If you are looking to create great content, one consideration might be to create informational, clickable hotspot images, or engaging activities, such as Drag and Drop, Matching, interactive videos, flashcards, word searches, crossword puzzles, etc.
Some examples:
Blogs are tools for individual writing (usually) and are mostly used to share opinions and personal or professional reflection. They should not be used as primary sources of information in research. Blogger (by Google) and WordPress (hosted) are common blogging tools. *Note: WordPress can be downloaded for free and used on your own server space at WordPress.org.
When teams need to work together online to create a presentation, they may turn to tools such as Google Slides or Prezi. Google Slides works very much like MS PowerPoint, but Prezi is a still different type of presentation altogether. Many, but not all, allow for synchronous multi-person editing.
A collaborative project management tool allows members of self-created teams to create project tasks, often with included calendar features, notifications, etc. Often, these sites allows subsite creation by businesses and institutions. Often, but not always, they can be embedded in other sites as well. Asana, TeamWork, and Trello are examples.
Collaborative writing spaces tools like Google Docs and Etherpad allows for synchronous editing and often chatting about writing project. These typically resemble and function much like individual desktop applications like Microsoft Office Word.
Discussion forums are tools used specifically for asynchronous interaction among people. It is expected that there may be hours, days, and even weeks, between responses. In education, forums are often used for reflecting and questioning understanding of specific topics. IThe use of forums encourages deeper analysis and critical thinking. Forums are built into most learning management systems (LMSs), but an example of a third-party discussion tool is PackBack, which provides analytic support and uses AI to help students improve their discussions.
Facebook, MySpace, and Instagram are all examples of general social media tools which allow you to become 'friends' with as many connections as you choose. These tools often target a certain group. For example, Instagram is for those interested in photography, or at least sharing their images, and MySpace now seems to be comprised of people invested in the music industry. Facebook's purpose is "to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected." Friends connect to people they haven't spoken to in decades. Families stay current in the day-to-day activities of their loved ones. Businesses may use this type of tools to create special spaces for advertising and customer sharing. Often these tools allow for the creation of private or public groups based on a particular topic or to support a specific cause.
Online journals are usually private, although they can be made public, thus serving more like a blog than a journal. A semi-private journal would allow you to invite only specific people to view your entries. It is usually a place to personally and/or professionally reflect on events or take notes as you research. Like all online tools, your posts are saved in the cloud, meaning that you can access, edit, and create in your journal at any time or place as long as you have an internet connection. Because it's password protected, you don't have to worry about anyone seeing your journal (unless you've made it public.) Penzu is an online journal. Online journals are not as popular as blogs because most blogs can also be set to private or viewable by a select few.
While others exist, Twitter, is the best-known example of microblogs. Microblogs are much like regular blogs in that they are used to share opinions or reflect; however, often microblogs can be used as links to sources of information. Many use Twitter to keep up with current affairs, particularly those related to a developing crisis, such as school shootings, terrorist attacks, etc. These types of tools are considered micro because posts are limited to, in Twitter's case, 280 characters or less. With tools like Twitter, you can create feeds of posts related to specific hashtagged topics, such as #SandyHookPromise or #technologyInEducation. It should be noted that anyone can create a hashtag! Also, with microblogging, people follow each other (e.g., friends, colleagues, professional mentors, etc.). Anyone can follow anyone and can be messaged by simply adding an @ symbol to the front of the user name.
Much like general social media, professional social media allows for ongoing connecting and networking among current and potential colleagues. LinkedIn is one such general example. It encourages the development of an extensive profile in which one can include their resume/CV, their educational and work experience, their volunteer work, and publications. Connections can endorse you for specific skills you have used to describe yourself and write recommendations. Often, employers scour these pages when advertising for positions using these professional social media sites. Users should be careful to remember that these sites are for professional use, and thus their posts should remain professional.
Scheduling meetings, whether online or face-to-face, can be daunting, especially with a large number of people. Likewise, coordinating efforts can be challenging as well (e.g., who is bringing what to the classroom party?) Tools like Doodle and SignUpGenius allow you to create events, meetings, etc. and send links so that participants simply note their ability to meet, or bring something, or serve in a particular role, by date and/or time. The results are usually shared so that no one slot is selected by multiple people, unless you have purposely designed the choices as such.
Social media management tools, like Hootsuite, allow one to manage all of their social media tools in one place. You can create a single post and post to all outlets at the same time, and create feeds for each service so you do not need to individually log in at each site.
Videoconferencing tools such as Adobe Connect, Skype, Zoom, and Big Blue Button (often referred to simply as Meetings in Canvas) allow for people to see and hear each other from a distance. Most tools allow for screen sharing, chat, and whiteboard collaboration. These meetings can often be recorded, depending on the specific tool used.
It is important to note a distinction between the terms "videoconferencing" and "web conferencing". These two terms are often used interchangeably now, but traditionally, web conferencing was a one-way street, meaning one was attending a webinar with very little engagement or interaction on the part of the audience, with the possible exception of chatting. Videoconferencing tools allow anyone to be the presenter, and everyone, if given the needed permissions by the host, can engage via video, audio, and chat. Many systems include breakout "rooms" for smaller group discussions.
Wikis are editable spaces where several people can collaborate to build informative written work on any topic. Some wikis allow for editable sections within a page. Additionally, many wikis, but not all, form a clickable table of contents based on headers. Why use a wiki? Wikis are webpages where all things related to a project, idea, etc. can be documented with links so that this information doesn't have to be located in several places. One might make their wiki closed to their group or open to administration, the broader team, or the public at large.
Wikipedia is a well-known wiki that anyone can be given permission to edit. Anyone can create a wiki page. Early critiquers, including educators, claimed that the nature of wikis, in that anyone can create/edit pages, made the pages themselves less credible as sources of information. Wikipedia has since begun using volunteers and staff to read newly created/edited pages to look for instances of issues related to grammar/spelling and the need for citations, which are always included at the bottom of any wikipedia page. These editors have the power to shut down the page temporarily during editing or permanently.
---------------------------------
Examples: