There are quite a few sites which offer applications for sharing and collaborating on documents, these are the sites that I have tried on different occasions, if you know of more please add:
GoogleDocs - online collaborative word processing
http://docs.google.com
YourDraft - Online draft - shared editing - No registration neccessary
http://www.yourdraft.com
WriteWith - online collaborative word processing
http://writewith.com/
Zoho Writer - online collaborative word processing
http://writer.zoho.com/
WriteBoard - online collaborative word processing
http://writeboard.com/

The applications share similarities and differences. So far I have found google docs very useful for working with my team - it enabled us to build and refine our curriculum online, from home, instead of spending extra hours in school.

I hope next year to use google docs with my students for both individual and group work.

Tags: documents, reviews

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If you send me a message through the c20 messaging system, I should be able to mail you an invite
Thanks for the invitation - Youfig.com is very different to other document sharing apps I have tried.

The actual work takes part in two frames which appear side by side. One frame holds discussions based on the topic or document that is being created. The other frame holds the document itself. The document appears locked when it is being edited by someone else, it is possible to send them a request to release the lock, in order to take over editing.

Each document can be collaborated on by 8 people. These people can be invited by various means, from the youfig network, by email, from your own group of contacts on youfig.

It is possible to see the different versions of the documents and compare them.

It is possible to embed videos and pictures in the documents. It is also possible to edit the html of the document

Docs can be saved as text files or html

There is a private messaging system, you decide who can contact you through the system.

I'm still learning the app and there are, it seems some features which are not quite ready yet, but all in all a much fuller (and more fun) experience than other collaborative docs I have tried.
Google docs works great with students. OF course, you have to have a district that isn't paranoid. I just learned that our Network Services dept. shut down access to Google Docs over the Summer. DOH!
Do you know why they shut down access to google docs? Do you have Google apps for education
We don't know for sure. My GUESS is that they didn't like that kids could CHAT inside of the spreadsheet app (that little window on the bottom right). Our network services dept. seems very rigid in their understandings of things. Well meaning, of course; but not the way teachers work with kids.

No, we don't have google apps for education. I really don't know anything about them, but since our district uses a purchased student management system fro discipline and grades, I doubt they'll want to spend money for anything. DOH!
The reason I ask is that google apps for education is a free version of some of the Google applications, specifically for schools, with the option of turning off ads in the email, and also using a shared contact book for all addresses using the school domain. The google apps for education version of docs can be set up so that collaboration is only allowed for users within the school domain.
It might be worth checking out. here is the info and sign up page http://www.google.com/a/edu/
I was going to use google docs "under the radar" but unfortunately I'm teaching in the only school in the district using Safari (that's NOT the problem, I like Safari) but we're in version 1 or 2 and the district refuses to upgrade to 3.0, so we can't use Google Docs. How asinine is that? I don't even the actual use of Google Docs would upset anyone, but because of a silly upgrade being refused, I'm thwarted. Grrr. I really like Docs and will probably just wait til I can use them rather than trying out another site. I'll keep checking back, though...........I'm just so sold on the spreadsheet and presentation capabilities.
I've used Google Docs and Your Draft with my students, and they've both worked well.

Here are a few other web applications for online collaboration, though I don't think they're worth using unless the other two are blocked by District filters:

Think Free
http://www.thinkfree.com/common/main.tfo

Scribble Wiki
http://scribblewiki.com/main.php

Skrbl
http://www.skrbl.com/
Hi Susan, heres hoping you are well.

Recently I have seen a move to more complete apps.

www.stixy.com
www.spruz.com

Linking the collaboration with more features. I am sure this area will move in this direction. We use google apps in many forms - mail, calenders, doc, spreasheets. It does all that we need and more and therefore have been rather slow in reviewing others..... hope you well. Kristian
Hey Kristian, apart from suffering web20 overload I'm fine and hope you are too. Signed up and tried out so many apps, that occasionally I reach a site which I've signed up for before and totally forgotten about.

As you say, google does seem to cover all the basics and then some, I guess I keep looking for more so that I will have a fallback if needed, and also because I like to see the innovative ideas of the different developers.

I tried stixy last week, but for some reason haven't been back since. Maybe I simply forgot to go back - senility is a scary thing

Spruz looks interesting thanks for that. Have a great year, susan
Wow Spruz is something else! so many options, I particularly like the option of the step by step guide in the page builder, which actually highlights on the editor itself what you should do next and then lets you do it, and of course the fact that these explanations can be listened to at the same time. Shame about the placing of the ads - wonder if it's possible to move them.
Mm. Just went to writewith. Call me fuddy-duddy perhaps, but the 'in your face' list of ring tones and porn links (yes, I'm not sure which is worse!) is quite disconcerting. It certainly renders it useless for my students.

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