentially large collections of resources
  • Fosters discovery of relevant resources and sharing 
  • Creates a course resource repository, extending the course content to current events and member interests 

Limitations:

  • Difficult to assure of quality of bookmarked items
  • Does not free buried resources (restricted access, journals, libraries)

 

P2PU.org does not have an social bookmarking feature on our platform yet. We recommend using an external social bookmarking service such as Diigo. Provide visible links to the service form your course page on p2pu.org.

 

Video Streaming Services

This category of resources allows a person to simulcast audio, video and in some cases a dekstop to multiple recipients. Features vary by resources but archiving and chat are common capabilities.

 

Audio Streaming Services

This category of resources allows a person to simulcast audio to multiple recipients using either a microphone and a desktop client or a dial in phone line.Features vary by resources but archiving and chat are common capabilities.

 

Voice/Video Conferencing Services

This category of resources allows multiple people to simultaneously communicate using shared web camera and microphones. Features vary by resources but archiving and chat are common capabilities.

 

  • Big Blue Button allows presentations in addition to video conference and chat/text area.  P2PU has installed a version of Big Blue Button that is available for use as a class and meeting space.

 

  • Tokbox is not available any  more as of 5 April 2011. is the frequently used video conferencing tool. When you are running a course, it's best to have a tool that allows you to gather many folks in one place. Tokbox is easy to use, and all the features you need are free. Tokbox also integrates your chat contacts from popular email providers (Gmail, MSN, etc.). You do not need to download a client.

    Here's some wisdom about Tokbox:
    • Often, everyone will have to be muted while someone is speaking to avoid echo.
    • Give about 5 minute of "test" time to make sure everyone has functionality (video/mic) and that they know how to mute in and out.

 

  • SKYPE is another favorite, and many of us are already familiar with it. It's free and allows connections over phone lines, which can be helpful for course members with slow connections. Skype requires downloading a free client for use.

    Some wisdom about Skype:
    • Make sure you're all connected (user ID's) on Skype before hand. You can keep record everyone's ID's on your course etherpad.
    • Waivering connectivity can kick a larger (4+ group) offline.  Run a test meeting with your group first.

 

  • Voxli 

          In-the-browser voice chat, no sign-up needed

https://voxli.com

    • Etherpad-like instant collaboration, currently only in Firefox or Internet Explorer (and even better in versions < FF4).
  • Join Me

Online Meeting Service with screenn sharing, chat, file transfer, remote control 

https://join.me 

 

Phone Conferencing Services

This category of resources allows multiple people to conference by phone. Features vary by resources but archiving is a common capability. A moderator generally controls who can speak enabling both broadcast and conversational modes. Often folks with low bandwidth have better phone access and this can overcome many communication hurdles.

Some wisdom about free conference calls

    • Have everyone mute themselves if not speaking
    • Create a pad.p2pu.org/(your call) to keep track of attendance, take notes and field questions. Etherpad has an IRC chat box, which is extremely useful for fielding & queuing questions

 

 

Collaboarative Document Editing

This category of resources allows the collaborative editing of documents, presentations, spreadsheets and similar documents. Features vary by resources and there is an ever expanding list of capabilities.

http://typewith.me/ 

  • Titan Pad

TitanPad lets people work on one document simultaneously 

http://titanpad.com/

  • Collabedit

Collabedit is an online text editor that lets people collaborate in real-time.

http://www.collabedit.com/

 

Drawing Services

This category of resources allows the drawing and sharing of web based mindmaps, charts and diagrams. Features vary by resources but collaboration and access control are common capabilities..

  • Mind42

Collaborative mind mapping in your browser

http://www.mind42.com/

  • Bubbl.us

Brainstorming Made Simple

http://www.bubbl.us/

  • Flowchart.com

online multi-user, real-time collaborative flow charts service

http://flowchart.com/

    • Instant collaboration, no sign-up
  • Cacoo ~ Real-time Collaborative Diagramming & Design

Flowcharts, Sitemaps, Wireframes, UML diagrams, Network Charts

http://cacoo.com/ 

 

Group Email / Forum Messaging Services

This category of resources allows web or email based group messaging.

