While somewhat dated, this is an interesting audio/visual Flash presentation on Synchronous Collaborative Technologies. I found the “identification traits” segment to be the core of this presentation. The process of making sense of increasingly obtuse information and software online is conceptually complex and evolving: seek, decipher, distinguish, ignore, etc. The evaluation technique presented here regarding learning and collaborative software is generally useful and applicable in other contexts: evaluation of CMS, graduate programs, etc.
Software categories covered: Screen Sharing, Live Presentation, Videoconferencing, Full Collaboration, Web Conferencing, and Grassroots Conferencing.