The ESINSA uses www.groove.net while the Ceram's e-business option group uses www.internets.com , two free software that unable them to share lecture notes and documents on line.
'When I told them it worked on the same basis as Napster, students were very interested, says Jean de Martigny, teacher at the ESINSA. From now, www.groove.net , the free groupware's software the school found while going through Sophianet.com (see article 'Groove.net, le Napster du Groupware') unables them to work in group simply, efficiently and with great flexibility.
Lecture notes, corrections, and tests on line
'There's no more paper nor handouts, says the teacher. The ENSIA has opened a 'groove' space. It allows to share schedules and is used as additional information for lectures. The tests of CDs as well as the corrections are on line. Two lecture groups use this free Groupware's software. I have also told to other teachers who were all very interested.
What are the best advantages? It is possible to work with office tools. We can use Word on line, Power Point, Excel or whatever. The documents can be read only if there is the same software on the other side. The white board that allows to work together on a same document is also quite spectacular on Groove. It is a securized system. With the point to point, only Internet users part of the group have access to the shared documents.
The solution www.intranets.com
The only problem is that you have to be the administrator of your PC in order to use groove.net (it isn't always the case in the companies or the communities). A small weakness was recently corrected with an /www.groove.net/support/update.gtml"> updatethat now allows to use groove with Windows NT or Windows 2000 units. Another solution of the Groupware is used by the ENSIA and the IUT of Sophia Antipolis as well as the Ceram : /www.intranets.com">www.intranets.com.
It is a solution particularly used by Muriel Walas' e-business option group at the Ceram in order to share lecture notes and documents. The system is a bit less effective than the one of 'groove' (the storage of shared documents is limited to 25 Mo but it is possible to avoid this limit by opening several files). Moreover, there is no 'plug-in' to install : everything can be done through the browser and there's no need to be the computer's administrator.