 

Source Code Sharing Services

This category of resources allows the sharing of source code. Features vary by resources but syntax highlighting, copying to clipboard, and code execution are common capabilities.

  • Gist

Gist is a simple way to share snippets and pastes with others. All gists are git repositories, so they are automatically versioned, forkable and usable as a git repository.
https://gist.github.com/

Codepad is an online compiler/interpreter and a simple collaboration tool for sharing and demonstrating code fragments (C, C++, D, Haskell, Lua, OCaml, PHP, Perl, Plain Text, Python, Ruby, Scheme, Tcl) 

http://www.codepad.org/

  • IDE One

IDE One is an online compiler and debugging tool which allows to compile and run code online in more than 40 programming languages (Ada, Assembler, Assembler, AWK (gawk), AWK (mawk), Bash, bc, Brainf**k, C, C#, C++selected"selected, C++0x, C99 strict, CLIPS, Clojure, COBOL 85, COBOL, Common Lisp (clisp), D (dmd), Erlang, F#, Factor, Falcon, Forth, Fortran, Go, Groovy, Haskell, Icon, Intercal, Java, JavaScript (rhino), JavaScript (spidermonkey), Lua, Nemerle, Nice, Nimrod, Objective-C, Ocaml, Oz, Pascal (fpc), Pascal (gpc), Perl 6, Perl, PHP, Pike, Prolog (gnu), Prolog (swi), Python 3, Python, R, Ruby, Scala, Scheme (guile), Smalltalk, SQL, Tcl, Text, Unlambda, Visual Basic .NET, Whitespace)

http://www.ideone.com/

  • JS Bin

JS Bin is an open source collaborative JavaScript debugging tool. 

http://www.jsbin.com/

  • JS Do It

Share JavaScript, HTML5 and CSS

http://jsdo.it/

  • Paste Bin

Pastebin.com is a website where you can store text for a certain period of time. The website is mainly used by programmers to store pieces of sources code or configuration information, but anyone is more than welcome to paste any type of text.

http://www.pastebin.com/

  • CSS Desk

CSSDesk – Edit, Test HTML And CSS Online

http://cssdesk.com/

  • CodePad Viper

Pastebin for PHP

http://codepad.viper-7.com/

  • ACE ~ Cloud 9 Online Editor (Previously Skywriter, Bespin)

Ace is a standalone code editor written in JavaScript. 

http://ace.ajax.org/

  • Cloud 9 Online Editor

Online development platform as a service for JavaScript and HTML5 

http://www.cloud9ide.com/

  • HTML Sandbox

HTMLSandBox is an online html testbed, powered entirely by Javascript. 

http://www.htmlsandbox.net/

  • YPaste

YAML file sharing with Syntax Tree

http://dev.yaml.org/ypaste/

  • CodeRun Studio

CodeRun Studio is a free cross-platform Integrated Development Environment (IDE), designed for the cloud. It enables you to easily develop, debug and deploy web applications using your browser and features native support for C#/.NET (3.5), PHP (5.1), JavaScript, HTML and CSS.

http://www.coderun.com/ 

  • PHP Code Editor

A web based interface to edit your PHP code

http://edit.orgapage.de/ 

  • ShiftEdit

A web-based IDE with syntax highlighting for PHP, Ruby, Java, HTML, CSS and JavaScript editor with editing tabs and built-in (S)FTP) support.

http://shiftedit.net/

  • PHP Anywhere

A web based free Integrated Development Environment or IDE for the PHP language, in other words it is an application that gives developers all the code editing capabilities they need to develop PHP applications online. It includes a real-time syntax code editor with support for all web formats and a powerful FTP editor.

http://phpanywhere.net/

  • Raphael Live

A tool for learning Raphael to create Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) in the browser

http://craic.com/tutorials/javascript/raphael_live/raphael_live.html

  • Paste 2

Online Code Sharing with syntax highlighting for: actionscript, ada, apache, applescript, asm, asp, bash, c, cfm, cpp, csharp, css, d, delphi, diff, eiffel, fortran, html4strict, ini, java, java5, javascript, latex, lisp, lua, matlab, mysql, perl, php, python, qbasic, robots, ruby, sql, tcl, text, vb, vbnet, winbatch, xml.

