Virtual
Collaboration
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Trademark of SRI International |
eGroups.com provides a gathering place on the Internet for your
group to send and receive emails, schedule meetings, share files and photos, or have
private group chats. It is an excellent vehicle for internal communication and
collaboration. Free eGroups can be created by accessing http://www.egroups.com.
| Components of eGroups: |
Group Email
Fast and easy email lists:
- Send one email to your whole group by typing just one message
- Manage your group with complete control and flexibility
- Receive email or view a complete history of group messages on a Web
bulletin board.
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Group Calendar
Access your group calendar from anywhere:
- Schedule meetings and events
- Send automatic email reminders
- Overlay your personal and group calendars to see everything at
once
- Use the Calendar or Polling functions to set up an online meeting
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Group Document Vault
Store and share files securely:
- Share photos, MP3s, team rosters, class assignments or any other
group document
- Add documents to the Vault with one click
- Keep or bookmark favorite Web sites
- Get anytime, anywhere access to your files
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Group Chat and Talk
Chat/talk to your group members for free:
- Use Talk as a free Internet voice telephone, even for long distance
calls
- Talk to all your friends at once without paying a cent for three-way
calling or conference calls
- Schedule a group chat in your private chat room, or just drop in to
see who's there
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Group Information
- Update to current group description, upcoming events
- View member information which includes email addresses and contact
information
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Database
- Create multiple databases
- Contains up to 10 fields that can be stored in ascending/descending
order
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| Polls Create polls
for feedback from members for team consensus |
Links Internet
resources (URLs) with descriptions of sites. |
Access Control?
- Moderator control who has access.
- Anytime/anywhere access
- 24-hour access from any Internet browser anywhere in the world via a
password-protected Web-site
eGroups FAQ (from Newsletter for eGroups managers)
How do I create an eGroup?
- Go to www.egroups.com
- Choose "Start an eGroup"
- Follow the directions on the screen – all you need is an email
address!
Top
How can I view more than 13
eGroup messages at a time?
- From the Home page, click My Space
- Click User Info
- Next to Default Settings, click Edit
- Under Table Size, select the number of rows you wish to view on a
page (13, 25, 50, or 100). This number will determine how many messages in the Archive or
addresses in the Member list you can view on a single page. Keep in mind that the fewer
rows you view on a page, the faster the page will load.
- Click Apply, and you're done!
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How can I change my eGroup
settings so that replies go to the sender, not to the group?
To change your eGroup's default Reply-To: settings:
- From My Space, select an eGroup you manage
- Click Manage
- Click Policies
- Under Reply-To:, select either "Replies to messages are sent to
the sender" or "Replies to messages are sent to the entire group"
- Click Apply Changes, and you're done!
You can also change your Reply-To: mode for individual replies without
changing the default setting. When replying to a post through the eGroups Web interface,
simply click the arrow to the right of the address in the To: field to choose between
replying to the sender or replying to the group.
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How can I change
my group description?
- From the eGroups.com Home page, click My Space
- Select one of your groups
- Click Manage
- Click Descriptions
- Under Description Format, choose HTML or Plain Text
- Type your text in the box marked Description
- Click Apply Changes to save your work
- Now click the Group Info tab to view your changes.
To give your site some personality you can use HTML to add links, color, graphics and
text formatting to your Group Info page. To add HTML formatting, choose HTML under Description
Format (see the fifth bullet above), and then place your code in the Description
box below. Here is an example:
<html>
<img src=http://www.teachers-connect.net/images/logo.jpg
pg>
<P>
The Teachers Connect eGroup provides an opportunity for North Carolina teachers to share
Internet projects, classroom activities, and ideas utilizing technology. North Carolina
teachers will be able to collaborate with other North Carolina teachers who are
integrating lesson plans tied to the North Carolina Standard Course of Study and placing
an emphasis on the New ABCs of Education.
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How can I designate Special
Posting Status for one or more members?
