Monday, November 7, 2011

Cool Tools


If your classes are anything like mine, November means you are drowning in a flood of group projects.  It never fails that I am involved with at least one, if not more, group projects each semester.  And regardless of whether you like them or not, group projects are here to stay. 

One of the most difficult aspects of a group project is often finding a time when everyone can meet.  Since these meetings are often few and far between, groups generally rely on emails and attachments to communicate.  This often means that one individual is responsible for editing the paper or creating a presentation.  The individual then emails the paper to everyone to look over and they email back their suggestions and/or corrections.  While this method works, there has to be an easier way.  Enter the Zimbra Briefcase and Documents feature.  

Zimbra Briefcase
As part of the Zimbra email program that all K-State students have access to, the Zimbra Briefcase provides a place to store important files.  The files—including word processing documents, spreadsheets and photos—can then be accessed anytime, anywhere and then shared with select individuals (ie your group members). 

Zimbra Documents
Zimbra Documents lets you create and upload a variety of documents to allow for wiki-style collaboration and editing.  In other words, instead of emailing an attachment of your group’s paper to each member, you can simply upload it to Zimbra Documents.  This allows all editing to be done in one central location by multiple people.  

Pretty cool, huh?  Start using Zimbra Briefcase and Documents today to simplify your group projects!