http://paste2.org/

  • Tinkerbin

Tinkerbin is an online code sharing service for HTML, JavaScript and CSS that also supports CoffeeScript, Sass, Less, and HAML.

http://tinkerbin.com/

  • Snipplr

Snipplr is an online code sharing service for dozens of popular programming languages

http://snipplr.com/

  • WebPad

A fork of jsbin hosted by Hackasaurus Project

http://webpad.hackasaurus.org/

  • Google's Dart Language Console

A console to experiment with Google's Dart Language

http://wiki.p2pu.org/w/page/28952063/community%20toolbox

  • CSSizer

A simple tool to let you edit the design of an html page in real time

http://cssizer.com/ 

  • Kodingen

Online Code Editing for php, perl, python, django, ruby on rails,fastcgi and more

https://kodingen.com/ 

  • Google Code Playground

The AJAX Code Playground is an educational tool to show code examples for various Google Javascript APIs

http://code.google.com/apis/ajax/playground/

  • JsApp.US

JsApp.US is a hosting platform for node.js applications. It is setup to be a platform to coddle to quick, weekend hack like projects.

http://jsapp.us/

  • Programr

Code, compile & run your programs directly in the browser (Java, JSP, Servlet, Struts, C#, Flex, Flash, Spring, C++, PHP)

http://www.programr.com

  • Rendera

HTML and CSS realtime rendering 

http://rendera.heroku.com/

 

File Sharing Service (Cloud Based)

This category of resources allows the sharing of files and directories between the cloud and desktop

  • Dropbox 

Dropbox is a free file sharing service that allows you to synchronize files between the cloud and multiple computers.
http://db.tt/MG2lWal

  • Minus (min.us)

Free cloud based files haring service.

http://minus.com/

  • JSON Viewer

Convert JSON Strings to a Friendly Readable Format

http://jsonviewer.stack.hu

  • Snipplr

Snipplr is a public code snippet library

http://snipplr.com/

 

UML Diagram Drawing Services

 

  • yUML

Create and share simple UML diagrams in your blogs, wikis, forums, bug-trackers and emails. 

http://yuml.me/

 

  • Mooshell

Online Collaborative Mooltools Editor 

http://mootools.net/shell/

 

URL Shortenting Services

This category of resources allows for the creation of short URLs that redirect to a full URL of the users choice.

  • Tiny Url

http://www.tinyurl.com/

 

Image Sharing Service

This category of resources allows for the sharing of upload images. Features vary by resources but annotation, tagging and photo albums are common capabilities.

Popular Image Sharing Service

http://www.flickr.com/

 

Screen Capturing and Screen Casting

This category of resources allows for the capturing, editing and production of desktop screen captures and desktop screen casting.

  • GYAZO

Seriously Instant Screen-Grabbing

http://www.gyazo.com/

http://www.techsmith.com/jing/

 

Presentation and Document Sharing

This category of resources allows for the uploading and sharing of documents and presentations.

  • Slide Share
    Upload and share publicly or privately PowerPoint presentations, Word documents and Adobe PDF Portfolios.
    http://www.slideshare.net/ 
  • Scribd

http://www.scribd.com/

 

Video Hosting

This category of resources allows for uploading videos with will typically be converted to flash which can be streamed or downloaded at a later time for individual viewing.

 

Surveys and Questionaires

This category of resources allows a group of participants to take a survey or questionnaire via the web.

 

Scheduling

This category of resources allows a group of users to effortlessly determine a date and time for a meeting.

  • When Is Good?
    An easy way to find out when everyone is free for your next meeting or event.
    http://whenisgood.net/ 
  • The Fixed Time World Clock
    Have you planned a web cast, online chat, teleconference call or other event where users from all over the world might participate? The Fixed Time World Clock can help tell your users when this event will happen in their local time zone. 

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedform.html

  • Doodle

Simple Collaborative Event Scheduling and Choice Selection

http://www.doodle.com/ 

 

General Resources

This category of resources is a repository of freeware which is reviewed and rated.

