Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Collaborative Information

Whoops so I haven't been quite constant with my posts since last time. There are alot of things to do and its been quite difficult to find the time to do it, which brings us to this topic: collaborative information.

Collaboration with others is usually always a good thing, it reduces time and effort and like the proverb goes "two heads are better than one". I wish I had a constant companion to share stories and ideas with and sometimes its hard to collaborate with others when we all have busy schedules. This is where the wonders of the internet comes in play. There are many online tools available to help people collaborate to overcome the obstacles of distance and time.

I was recently introduced of one: padlet.com
It is an interesting resource for collaboration. Think of it like putting sticky notes on a wall...but better. You have the basic concept: writing a piece of information and placing it on the wall. You can move it around and organize separate thoughts into groups or maybe just for aesthetic purposes. Now here's the creative part. You can also stylize the design of the wall to your liking, add images and resources, easily edit anything on there and best of all you can share the url with whomever!
Here's a sample of what padlet is like:

With this ability others can contribute to the wall where ever and whenever and that's what you call collaboration across time and space! Sounds cool when I put it that way.
But what other resources can one have for online collaboration?
Padlet sure seems nice but it feels like a tool for brainstorming and a mix-match of ideas. Can there other sources to help write articles or documents, something people are always using?
Of course there is!
I'm sure we all know of at least one tool. Google docs! Think of it of using Microsoft Office online and with others. Ta-da! As a student, if we need to write and correct papers or presentations without huddling over one screen or the back and forth of transmission of files with revisions, we can! Get the gist? Online collaboration has become so much easier in this day and age (but you still need to find people to collaborate with. That is more of a personal obstacle).
What other tools are there that is more specific to lets say a programmer?
*Raises hand* "titanpad.com"

Haha, so titanpad.com is really just a simple typing resource but the format of it is so much like the ones people use in programming. Here's a sample:
Like other online collaboration tools you can just give the url to someone and they can join in on the fun!
Titanpad is arranged by numbered lines, perfect for a programmer and you can even see who wrote what by the color coding of the authors. Its an excellent way of dividing up tasks and seeing who is responsible for what is typed. There is even a way to export the project after your done or whatnot. Titanpad allows you to export the document as an HTML, PDF file, Microsoft Word document, or plain text and a couple more formats. It really is a nice way to do collaborative coding.