Although I am not very tech savvy, I must admit that I have been enjoying the exploration of the online learning space. The options and opportunities that one has with regards to collaboration and the exchange of knowledge and experience in groups on various continents opens up an entire new world – literally. From this course thus far I have taken the information and various options about whether the resources, such as images, used are freely available or not. I also find the different collaborative tools, such as Padlet, a revelation, as it allows us to work individually, but still as a group. I think the possible loss of autonomy as well as the fact that tone often goes missing with digital interactions can enhance the confusion and resistance that persons may have against the use of technology.
I have found it quite interesting to see how many people can work on the same document at the same time, especially in Google Docs. It was quite amusing to have one of the team members edit and make changes to some of my work literally seconds after I wrote it. The different viewpoints and opinions are impressive. What I do find challenging, though, is that anybody can make changes to your views and opinions without actually consulting with you or to investigate the meaning and context one intended.
The collaboration between the team members has been amazing. I was intrigued by the manner in which everybody supported each other, and assisted where necessary without being condescending about another person’s enquiry or possible error. A group of people who doesn’t know each other are managing to assist and support each other in order to reach a common goal is truly remarkable, and it showed me the value of honesty and integrity within the collaborative space. I am learning a lot, especially regarding the value and significance of these skills and processes.
Overall, I have been learning a lot, and have been exposed to tools that I did not have any idea existed. It is both fun and scary at the same time, but interesting enough to warrant further exploration.
annemiblog 
I agree with you that the possibilities to work together in Google Docs is huge opportunity as well as a challenge. When it comes to making changes without consulting or to investigate the meaning and context I think that this could be a problem, but I see ways to solve this problem.
It’s important to make an agreement in the group of HOW to work together in a document and what kind of changes can be done without consulting and what’s ok to change directly. Instead of making the changes directly inte the text you can make a comment on the side, so the person can see the suggestions before changing.
But it sure is great fun when you can see different “ghostwriters” working in the document together 🙂
See you in Google Docs!
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Hi,
I have also learnt a lot about the different collaborative tools out there. My group (PBL4) also uses Google Docs for our synchronous work online. We refer to it as the ‘brainstorming document’. Each one in the group chooses a different font colour to add thoughts and this helps differentiate ideas from one person to the next.
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