Online Collaboration Tools for Students

October 29, 2021 - 7 min read

Kelechi Udoagwu

Online and remote learning has exploded in the months since the COVID-19 pandemic. Lockdowns in many countries resulted in schools closing, leading parents and teachers to seek alternatives to keep students engaged with learning and schoolwork. This created a growing market for online collaboration tools for students.

Fortunately, many software providers offer varied options for online collaboration tools for education. Students can collaborate with classmates and peers outside their schools, sharing learning resources and gaining additional skills, like digital asset management, online collaboration and teamwork, and time management.

Why use online collaboration tools as a student?

Collaboration tools for students are crucial to enabling effective distance learning. However, these tools provide more benefits than that.

Online learning collaboration tools recreate the feeling of community in in-person classes. With the right online collaboration tools, students can:

Learn in new and exciting ways
Learn from students in different parts of the world
Create an organized and accessible repository of learning resources

These benefits can help students retain knowledge by building new experiences and learning habits. Using online collaboration platforms, students can build relationships with peers outside their schools and create learning communities, encouraging them to study.

Even as COVID-19 vaccinations are being distributed worldwide and schools reopen, we expect the best aspects of online collaboration for education to have a critical place in enabling learning and collaboration for today's students.

Features to look for in online collaboration tools for students

Online collaboration tools for students add a human connection to remote learning. When choosing a tool for yourself or your class, the most important features to look for should include communication tools, media sharing, file storage, and adequate security.

Below, we have compiled a list of essential features to look for in online collaboration tools for students:

Chat and communication: To send updates and nurture a sense of community between students, peers, and teachers
Search and organization: To keep information and learning resources easily retrievable and organized
Accessibility and permissions: To limit access to private documents and maintain various levels of access to open programs, discussions, or resources
Security: To protect student data, identities, and web activities from malware and hackers
File sharing: To enable teachers and students to share and learn using multimedia assets and files
Cloud storage: To access information and schoolwork wherever there's an internet connection
Mobile applications: To continue learning and collaboration on the go, using smartphones
APIs and app integration: To connect and integrate with other useful school and education applications, making online collaboration easier for students and teachers

How to create a positive learning environment with online collaboration tools

School administrators must prioritize the creation of a safe environment for students to learn and collaborate without fear of bullying, trolling, and other cybersecurity concerns.

Choose a student collaboration tool with a high level of security. Teachers can allot some class time to share best practices for protecting students, themselves, and their work when collaborating online.

It's the responsibility of both students and teachers to ensure cybersecurity measures are enabled in their chosen online learning collaboration tools. Administrators can also increase security by enforcing additional measures like two-factor authentication to protect organizational data and assets.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of collaborating online?

As we mentioned above, there are advantages and disadvantages to students collaborating online.

Advantages of online collaboration tools for students include:

Improved communication and collaboration between students and peers, both within and outside their schools
An organized and accessible repository of learning resources
The opportunity to learn additional skills, making students more organized and savvy with collaboration technology and remote work habits

Disadvantages of online collaboration tools for students include:

Security concerns, including bullying and trolling
Less engagement compared to attending in-person classes
Extended learning curves, which may affect many students' education
Dependence on internet availability and modern smartphone devices to work effectively

Can you get free online collaboration tools for students?

Online collaboration tools for students come in many forms, sizes, and prices. Depending on your school and personal needs, you can find suitable free online collaboration tools. However, before getting attached to a free option, it’s important to test its functionalities and security standards.

Choose software with features built for students and teachers to achieve their best while collaborating safely from anywhere in the world. Your ideal online collaboration tools should satisfy essential student collaboration needs such as search and organization, accessibility and permissions, file sharing, and security.

While social platforms like Youtube and Discord provide free, global-reaching channels for student collaboration, these platforms were not created to enable focused learning and collaboration. They may end up as distractions, causing lower student engagement and productivity.

A project management tool like Wrike provides a free tier with functional online collaboration benefits for students, without the social disadvantages like trolling, bullying, distractions, and cyber-risks exposure. Wrike Freemium combines essential student collaboration needs in a fully-fledged project management and collaboration tool, enabling smoother teamwork between students.

Why use Wrike as an online collaboration tool for education?

While open social platforms like Youtube and Discord may be a good beginning for sharing ideas, media, and projects between students and teachers, schools and administrators should be more intentional in choosing online collaboration software for students.

