Online Collaboration Tools

OBEY YOUR MASTERS on 08/04/2022 - 13:22
Last edited 08/04/2022 - 13:24

I thought I would put this to the ozbargain team to see if anyone had any ideas. I wasn't sure whether to put this in the computing forum or here.

My son is in grade 6 and lives away from me with his mother. I am trying to become more involved with his schooling but it's very difficult when I live a considerable distance away. Moving closer isn't really an option at this point in time.

We both have good PCs and gaming headsets that we use to game with each other in our spare time. I'm thinking that if we can find some type of online collaboration software that I could be more involved with his homework.

We tried screen sharing before with discord and I was explaining the difference between perimeter and area and how to calculate them for different shapes and it was truly awful. We had to take turns at sharing screens when the other one wanted to show something to the other.

Ideally what I want to do is have some type of whiteboard/scratchpad which we can draw sketches and shapes and type words as well. Kind of like where both people are standing at a whiteboard and can talk and draw at the same time. Editing documents together would be a win as well so I can sort out some of his punctuation.

It seems like a tool like this should already exist but most of what I have found is heavily geared towards project management and large teams which is confusing and not helpful. A lightweight tool that allows a couple of people to brainstorm together simultaneously is what is needed.

Education & Work

Comments

  • spackbace on 08/04/2022 - 13:32
    +3

    Could go a bit simpler and simply use a good quality webcam and a whiteboard…?

    • OBEY YOUR MASTERS on 08/04/2022 - 14:46

      Yes but we would both need a whiteboard each

      • spackbace on 08/04/2022 - 14:49

        Yes, yes you would…

        • OBEY YOUR MASTERS on 08/04/2022 - 14:55

          Although probably the simplest approach it may not be the optimal one. Particularly if we can't edit the same work on the same whiteboard. It's 2022 after all. Like I said, you'd think there would be an existing tool available.

  • 01001101 01000010 on 08/04/2022 - 13:34
    +5

    You could try MS Teams, it has a whiteboard feature that you can both use at the same time.

  • tabz on 08/04/2022 - 13:35
    +3

    If you need a collaborative whiteboarding tool, I highly recommend using https://www.tldraw.com/

    You can create a collaborative project by selecting the arrow at the top left and selecting "Create a Multiplayer Project".

    Editing documents together would be a win as well so I can sort out some of his punctuation.

    Use Google Docs for this

    • OBEY YOUR MASTERS on 08/04/2022 - 15:00
      +1

      Brilliant! So easy and quick.

      I tried adding myself in a second browser and you can easily see how it works. We can chat over discord as while using this tool.

      Thanks for the input.

  • freefall101 on 08/04/2022 - 13:40
    +3

    MS Teams for Home sounds like it'd be perfect. It has a whiteboard in there and IMO it's pretty easy to use. I use it generally for one on one stuff at work, not big collaboration stuff and it's easy. https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/microsoft-teams/teams-for-ho…

  • notfrodo on 08/04/2022 - 14:13

    For editing docs - Google docs
    For whiteboard - Microsoft Whiteboard, Miro or if the work is mostly on PDF then Drawboard pdf (they have a web app as well here pdf.drawboard.com)

  • Cheaplikethebird on 08/04/2022 - 14:32
    +1

    You should be able to do everything you need with a free Miro subscription.

    • OBEY YOUR MASTERS on 08/04/2022 - 16:22

      Miro looks like it might be more comprehensive than what I need but I'll take a look at it too. Thanks.

    • barge-in hunter on 08/04/2022 - 16:48

      Second this. Great tool

  • SkyArrow on 08/04/2022 - 14:37
    +1

    I recommend Excalidraw as a math whiteboard - it supports saving to the cloud, as well as locally in both a modifiable and image formats. It's much snappier than Miro, for instance.

    As others have said, Google Docs is the best for editing documents collaboratively.

    • OBEY YOUR MASTERS on 08/04/2022 - 16:21

      Very cool. Similar to tldraw. Might even be better.

    • tabz on 08/04/2022 - 20:58

      Didn't know about Excalidraw, but it seems really good. Thanks for this.

  • digressfool on 08/04/2022 - 14:57
    +6

    Waiting for rektrading to recommend putting it in the blockchain

    • spackbace on 08/04/2022 - 14:59
      +8

      Using 10 emojis at least

    • [Deactivated] on 08/04/2022 - 15:13
      +1

      or wait for kangal to recommend some ultra techy app or gadget!

      • digressfool on 08/04/2022 - 15:13

        Pfft Google Glass could do that back in 2010!

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