Built for Collaboration? — TechKnowSurge

About this interactive

The Applications and Suites lesson sorts collaboration software into two kinds. Some software is built for collaboration: working together is the main thing it was made to do. Microsoft Teams is the lesson's example, set up so people can instant message, make calls and hold video conferences. Project management software, team chat, conferencing apps and online workspaces are the same kind. Other software does a different main job and has collaboration tools added to it. Microsoft Word is built for typing and saving documents, and its reviewing tools let other people add comments, and document sharing lets two people work in the same document at once. Spreadsheets and presentation software work the same way. Ask what the software is mainly for, not whether it can be shared. One card at a time: choose a bin. A wrong answer resets your streak and shows the right bin. Five correct in a row finishes the round.

What you'll learn

Tell software built for collaboration (team chat, video meetings, project management, unified communications, an online workspace) from software whose main job is something else and that has collaboration tools added (comments, shared editing)

Aligned to

CompTIA Tech+

3.3 Explain the purpose and proper use of software.

Key terms

Collaboration Software: Software designed to help users work together on projects, documents, or tasks, either purpose-built for collaboration or enhanced with collaboration features.
Collaboration: The ability for multiple users to work on shared documents or projects simultaneously, often in real time over the internet.
Unified Communications: A platform that integrates multiple communication services such as instant messaging, VoIP, conferencing, and mobility into a single unified tool.
Online Workspace: A virtual environment that allows users to collaborate and perform work activities together over the internet, replicating the experience of working in a shared physical office.
Word Processor: An application designed to create, edit, format, and save text-based documents such as letters and reports; it is one of the most common categories of productivity software.

Topics

Collaboration Software Collaboration Unified Communications Online Workspace Interactive Streak Sort

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