Wiggio

Wiggio is a tool I heard about recently for groups to be able to communicate, collaborate on documents, schedule meetings, assign to-do list tasks, and manage various other details for projects they are working on. It sounded pretty cool, so I decided to look into it.

You'll need to sign up for an account, but the good news is that it's all completely free - no premium accounts required for special features or anything like that.

When you log in, you'll see this dashboard interface:

On the left navigation panel, you can see some of the various features available, sorted by category.

You can Add files or links that you might need.

You can Schedule different types of events and invite people to participate. These options include conference calls for up to 50 participants and virtual meetings for up to 10 participants, all through the Wiggio platform.

You can Create documents or spreadsheets to collaborate on with a group. You can also create polls or surveys, and there is the option of creating to-do lists. The to-do lists also allow you to assign tasks to specific people - great for delegating work and holding people accountable!

You can Send various forms of communications, ranging from your typical email option to sending text messages, voice notes, or video notes. Be aware that the voice note feature requires Java and the video note feature requires Flash, so you'll need to use a compatible browser and/or install the necessary plug-ins to use those specific features. In this section you also have the ability to send an availability request in order to find out when group members would be available for the events in the Schedule category.

As a quick aside: this availability request form looks similar to Doodle - a great tool for scheduling group events. If you get frustrated trying to figure out a meeting time that will work for everyone in a large group, you need to try it. It's life-changing!

Back to Wiggio though! This is a fantastic organizational tool for students to collaborate on projects. Not only can they create and store collaborative files, but they can manage the various administrative tasks of working in a group. With the to-do list and availability request features, they also learn valuable skills about task delegation, time management, and the planning required when working with others.

A lot of the features of this tool parallel the capabilities of the GAFE, but since some school systems do not allow the use of Google, Wiggio provides a great alternative with a few unique functionalities as well.

Stay tuned for more details about using Wiggio for student group projects!