The group room as a platform for exchange and collaboration

By providing your learners with group rooms and granting them appropriate rights within these rooms, they can independently create and manage the objects necessary for their group tasks in this environment. 

Group rooms can be pre-structured to make it easier for learners to get started. This feature was used particularly effectively in the eduscrum digital project.

Documenting results together

The wiki is inherently collaborative and dynamic. The aim of the wiki is for several people to work together on documenting content and clarifying the context of specific terms using hyperlinks. The detailed documentation of the development of wiki pages also makes it very easy to trace the creation of the overall product. Comment and rating functions also allow for meta-communication about the content that has been created. 

Collecting ideas together with Etherpad

The Etherpad allows simultaneous work on a text document. With its limited formatting options, author colors, and accompanying chat, it is particularly suitable for scenarios in which ideas are collected or smaller text sections are developed collaboratively.

Structure the topics of the group using forums

The forum is ideal for sharing knowledge and creating to-do lists. By assigning posts to topics, discussions can be easily managed and documented asynchronously. Participants can subscribe to each topic and receive the latest information on individual topics via email. 

Synchronous communication with chat

The chat is a synchronous communication tool, but participation in the ILIAS chat requires registration in the system. Since most learners now use a wide variety of instant messaging apps such as WhatsApp, it is unlikely that they will make use of this tool. However, by pointing out this option, you enable them to avoid having to rely on external services. 

Meeting virtually in a web conference

The “Online Meeting” object also allows learners to hold virtual group meetings. During such meetings, they can share their screens, use a shared whiteboard, or simply discuss their group work. 

Please note that web conferencing tools may be heavily overloaded during periods of  puerly virtual teaching and may not work properly or at all.

Collecting information with the data collection

The data collection is well suited for bundling information of the same type. By first creating a field structure, several people can, for example, jointly create a herbarium or collect information on various museum objects.