Chapter 6: Working Together with Colleagues: Sharing Maps, Boxes and Material

Edumaps is useful not only for teaching with students, but also for collaboration within the staff.

For example, you can:

The advantage:
Everyone works in one central place and keeps the structure in view.

There are several ways to work together with Edumaps.

1. Edit one map together
Good for subject teams, teams and projects.

2. Copy content
Good when everyone needs their own version.

3. Embed content
Good when central content should remain up to date in several places.

This pinboard explains the differences.

A subject team map could be structured like this:

Each teacher can add their own materials or use existing boxes.

If several teachers should work on the same map, share the map with edit rights.

Typical steps:

Tip:
Grant edit rights deliberately. Not every person needs write access.

Before sharing, consider:

Read access is enough when colleagues should only view or use materials.

Edit access is useful when colleagues should:

Tip:
For larger teams, clear agreements are important: Who edits which column?

A shared map works better with simple rules.

Examples:

Tip:
Create an info box called “How we work with this map”.

When you copy a box, a separate new version is created.

This is useful when you want to:

Important:
Changes to the original do not affect the copy.

When embedding, the content remains connected to the original box.

This is useful when central content should stay the same in several places.

Examples:

Important:
When the original changes, the embedded display changes automatically as well.

Embedding is especially helpful when a task should appear in several places but remain centrally up to date.

A teacher creates one central task box for a project.

This box is embedded in several class maps.

If the deadline, link or instruction changes, the teacher edits only the original box.

All embedded versions are updated automatically.

This prevents different versions of the same task from circulating.

Use this rule:

Copy when each teacher needs their own editable version.

Embed when the same content should remain centrally controlled.

Examples:

Tip:
Discuss in the team which content should be copied and which should remain central.

A complete map can also be copied.

This is useful when:

Important:
A copied map is an independent version. Later changes in the original do not automatically appear in the copy.

A shared material collection helps avoid duplicate work.

Possible columns:

Tip:
Use clear titles and tags so colleagues can find material again later.

For projects, a team map can bundle all important information.

Possible content:

Tip:
Add a box at the top with current next steps.

Many teams lose time because several versions of the same material circulate.

Edumaps can help by:

Tip:
For official or repeatedly used content, use a central source instead of many copies.

Plan a map for collaboration in your team.

Goal:
The map should support collaboration instead of creating more confusion.

Typical mistakes are:

Tip:
Start with a small, well-structured team map.

Before a team map is used, check:

A good team map saves time because everyone knows where current material is stored.