ICT4 Elderly/Tools for sharing and collaboration

Contents of the module

• The concepts of e-sharing and e-collaboration: main types and tools, key characteristics;
• Tools that enable sharing and collaboration in documents (e.g. Cloud, Google Documents, Google Spreadsheets, Google Presentations, Asana, Basecamp, Doodle, Slack etc.);
• Advantages and disadvantages of using those alternatives;
• Ethical, security and copyright issues of online sharing and collaboration.

Learning objectives

• Participants will understand how the usage of various online collaboration and sharing tools, can improve their learning, leisure and other social activities processes;
• Participants will understand how technology redefines the idea of collaboration;
• Participants will understand that having great online collaboration and document sharing tools can enable them to work and communicate together, regardless of their physical presence.

Learning outcomes

• Participants will be able to use participatory tools, project management tools and synchronisation tools;
• Participants will be able to identify alternative tools to those presented in class after self-initiating the search for their preferential tool;
• Participants will know how to set-up online collaboration tools and what settings must be considered;
• Participants will know how to use online collaboration tools on mobile devices;
• Participants will know how to use social media collaborative tools (blogs, forums, Wiki, etc.);
• Participants will know how to use online calendar system (introduction to different concepts, shared calendars).

Learning scenario

• Videos;
• Team work;
• Interactive demonstrations.

Evaluation

• Practical exercise: creating accounts and project to Online collaboration platform (e.g. Basecamp, etc.);
• Practical task – calendar set up, collaborative 4:00 work.

Following this module learners will:

• Participants will be able to use participatory tools, project management tools and synchronisation tools;
• Participants will be able to identify alternative tools to those presented in class after self-initiating the search for their preferential tool;
• Participants will know how to set-up online collaboration tools and what settings must be considered;
• Participants will know how to use online collaboration tools on mobile devices;
• Participants will know how to use social media collaborative tools (blogs, forums, Wiki, etc.);
• Participants will know how to use online calendar system (introduction to different concepts, shared calendars).

Introduction of the training

Collaborative software or groupware is application software designed to help people involved in a common task to achieve their goals. One of the earliest definitions of collaborative software is "intentional group processes plus software to support them".

In terms of the level of interaction it allows, collaborative software may be divided into: real-time collaborative editing platforms that allow multiple users to engage in live, simultaneous and reversible editing of a single file (usually a document), and version control (also known as revision control and source control) platforms, which allow separate users to make parallel edits to a file, while preserving every saved edit by every user as multiple files (that are variants of the original file).

Collaborative software is a broad concept that overlaps considerably with computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW). According to Carstensen and Schmidt (1999) groupware is part of CSCW. The authors claim that CSCW, and thereby groupware, addresses "how collaborative activities and their coordination can be supported by means of computer systems."

The use of collaborative software in the work space creates a collaborative working environment (CWE).

Finally, collaborative software relates to the notion of collaborative work systems, which are conceived as any form of human organization that emerges any time that collaboration takes place, whether it is formal or informal, intentional or unintentional. Whereas the groupware or collaborative software pertains to the technological elements of computer-supported cooperative work, collaborative work systems become a useful analytical tool to understand the behavioral and organizational variables that are associated to the broader concept of CSCW.

Calendaring software is software that minimally provides users with an electronic version of a calendar. Additionally, the software may provide an appointment book, address book, and/or contact list. These tools are an extension of many of the features provided by time management software such as desk accessory packages and computer office automation systems. Calendaring is a standard feature of many PDAs, EDAs and smartphones and also of many office suites for personal computers.

Project management is the practice of initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing the work of a team to achieve specific goals and meet specific success criteria at the specified time. The primary challenge of project management is to achieve all of the project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project documentation, created at the beginning of the development process. The primary constraints are scope, time, quality and budget. The secondary—and more ambitious—challenge is to optimize the allocation of necessary inputs and apply them to meet pre-defined objectives.