Wrike is free for students and provides a high level of security, with functionalities and features created explicitly to enable student collaboration and project management. In the past, Wrike has lent support to student engineering projects, robotics teams, and race car teams by giving access to complimentary Wrike accounts with full professional features.

How to use Wrike as a free online collaboration tool for students

With e-learning and hybrid programs on the rise, it has never been more important to provide our collaboration features to all students. Using Wrike, schools and students can improve online collaboration to aid in assigning work, tracking progress, and sharing ideas.

Students can register for a free account with a valid .edu email address. They'll be able to invite up to 14 other students into their accounts to collaborate and manage work together.

If you're a student wondering if your school projects would benefit from Wrike, here are some popular student groups we have helped:

Formula SAE Collegiate Design Series teams
Google X Prize Competition teams
Business plan development for MBAs

Visit Wrike for Students to learn more and sign up today.

Kelechi Udoagwu

Kelechi is a freelance writer and founder of Week of Saturdays, a platform for digital freelancers and remote workers living in Africa.

#Remote Work #Team Collaboration #Tools & Software Advice

Leadership 7 min read

What is Employee Wellbeing and Why Does it Matter?

Employee wellbeing is a critical component of a healthy working environment and organization. Companies that promote wellbeing make it easier for employees to manage stress levels while also maintaining a positive and productive environment. Wellbeing can refer to mental and physical health, as well as more complex things such as satisfaction and engagement levels. In this article, we’ll explain what employee wellbeing is, why it matters, and how to create the best employee wellbeing program in a workplace using a project management solution. What is employee wellbeing? Employee wellbeing is defined as the overall mental, physical, emotional, and economic health of your employees. It’s influenced by various factors such as their relationships with co-workers, the decisions they make, and the tools and resources they have access to. Hours, pay, and workplace safety also have a significant impact on employee wellbeing. While it will vary from person to person, employee wellbeing should average out to a level that allows for a productive and healthy workplace. Outside factors contribute to employee wellbeing too. Stress around issues such as housing, health, and family all play a role in performance at work. However, employers can acknowledge they have no control over what takes place after hours while still taking responsibility for what they can do for their employees. According to a recent employee wellbeing study by Alight, less than half of U.S. employees have a positive perception of their overall wellbeing. Overall, there has been a major decline in employee wellbeing from early 2020 to mid-2021, even as employees return to work at the office again. Why does wellbeing at work matter? It is the employers' duty to provide their workers with the necessary support and care for their physical and mental health. Despite this, many organizations still don't have a dedicated wellbeing strategy. A wellbeing strategy can help employees feel valued and supported at work. It can also improve employee engagement and motivate teams companywide to reach their goals. One recent historical example of why it’s important to improve employee wellbeing comes from the United States film and entertainment industry. The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), which represents a wide range of technicians responsible for film and television production behind the scenes, recently considered a strike to improve employee wellbeing. Issues such as inhumane hours, inadequate rest, and inadequate pay are affecting all areas of employee health. In fact, many are now coming forward to explain how a lack of care and action towards improved employee wellbeing is affecting them on a personal level. Clearly, employee wellbeing is a fundamental building block of all organizations. Even if your company is smaller or in a different field, you may still find that there are plenty of meaningful ways to improve the quality of life for everyone involved. Being proactive about employee wellbeing now can improve or even save lives in the future. The advantages of good employee health and wellbeing When employees feel well, they tend to perform better. This increases productivity and helps employees develop better habits. Studies show that workers are 13% more productive when happy. Habits such as healthy and consistent work/life balance policies from management are a good example of how employers can help increase joy. These habits also ensure business continuity, even during busy seasons. Good employee health and wellbeing also leads to higher employee morale. When employees have their needs met, they feel valued and competent as a