  • Gozmo's Freeware

Best Freeware in Every Category Reviewed and Rated
http://www.techsupportalert.com /  

 

Webinar software

This is used for voice and text conversations while working at a common whiteboard, viewing slides, or sharing applications and web tours.

  • Elluminate

eLearning & Collaboration Solutions that encourages students to share work with others

http://www.elluminate.com/ 

Use LearnCentral.org and their group "Host your own webinars" for a free room if your event is open and free.

  • WiZiQ

Free Online Teaching and E-Learning with Web Conferencing

http://www.wiziq.com/ 

  • DimDim

Easy, open, affordable online meetings and webinars

http://www.dimdim.com/ 

 

Aggregation hubs for multiple types of objects

Where do you put links to all your stuff, widgets from all your collaborations, and descriptions of everything

  • P2PU wiki

a collaboratively edited space for documentation about Peer to Peer University - its methodology, the web site and its features, and the community

http://wiki.p2pu.org/ 

  • Wikispace

simple web pages that groups, friends, and families can edit together

http://www.wikispaces.com/ 

 

Widget makers

Control your rss feeds and display them nicely

  • Yahoo pipes

An interactive feed aggregator and manipulator

http://pipes.yahoo.com/ 

 

Modeling

  • Scratch

a programming language for everyone to create interactive stories, games, music and art - and share them online

http://scratch.mit.edu/ 

  • GeoGebra

A geometry package providing for both graphical and algebraic input.

http://www.geogebra.org/ 

  • Google SketchUp

A 3D software tool that combines a tool-set with an intelligent drawing system

http://sketchup.google.com/ 

 

Writing math beautifully (and easily)

  • Sitmo Equation Editor

Interactively create LaTeX formulas and download the nice-looking result as an image file; works in iGoogle etc.

http://formulapages.com/latex/

  • LyX

WYSIWYG wrapper for LaTeX

http://lyx.org/

 

 

Bookmark and reference aggregation

These services support collecting references as a group

  • Diigo

Web Highlighter and Sticky Notes, Online Bookmarking and Annotation

http://www.diigo.com/ 

  • Google Bookmarks

Access your Bookmarks on any computer, and use Lists to share them with friends

http://www.google.com/bookmarks/ 

  • Zotero (especially for academic writing)

A powerful, easy-to-use research tool that helps you gather, organize, and analyze sources and then share the results of your research

http://www.zotero.org/ 

 

3d worlds, virtual reality

  • Second Life

A free 3D virtual world where users can socialize, connect and create using free voice and text chat.

http://www.secondlife.com/ 

  • OpenSim

An open source multi-platform, multi-user 3D application server

http://www.opensimulator.org/ 

 

Additional Instant Messaging / Text Chat

This category of resources allows multiple people to conference by instant messaging or text chat services. Features vary by resources but embedding of links and media are common capabilities. Some of these resources are limited to communicating between two peers while others allow multiple peers to communicate simultaneously.

  • gTalk (Jabber)

http://www.gmail.com/ 

    • one to one text chat
  • AIM

ttp://www.aim.com/

    • one to one text chat
  • IRC

http://webchat.freenode.net/

    • one to many text chat
  • Skype

http://www.skype.com/ 

    • one to many text chat
  • Yuuguu

http://www.yuuguu.com

    • Many-user Telephone Based Audio Chat

Video Transcoding

  • Miro Video Converter (Windows and Mac GUI Based)

A super simple way to convert almost any video to MP4, WebM (vp8), Ogg Theora, or for Android, iPhone, and more..

http://www.mirovideoconverter.com

  • Arista (Linux GUI Based)

The easiest way to convert your media (MP4, WebM, Matroska, AVI, Ogg, FLV).

http://www.transcoder.org/

  • FFmpeg

FFmpeg is a complete, cross-platform solution to record, convert and stream audio and video.

http://www.FFmpeg.org 

  • HandBrake

HandBrake is an open source, GPL-licensed, multiplatform, multithreaded video transcoder, available for MAC OS X, Linux and Windows

http://handbrake.fr 

  • VideoLan

VLC is a free and open source cross-platform multimedia player and framework that plays most multimedia files as well as DVD, Audio CD, VCD, and various streaming protocols.

http://videolan.org/vlc 

 

 

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