Here is a great post by WebWorkerDaily titled 3 Key Web Working Tools for Students «. The tools go through use of Wikis, Forums, and Project Management sites for coordination and collaboration with classwork.
I do agree that these tools are a great advancement for academic collaboration; however, I must point out that many students have not had the need to use these tools and will likely be avoid using them. I would say that the tools are most appropriate for non-traditional students (old folks like me) who have been in the workforce and have needed these tools due to hectic schedules.
Touching off on the use of Forums, I tried using Yahoo Groups for a class a few years back. The Yahoo Groups included file storage and threaded conversations. I think they even included chat back then. Roughly everything you need to keep people organized on a project was in the group. In one case, the group was younger students; the Yahoo Group never caught on. They were always on campus and could easily meet for study groups. In the other case, it was a group of older students who had families and jobs; they had no reservation in making use of the web tools to collaborate on the project.
This may have changed since then. With the proliferation of smartphones with email and web browsers, it is possible that younger students find online collaboration more convenient than face-to-face meetings. Even so, one student has to have the knowledge that these tools are available and take the initiative to set one up. I’m predicting that the non-traditional student is more likely to have that knowledge and initiative.