result. As one corporate wellness program points out, “it’s also about preventing lost time due to absenteeism, stress, and illness. These issues cost many companies far more money than traditional healthcare costs”. Although great employee morale is, in itself, the biggest benefit for companies, preventing foreseeable problems like these is also important. If you’re recruiting or plan to recruit in the next year, creating a plan to improve employee wellbeing can help you attract and retain skilled individuals. For example, 38% of Gen Z job seekers consider a healthy working environment to be their number one factor in choosing a company to work for. Benefits such as increased sick days and mental health services go a long way toward enticing top talent from this generation to apply. Even if you’re not hiring now, an employee wellbeing program can also help you avoid losing talented candidates now. Many companies have learned firsthand that treating employees well is the key to creating a great customer experience. Simply having a happy and satisfied staff has been shown to improve the way clients feel too. As HR Zone points out, this is especially important in the wake of the pandemic, as many customer-facing employees have dealt with extreme emotions and demands from people experiencing prolonged stress from the pandemic. That, combined with safety measures making it difficult to engage in activities most people use to destress, makes it even more important for employers to take responsibility in this area. The challenges of wellness initiatives in the workplace One of the biggest challenges of wellness initiatives in the workplace is setting and measuring goals. Getting a clear idea of what your current employee wellbeing looks like can be tricky. Not only is it subjective, but some employees may not feel comfortable responding truthfully in case their complaints come back to haunt them. For that reason, even anonymous surveys may not give the whole picture. Many traditional incentive programs rely on metrics such as blood pressure and body mass index, but these are often inaccurate too. As a result, many companies are now asking their workers to provide their health information in exchange for insurance plans that are higher-cost. This practice could put older workers and part-time employees at financial risk if they are unable to make up the difference in the cost at their current wage. Another issue is execution. Some companies may not be able to provide the programs that they promised to offer. Or if they do take action, the resources and policies they endorse may not be widely used. Having a constant eye on employee reactions to the program and obtaining feedback can help solve this problem. How to create an effective employee wellbeing program with Wrike Truthfully, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to designing an employee wellbeing strategy. That’s because it should be based on the unique needs and characteristics of your organization. However, if you create a more robust framework to promote mental health, you’ll not only improve the culture surrounding employee wellbeing, but you’ll also improve the lives of everyone involved. That’s where an employee wellbeing program comes in. An effective employee wellbeing program begins with strong communication. To have strong communication, you’ll need to introduce formal project management software for implementing your program. Doing so will show senior leaders and employees that everyone understands the seriousness of workplace health and wellbeing. It’s also a great way to test out, measure, and get feedback on initiatives. Next, you’ll need a project management solution to bring employee wellbeing from theoretical to practical. Even the best intentions fall short when action steps aren’t assigned and carried out. Use Wrike to create a project timeline or to separate employee wellbeing initiatives into quarterly goals. Then, add project phases for program implementation. After, you can begin adding specific tasks such as announcing the program, creating documents explaining the benefits, and facilitating feedback from current employees. Include individual deadlines for each task and assign them to specific managers to ensure that someone is accountable. Wrike can also help you manage and organize goal-related data. Ask for employee feedback and reports from managers directly on the platform. Use @mentions to grab the attention of individuals who need to turn in related paperwork and let them know what’s missing. Once those are collected, you can also securely store documents and manage permission settings within the platform. If your employee wellbeing program is already underway, Wrike can help you manage common health issues employees face at one point or another. For example, if you're noticing signs of employee burnout, Wrike's Workload Charts will help management see and evaluate individual tasks across all projects on one screen to avoid the detrimental effects of assignment overload. Ready to improve employee health and wellbeing? Sign up for a free trial and get started today.

