2. Collaboration tools
- Discussion tools
- Messaging platforms
- Collaborative documents
- Online meetings and videoconferencing
- Tools to schedule team meetings
- Tools for team tasks
There are many great online tools that can help you collaborate on assignments and projects.
Check the privacy settings of any tool that you use so that you have some control over the availability of your data. Try to lock access so that only your group can see any activity.
Email is the most common form of communication used at university and in the workplace.
At Charles Sturt the school account email address of username@student.csu.edu.au is not a functioning mailbox, and is used solely to gain access to your free Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus account.
For email communication at Charles Sturt students should use their preferred personal email address.
Discussion tools
Several Charles Sturt courses use discussion boards to allow students to collaborate with other students and staff members by posting or answering questions. This is a form of active learning that allows students to learn from different perspectives.
| Platform | Format | General help and tutorials | Charles Sturt-specific information |
| Brightspace | discussion forum | Brightspace Help – for staff | |
| Padlet | collaborative bulletin board | Padlet Help Centre | Padlet -for staff |
| Mentimeter | group feedback | Mentimeter Help Centre | Mentimeter – for staff |
Messaging platforms
Instant messaging platforms facilitate quick and effective communication between members. Some platforms allow you to share and store files so that you can refer to them at any time.
| Platform | Help and Tutorials | Charles Sturt-specific information |
| Microsoft Teams | Sign in and get started with Teams | Microsoft Teams – staff |
| Slack | Slack help center | |
| Messenger | Messenger Help Centre | |
| WhatsApp Help Center | ||
| WeChat Help Center |
Collaborative documents
Collaborative documents allow multiple members to work simultaneously on a single document. This facilitates easy brainstorming sessions and an easy division of work as the document gets updated in real-time and provides details on the collaborator.
| Platform | Help and Tutorials | Charles Sturt-specific information |
| OneDrive | OneDrive help & learning | Microsoft Office 365 |
| Google Drive | Google Drive Help | |
| Canva | Getting Started with Canva |
Online meetings and videoconferencing
Virtual meetings are the new norm in a post-COVID world. At Charles Sturt your online lectures and classes will be delivered via a range of technology. You can access recorded lectures using CSU Replay; attend classes delivered on other campuses using videoconferencing technology; and use Zoom for live online classes, meetings or workshops.
| Platform | Help and Tutorials | Charles Sturt-specific information |
| Zoom | Zoom support | Zoom video conferencing |
| Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Teams help & learning | |
| Google Meet | Google Meet training and help |
Tools to schedule team meetings
It can be tricky to find a common time to have your team meetings. Here are some tools that can help you schedule a team meeting at a convenient time for all team members.
| Tool | Format | Help and Tutorials |
| When2meet | Add preferred times into calendar | About When2meet |
| Doodle Poll | Group polling to assess availability | Get started with Doodle |
| Calendly | Interactive customised calendar | Getting started with Calendly |
Tools for team tasks
These tools can help you perform group tasks.
| Tool | Format | Help and Tutorials |
| Trello | Project organisation | Getting started with Trello |
| Tricider | Group decision making | Tricider demo [YouTube, 1m27s] |
| Reasons.io | Argument mapping | Getting Started with Reasons.io |