- From the Home page, click My Space
- Select one of the groups you manage
- Click Members
- Next to the member for whom you wish to designate special status,
click Edit
- In the field marked Posting, choose one of the following four options
from the drop-down menu:
- Use group policy - This is the default setting. All members are set
to "Use group policy" unless you specify otherwise
- Override: Allow this member to post - Allows member of a moderated
list to post directly to the group
- Override: Moderate posting by this member - Forces all posts from
this member to be approved by a moderator
- Override: Disallow posting by this member - Forbids this member from
posting to the group
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How do I use the calendars available
to me on eGroups?
The Calendar is a secure, password-protected environment that's
accessible from any device with Web access. You can even send out automatic email
reminders to yourself or your eGroup for all Calendar events.
To use your private calendar:
- Login to eGroups and click My Space
- From your My Space page, click Calendar
- Click the day and time of your event
- Fill in the Name and Description fields, and set the time for email
reminders, if you like
- Click Done
Use your eGroups calendar to:
- Track repeat events
- Synchronize your personal and group calendars using the 'overlay'
feature.
- Manage your eGroup's schedule with daily, weekly or monthly viewing
options
- Send automatic reminders notifying yourself or eGroup members about
upcoming events
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How do I upload a file to the Vault?
- From the eGroups.com Home page, click My Space
- Select the group to which you will upload the file
- Click Vault
- If you wish to create a folder in which to place the file, click
Create New Folder. Then click on the folder to enter the file.
- Click Upload File
- Click Browse... to select the file from your computer
- Click Upload File, and you're done!
Back to FAQs
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TAPPED IN's virtual space is designed around the metaphor of a
conference center, with private rooms for individual groups and open areas for large
gatherings and special events. Teachers, teacher educators, researchers, staff developers
and other educators use the space to hold real-time discussions and classes, share
experiences and resources, hold informal meetings or planned conferences, conduct
collaborative inquiries, and meet new colleagues.
Components of TAPPED IN:
| Discussion Boards -- this
is an asynchronous environment that can be used to
plan real-time TAPPED IN activities or meetings, suggest resources, or discuss topics.
Messages can be posted via your web browser, and then read in TAPPED IN or subscribe to
receive them by email. The activities presently in TAPPED IN: |
GENERAL:
- ASO - After School Online comments and
background reading
- ON THE TAPIS - TAPPED IN monthly newsletter
and comments
- Resources - General teacher resources and
questions/suggestions
- Grants for Teachers - Grant information for
teachers
- Technology in the Classroom - Discuss the
role of technology in k-12 classrooms.
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SPECIFIC:
- K-8 Science Education Discussion Group
The High School Science Education Discussion Group
- Digital Imaging and Visualization Discussion Group
- Web Ethics and Copyright Issues Discussion Group
SETUP Fellows
Teaching Steps to Tolerance teachers (Museum of
Tolerance)
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- Monthly Newsletter
- You will receive the newsletter via email on a monthly basis when you
join TAPPED IN
- Tech-Tip of the month
- Updates on ASO sessions and calendar features
- Features on new educational sites
- Links to current educational/technology articles
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- Perspectives
- TAPPED IN members who are leaders in the community share their
perspectives on how they became involved, why they use TAPPED IN, and offer tips and
suggestions to other members.
- Get new inspiration for using TAPPED IN
- Share successes
- Meet colleagues you can network with in the classroom
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- Classroom Activities
- Students can also participate in TAPPED IN with their teacher.
These are activities which are used in multi-user virtual environments - most created by
TAPPED IN members.
- United Nations Debate
- Biome Construction
- Civil Rights Forum
- Keypals
- American Presidents Project
- Ecology Discussion
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- The "Office"
- TAPPED IN is a community and a space. A space where you
can "homestead" your own office. You can:
- Have online staff meetings or discussion groups
- Conduct follow-ups after workshops and summer institutes
- Work with students on online projects
- Have "personal recorders" available to give you
word-for-word transcripts of meetings and discussions.
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Top
November 19, 2005