Collaboration 10 min read

Making Mistakes at Work: What to Do if You're in the Wrong

All of us have felt the fear of admitting when we’ve made a mistake at work. We may be terrified to tell our manager, or nervous about the impact our mistake could have on the business. But mistakes are completely normal and should be viewed as an opportunity to grow. This article aims to provide a deeper insight into why this fear of making mistakes at work exists and how to overcome it. We’ll also provide advice to managers on how to react and problem solve collaboratively as a team. Why is there a fear of making mistakes at work? Making mistakes at work can be scary. This is especially true if you’re the sole breadwinner of your household or rely on your position for everyday expenses like rent. When the stakes are high, it’s normal to worry about what-if scenarios when something goes wrong. In rare cases, extreme perfectionism is diagnosed as atelophobia which is the extreme fear of making mistakes. While these are all valid reactions, making mistakes at work can actually improve your relationship with management and provide opportunities for self-improvement. But first things first, you have to adjust your mindset and overcome those fear-based feelings that are keeping you paralyzed. Overcoming the anxiety of making mistakes at work If you’re like most people, you probably feel a knot in your stomach when something goes wrong at work. It could have been a minor mishap that no one noticed or a major mistake that cost your company a huge sum of money. Regardless of what happened, overcoming the anxiety of making mistakes at work is the first step to finding a solution. If you skip this part of the process, you may find yourself covering up issues that could have been fixed, making things worse long-term, or even getting found out by your boss. Follow these steps to overcoming work-related stress and bounce back stronger than before after you’ve messed up: Step 1: Process your emotions It’s natural to feel frustrated and embarrassed when something goes wrong at work. But, after a few seconds, the feeling should pass and you can begin to think logically. If it doesn’t happen quickly, take some time to process these emotions. Talk it out with a trusted friend, voice journal about it in your car, or take a walk outside to get some fresh air before starting fresh. It can be hard to maintain a sense of balance when you’re upset. Try to make sure that your emotional response is proportional to the mistake you made. Step 2: Keep perspective If you make an error at work, it’s likely not a life-or-death situation. Most of the time, it can be corrected or resolved quickly. If you don’t find the right perspective, your mind may get too focused on the negative consequences of your mistake, which can trigger more errors in the future. Step 3: Acknowledge the mistake If you need to apologize for an error, do it quickly and politely. If it’s a small issue, a sentence or two via email or chat messenger is enough to make amends. If it’s a larger issue, consider holding a meeting or giving your manager a quick phone call. Also, make sure to tell your boss about how you intend to prevent this mistake in the future. Step 4: Review your response It’s so easy to get distracted by all your other goals and projects that you can forget about anything else that went wrong before you got to this point. Taking the time to review your response to the mistake helps you improve in case it ever happens again. Ask yourself questions. Do you make the same mistake over and over again? If so, what changes can you make to prevent this from happening? Step 5: Practice self-care Getting back into a healthy routine can help you release pent-up energy and prevent making mistakes at work in the future. To some, the concept of self-care may seem like a trend or luxury. But making sure you’re feeling your best is critical for improving your confidence and your performance at work. Issues such as sleep deprivation, poor nutrition, and dehydration can lead to mistakes you otherwise wouldn’t have made if you had been taking better care of yourself. Step 6: Evaluate your own performance The easiest way to earn people's trust is to consistently deliver stellar work. Even though you may have failed in the past, there's still time to move on and create a successful and rich working life. Remember, a mistake or two over the course of an otherwise successful period will not make or break your career. How should managers react to mistakes at work? Managers are responsible for reacting to and assisting employees with mistakes at work. Even in the most high-pressure situations, doing so with care is not only good for morale but will prevent similar mistakes in the future. How a manager reacts to mistakes at work can make all the difference between transformational leadership and losing otherwise great employees. Great managers understand that we can all learn from our mistakes. Mistakes help us develop as individuals and as a team. Great managers can also recognize when they themselves have made mistakes. Before you approach a team member, take a close look at yourself to see if you're really worried about their work. If so, what do you think about their performance? Who is responsible for their work so far? You may find that you’ve contributed to the environment, the process, or the miscommunication that made the mistake possible. Reflecting on this ahead of time will relieve everyone of playing the blame game and instead solve the problem from a fair and level-headed place. Additionally, managers should make sure that each mistake is a teaching moment. It may be hard but don't try to fix the problem. Instead, frame it as an opportunity to improve and develop. When approaching an employee who has made a mistake, start by being curious about it. Ask questions about what happened and what their perspective is on the situation. Use active listening skills when speaking to team members, as it will let them know that you are paying attention. They may fess up immediately. If they take the blame for something that wasn’t their fault, which is pretty common, address that. If they don’t admit to making a mistake, approach the situation with care and focus on the issue, not placing blame. Give the team members the autonomy to figure it out on their own. Then, provide your feedback in a fair and balanced manner. Afterward, encourage them to learn from it and avoid repeating the same mistake. When communicating with an employee who has made a mistake, in-person meetings are often best. However, many teams are now made up of contractors, gig workers, and freelancers who work remotely so a physical location is not always accessible. If that’s the case, lean on digital tools to illustrate the issue. For example, reports and individual task assignment lists from project management tools. These can also be used to prevent future mistakes, as