Social software, also known as social apps, include communication and interactive tools often based on the Internet. Communication tools typically handle the capturing, storing and presentation of communication, usually written but increasingly including audio and video as well. Interactive tools handle mediated interactions between a pair or group of users. They focus on establishing and maintaining a connection among users, facilitating the mechanics of conversation and talk. Social software generally refers to software that makes collaborative behaviour, the organisation and moulding of communities, self-expression, social interaction and feedback possible for individuals. Another element of the existing definition of social software is that it allows for the structured mediation of opinion between people, in a centralized or self-regulating manner. The most improved area for social software is that Web 2.0 applications can all promote cooperation between people and the creation of online communities more than ever before.

An online spreadsheet is a spreadsheet document edited through a web-based application that allows multiple persons to edit and share it with the world. With the advent of web 2.0 technologies such as Ajax around 2005, a new generation of online spreadsheets began to emerge. Equipped with a rich Internet application user experience, the best web based online spreadsheets have many of the features seen in desktop spreadsheet applications. Some of them have strong multi-user collaboration features. Some of them offer real time updates from remote sources such as stock prices and currency exchange rates. Online applications are now becoming known as "Cloud Apps".

Application sharing is an element of remote access, falling under the collaborative software umbrella, that enables two or more users to access a shared application or document from their respective computers simultaneously in real time. Generally, the shared application or document will be running on a host computer, and remote access to the shared content will be provided to other users by the host user. To transfer one application from one computer to another, the application must reside on only one of the machines connected with each other.

Keywords

Collaborative software, Application sharing, Online spreadsheet, Social software, Project management.

Learning subject/ field

The lecture will begin with a group discussion on the topic of their usage of sharing platforms and their previous experience in that area. It is very important that the lecturer and the participants get an initial idea of ​​the content and an insight for the practical use of sharing platforms.

The lecturer will give a theoretical outline at the beginning of the lecture on sharing tools and collaborations platforms. The content will be very clear and structured: - pre-existing activity - idea that is implemented online through dedicated tools and other applications. The idea of ​​using sharing tools and collaboration platforms is to transfer more information in a faster and more efficient way. Part of the content will be dedicated to the security of personal data and other important information dissemination polls. Data security is very important part of this lecture.

Task: The participants will be divided into 4 groups. Each group will arrange a certain amount of information on a pre-agreed topic. In the next step, they will select the most appropriate platform or tool for information sharing. In the third step, they will share the collected information with other groups. The goal of the assignment is for participants to be able to choose the most appropriate tool or platform and use it properly to disseminate information.

After successfully completing the task, the participants will have time to discuss jointly the modus operandi, security, different possibilities of using various tools and platforms for disseminating information.

The purpose of the session will be:

• to provide an introduction to participatory tools, project management tools and synchronisation tools
• to facilitate how to set-up online collaboration tools and what settings must be considered
• to discover identify alternative tools to those presented in class after self-initiating the search for their preferential tool
• to motivate to use social media collaborative tools

Training

Group discussion

The lecture will begin with a group discussion on the topic of their usage of sharing platforms and their previous experience in that area. It is very important that the lecturer and the participants get an initial idea of the content and an insight for the practical use of sharing platforms.

Theory

The lecturer will give a theoretical outline at the beginning of the lecture on sharing tools and collaborations platforms. The content will be very clear and structured: - pre-existing activity - idea that is implemented online through dedicated tools and other applications. The idea of ​​using sharing tools and collaboration platforms is to transfer more information in a faster and more efficient way. Part of the content will be dedicated to the security of personal data and other important information dissemination polls. Data security is very important part of this lecture.

Exercise

Task: The participants will be divided into 4 groups. Each group will arrange a certain amount of information on a pre-agreed topic. In the next step, they will select the most appropriate platform or tool for information sharing. In the third step, they will share the collected information with other groups. The goal of the assignment is for participants to be able to choose the most appropriate tool or platform and use it properly to disseminate information.

Discussion

After successfully completing the task, the participants will have time to discuss jointly the modus operandi, security, different possibilities of using various tools and platforms for disseminating information.

Homework

Learn how to use google drive and find alternatives How to use Google Drive

Debriefing

To wrap up the session, the trainer will facilitate a debriefing moment where participants are encouraged to express their questions, doubts, ideas and feelings toward the topics discussed.

Evaluation

Participants will answer a small questionnaire to evaluate the form and the content of the session.

Overall duration of the session

1 hour and 30 min

References

• Collaborative software
• How to use Google Drive