Studying Online;Succeeding through Distance Learning at University

Efective online collaboration 143 
Figure 7.1 
A Kanban-style progress checker 
necessary, depending upon the various stages you might have. Te 
last column is the Completed column, which is where you place 
things that have been done. Many people use physical Kanban 
boards and move sticky notes across from one column to the next 
as work progresses. However, as an online student, you need to be 
able to see the board together with your fellow group members. 
Hence, you need an online Kanban board. 
Trello 
Trello is one of the most popular online Kanban board systems. It 
is available in a variety of versions. Te free one is perfectly ade-
quate for running student collaborations. Tere are other more 
popular systems, but they are focused on business teams, and some 
are relatively costly. Trello, however, can be free of charge and is 
more suited to small groups than the higher-ranked competition. 
Trello also has smartphone apps, making it particularly useful 
for students. Indeed, the Trello blog has several articles explain-
ing how students can get the best out of this planning software 

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144 Studying online 
(Trello, 2021). By using Trello in your group projects, you will be 
able to manage all of the tasks more efciently, helping to ensure 
you get your work done on time and to a good standard. 
Alternatives to Trello 
Tere are many alternatives to Trello. Some require payment. 
Some are complicated and require some setting up and learning. 
You can fnd a list of alternatives on the website I have created to 
accompany this book, https://studyingonline.tips. Two of the most 
widely used alternatives, which ofer more than just Kanban plan-
ning, are Airtable and ClickUp. Tese competing systems provide 
a highly sophisticated method of project management, but both 
are available in free versions, so they may be worthwhile exploring. 
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