managers can easily use them to communicate the actions and behaviors expected of team members and improve the overall work management process. There may be times when mistakes happen over and over again. If that’s the case, the employee may be engaging in a pattern of behavior that keeps them from performing at their best. Managers can step in and provide ideas for healthy habits that will prevent the same type of mistake from cropping up again. For example, you can ask a marketing team member to overcome a common marketing mistake of missing a content publishing deadline by writing a to-do list every day. This will help them stay on top of their tasks while also motivating them to finish their work at the same time. In a nutshell, it’s important to understand that punishment for infrequent mistakes is unfair and ineffective. These mistakes offer opportunities to improve, which both managers and employees can embrace. How to admit a mistake in a professional environment You may end up in a situation in a professional environment where an apology is needed. And when it comes to making mistakes at work, honesty is the best policy. Certain actions can break trust, but an apology can help rebuild it. In your explanation, it's important to detail why you acted the way you did. It shows that you care about how those around you are affected by your actions. It's important to address the person you're apologizing to by name, regardless of their status. Having an open conversation can help both of you understand the other person better, and it can prevent an insincere apology from happening. If the mistake you made affected someone personally, it's important to validate the feelings of the other person. Having the courage to admit that you're sorry can make a huge difference in how people treat you. Take responsibility for your actions and have a plan in place for how to make amends before you approach the appropriate person or people. Having a plan in place shows that you're thinking about how to make things right. You may even want to read about examples of taking responsibility at work and model your behavior on whichever feels appropriate for the situation. However, don’t get carried away and make promises you can’t keep. It's important to set goals that are realistic so that you can avoid repeating the mistake. If your apology is accepted, you can then try negotiating a solution by asking the other person to reflect on the situation and consider their feelings. After you apologize, make a greater effort to keep your promises and not repeat the same mistake. Doing so can help improve the situation and make the other person feel more comfortable. How to learn from mistakes at work It's important to come clean and admit your mistake, but it's also important to move forward with a positive mindset. You'll most likely feel a bit down about your mistake right after it happens. But by learning from it, you can improve and become more resilient in the long run. Start by creating a plan for improvement. If you made a minor mistake, then creating personal goals and action plans will help you put those lessons into action. You can learn a universal lesson from nearly any situation, no matter how unique it is. For example, if you learned that a mistake was made because of your forgetfulness, implementing organizational strategies to improve your memory could help. Next, keep track of progress over time in a notebook or virtual document. Be sure to note the highlights along with the lowlights. Look for patterns. As they come up, add them to your action plan or personal goals list. Monitor whether or not these changes have led to better, more consistent outcomes. If not, adjust and keep going. Lastly, don't be afraid to ask for help if you're unsure which strategy or tool will work best for you. Managers are there to support your performance. If you approach them with honesty and vulnerability, they’ll likely be flattered you thought to ask. They may even offer advice or make changes that will improve productivity for you and the rest of the team. In conclusion The pressure to perform at a high level can often result in mistakes and inefficient habits. Learn from your mistakes and take ownership of them. Communicate in an open and honest manner. Ask for or provide help when needed and remember that every new mistake is also an opportunity for better performance. How Wrike can help you avoid unnecessary mistakes at work With so many files, folders, updates, and chat threads to keep track of, mistakes are easily made when you try to get through your day without a work management platform. Wrike offers a variety of features to help you stay on top of your workload easily, and avoid unnecessary confusion that can lead to mistakes at work. Full project visibility, including real-time updates and approvals, means that you can ensure every stakeholder is informed of what you're working on, with your tasks going to the correct approver every time. One shared space with over 400 app integrations means communication has never been easier, no matter where you or your team are based. And Wrike's Automation Engine allows you to streamline your processes and automate the time-consuming admin tasks that, when tackled manually, can easily be done incorrectly. Try it out for yourself with a free two-week trial.

Collaboration 10 min read

Meeting Etiquette Tips You Should Know

As meetings grow more frequent, it's easy to forget what makes meetings effective in the first place. Time is taken for granted, and instead of collaborating, most attendees are checked out: either working on something else or holding side conversations.

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Online Collaboration Tools for Students

Why use online collaboration tools as a student?

Features to look for in online collaboration tools for students

How to create a positive learning environment with online collaboration tools

What are the advantages and disadvantages of collaborating online?

Can you get free online collaboration tools for students?

Why use Wrike as an online collaboration tool for education?

How to use Wrike as a free online collaboration tool for students

Kelechi Udoagwu

Online Collaboration Tools for Students

Why use online collaboration tools as a student?

Features to look for in online collaboration tools for students

How to create a positive learning environment with online collaboration tools

What are the advantages and disadvantages of collaborating online?

Can you get free online collaboration tools for students?

Why use Wrike as an online collaboration tool for education?

How to use Wrike as a free online collaboration tool for students

Kelechi Udoagwu

Related articles

What is Employee Wellbeing and Why Does it Matter?

Making Mistakes at Work: What to Do if You're in the Wrong

Meeting Etiquette Tips You Should Know

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