EDUCAUSE | Communications Software

Communication Tools: the Whole Enchilada

smiltenb — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 21:30:09 -0600

Thanks to everyone who gave me feedback on project communication tools! As
we have been researching tools and recommendations, the institutional needs
for these systems has started growing. In addition to project management we
are wondering about how collaboration tools can also meet communication
needs within our department:

as a repository for documentation (how to install...)
to provide an overview of what is going on in the department (this
week...this month)
as a place where all the bits of information can be brought together into
a big snapshot

I have no expectations that technology will provide us with the sole
solution to improving communication and workflow, but I¹d really like to
hear more ideas and stories about how other institutions are effectively
using collaboration applications. We narrowed down our list of possible
solutions to four: mediaWiki, drupal, typepad and Teams.

And since drupal consolidates many kinds of content (wiki, blog, RSS, etc.)
we felt that it was the product most worth looking at. Yeah...simple,
right?

One of our graduate students did most of the initial research into
the applications and he presented his findings to some members of the
department who lead academic technology and some who lead administrative
technology. We started zinging ideas and brainstorms until we happened upon
the real solution: we want the whole enchilada.

We want tools that help us improve intra-departmental communication, manage
open-ended projects and communicate with those outside our institution. And
while we¹re at it, can¹t this same system be used for distance learning and
course management? Can¹t we have galleries of student work, class lectures
from instructors and course reminders?

Oh yeah, and we want to be mostly free and standards based and EASY to use.

Spang Bovey
(http://connect.educause.edu/blog/nspang/lms_vs_social_software/2540) and
William Allen (http://connect.educause.edu/blog/wallen/end_of_lms/16635)
have interesting posts about the future (or not) of LMS systems. We have
decided to take a divide and conquer approach < I will spend a bit more time
with drupal and see if it meets our needs (with a focus on communication,
collaboration and project sharing) and my academic counterpart will spend
time with moodle and other systems to see what they might offer.

Thoughts, experiences, warnings and insights much appreciated!

ISO Project communication tools

smiltenb — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 21:01:29 -0600

For the past two weeks I've been trying to identify and assess web based applications that would meet several needs within the broad umbrella of project communication/management:

provide a quick overview of what's happening on a given project
have a component that could be used for documentation
be multi-layered (a public component available without login; a private component for authenticated users only)
provide distribution components (RSS...)
standards based
has a simple and easy-to-use interface
hosted externally or internally
provide multiple views of content (via tagging, grouping...)

I've been surprised at how hard it has been to find an application that meets many of these needs.

I've been playing with SharePoint for a few months but feel that the learning curve to make it an effective and organic tool is significant. Basecamp is a bit too simple. I entertained the idea (suggested by our brilliant Director of Administrative Systems, Ted Simpson) of using Educause Connect (but it lacks the overview and cohesive functions we're looking for).
A straight-up wiki application might be the closest thing I've found; yet something is missing (perhaps the calendar/overview features). I have the feeling that the solution is much simpler and more obvious than is apparent to me.

This is a request for your ideas and suggestions about good solutions for web based project tools.

Speechi blog is now bilingual

catherine — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 09:37:31 -0500

Since March 2005, France's Speechi has had a company blog covering all things Speechi-related, plus op. ed. on issues in software development, e-learning standards, and ICT. Originally available only in French, the blog is now bilingual, joining a growing web of French resources on blogs, educational technology, and design.

Author Thierry Klein's English is slightly idiosyncratic, but his blog gives external readers an interesting perspective on the e-learning landscape in France / Europe. Thierry's writing is colourful and opinionated, and his blog has generated several interesting debates on issues such as the origin and value of the term "rapid learning" (sadly for non-linguists, discussions are still mostly in French).

OS note: Speechi software is not currently Open Source (see the op ed piece on this issue by Speechi's Thierry), however, the company claims that various issues pertaining to OS -- interoperability, philosophy etc. -- are "under consideration". Difficult to see how the company could move wholesale to OS, though, given that their Speechi Live product uses Skype (which is still free -- for now -- but not OS). For the moment, Speechi Lite is available as a free download.

Speechi is a presentation / communication tool developed by a small company (Wouarf SARL) based in Lille, France. Their product lets you record an oral presentation and then make it available over the web, using PowerPoint and Flash. It can also be coupled to an interactive whiteboard, capturing the written annotations made by the presenter during a presentation.