Apps and Tools

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Software, Platforms and Tools That Make a Difference

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Today, it is impossible to imagine our educational practice without digital tools and platforms. They help us to organize, facilitate the implementation during learning processes and open up new possibilities for learning. We have compiled here some that we consider particularly useful, also from the point of view of reliability and sensitivity to rights. Some very popular apps and tools will not be found in this list for this reason.


A matter of choice

What tools and apps we use says a lot about us. Democratic civic education in particular is called upon to make conscious choices based on critical thinking not only in its content but also in its tools. At Competendo we are convinced that Open Software, Open Educational Resources and applications that do not inappropriately and unconsentedly commercialize user data are better than others. This makes educational processes sometimes more complicated, but fairer and perhaps more creative. That is why in particular solutions developed in this spirit can be found here.

Selection Criteria

      Open Source   Non-Profit   High privacy level, no monetization of user data

For Diversity in the Internet Ecosystem

Free and Open Source, often created in a non-central way and for non-central usage, are also contributing to diversity in the Internet ecosystem. However, this also has consequences for us users. We regularly hear that democracy-sensitive tools don't just work out of the box. That's often true, too. But why and when not?

Centralised services, often provided with the help of large investment capital, can scale to many users, create the same conditions in different places of the world, provide updates quickly and introduce new functions quickly. They have centralized servers and users (clients) do not necessarily have to meet complex requirements.

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In contrast, non-centralized solutions rely on several different "nodes" or servers around them that they do not directly affect. For instance, a team is creating new updates or new versions of an open source software and publishing it on a central website. However, they cannot quarantee that the updates are installed on all regional servers by independent webmasters or, if we talk about apps and desktop software, on all local computers by all end users. Furtermore, they cannot integrate everything in one platform, so we users have to know more different small tools, softwares or platforms.

On this website we present some that we think really work. We recommend investing some time and creativity. Time to get to know them. Creativity to think about all the things you can use them for in your own work. An example: often it doesn't have to be a Googledoc, an Etherpad could be the better solution. Because with an Etherpad you can do different things without login or strong internet bandwidth: Dynamically log a workshop (sharing protocols from sessions, notes), share a workshop program, work together on a text, collect thematic impulses from participants...

For what?

  • Rights-sensitivity
  • Supporting a diverse and non-centralised Internet
  • Consciously adapt and use technology instead of just applying what is given
  • Contribute to a culture of sharing and collaboration. The open source community, but also well-done democracy education, shows us how this can succeed.



Digital Toolbox as an App

The whole Competendo content with your smartphone or tablet. It works also with weak Internet connection and is privacy friendly.


Data & Reports: Evidence regarding Democracy, Civil Society, Digitalisation

online:


Media & Data: Games and Interactive Tools

online:


Democracy & Human Rights: Apps and Online Games

App and online:




Collaborative writing

Ready to use:

Install on your server:


Text Processing & Language

Ready to use:



Maps

Ready to use:



Image, Sound, Video

Ready to use:



Online Courses

Install on your server:


Organizing a Community, Participation or Community Events

Ready to use:

Install on your server:



Web-based Project Management

Install on your server or use a managed service:



Cloud Collaboration

Ready to use:

Install on your server:


Surveys, Polls, Quizzes & Decisionmaking

Ready to use:

Install on your server:



Messenging and Video Conferences

Ready to use:

Install on your server:


Privacy Protection

Read also our background article: Privacy Protection




Competency Assessment, Description & Validation

Ready to use:

Several online tools support learners and educators in (self-)assessment. However, one should check their terms and conditions for storing and using personal data before using them in trainings.



Evaluation

Ready to use:



Erasmus + and EU

EU/E+

Useful links for project managers


Books & Web

Apps and Tools

Data and Reports

Privacy Protection


Digital Toolbox mobile



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Write to:
office.at.dare-network.eu


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Support

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This toolbox has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of the implementing partner organisations and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.