Let’s Experiment with Different Digital Education and Collaboration Tools
With COVID-19, millions of students across the world have transitioned to online learning. Needless to say, my master’s studies were also moved online. Having taken online classes on platforms such as Coursera, Udacity, and Udemy, I was used to online learning. I had also worked in a tech company where half of my team was scattered globally — so our team collaboration happened in the virtual world. However, when classes transitioned online, I quickly noticed how many of the digital educational tools used at school did not adequately meet the needs of students. The tools were inefficient and did not encourage collaboration or innovation.
The psychologist in me was curious to see how offline classes will transition to the online world. I noticed that even though many people (myself included) say that they are open to innovative ideas, we tend to be more resistant to changes than we would like to admit. Professors continued to lecture at students, and Google Doc was often space where teams shared ideas. Very few of my professors challenged the status quo by considering new ways of teaching online or using digital tools or new arrangements to encourage creativity and collaboration.
One of my professors (Beth Altringer) introduced Milanote. Beth’s class is on Product Design, so we constantly need to brainstorm, prototype and synthesize. Before COVID-19, my teams would brainstorm in person and would use GSuite to collaborate. I have been surprised by how fun and smooth my experience with Milanote has been. Team members, who were initially hesitant to sign up for yet another digital platform, were also excited as our projects progressed.
Individually, I also began experimenting with new options such as Coda, Shape, and Figma — all of which are great products and I can talk about in another post. The more I play around with these tools, the more I believe that good digital tools for teams are an incredible opportunity to foster creativity and collaboration online.
Milanote: A Cool and Visual Collaborative Environment for Individuals and Teams
Since I have been using Milanote for a team project lately, I thought I should briefly share my experience with it. If you are feeling adventurous, and are willing to move beyond Zoom and Google Doc to test a new tool, try Milanote. It is especially useful for creative and design-related projects
What is Milanote? Milanote is a web-based note-taking app. Think of it as your project board, virtual whiteboard, and visual organizer. It has been making my team experience more creative and organized. With Milanote, you can:
- Gather and synthesize your sources of inspiration: I have been using Milanote to create mood boards, throw ideas, and easily put what is in my brain on a “white” board.
- Clearly show sequence and relationships between ideas: I find myself gravitating towards using arrows to signal relationships and connections between different ideas and parts of the project.
- Show project sequence clearly: Milanote is also great at creating a digital “map” of project outline and sequence, where you can use both texts, colors, and images to convey your project and share your findings.
If you are an educator, a creative individual, or are working with teams virtually, do you believe you are already using the right digital tool and methodologies? If you are a student, what has been your experience like especially as you learn and work with teams? I am actually very curious! I am still exploring cool digital education and collaboration tools. Feel free to share any ideas with me. I am excited to test new tools out.
