TEL App of the Month - November
Category: Task management, collaboration
Availability: Browser, Android, iOS, Windows
Uses: Project management, organisation, productivity, group work
Please Note: The team behind Wunderlist is working with Microsoft to develop “Microsoft To-Do” and Microsoft claims it will retire Wunderlist when this new app is rolled out although no date has been announced for this as yet.
Wunderlist is an app for task management and creating and organising “to-do” lists. The app, which is also available on desktop, allows you to create task lists, set reminders and due dates, integrate with your calendar and share lists with others. It is a powerful app that can extend simple task lists for collaborative use by student groups, lecturers and their students, family members and work colleagues. Tasks can be marked complete, rearranged and starred to help you prioritise items and manage your time effectively.
Wunderlist is quite easy to get up and running with, it syncs your data across multiple devices so you can download the app to your phone and use the web based version seamlessly.
Go to https://www.wunderlist.com/ and sign in or choose “Create a free account”
Add a name, email and password or sign up with your Facebook, Google or Windows accounts
Click on “+ Create List” at the bottom left of the screen to create a new list
You can also create folders to separate your lists by category, e.g. Home, Work, Study
When you have two or more lists, drag one list onto the other list in the left hand pane and it will automatically create a folder to hold both lists
When you have created a new list, click “+ Add a to-do…” on the main pane of the interface.
You can add more information to a task by double clicking on it, opening another pane on the right with additional features for adding due dates, sub-tasks, notes, comments, files, etc
Click the star to the right of a task to highlight it as important
This moves the task to the top of the list and adds a red ribbon to the task
Share a list with a colleague, family member or your students by double clicking it and adding their email address to the “List Members” field.
Wunderlist has many applications for group or personal use and the availability of folders allows you to categorise your lists depending on the subject or purpose. You may want to create a folder for personal use and for work use but you may also want to create a folder for the lists you share so separate them from those that are private.
Wunderlist is a powerful app to help groups manage their productivity and prioritise and manage workflows. One student in the group can create a list and share it with the members of their group. They can add due dates for tasks, which are visible to everyone in the group, and set personal reminders for tasks for which they are responsible (reminders are not visible by the group and only act to remind you of tasks). You can assign a task to a member of the group and clearly see the tasks that are assigned to you. This helps to give all group members, and potentially their lecturer, oversight of group progress and collaboration.
Collaboration is further supported with the integration of a comment feature for lists, allowing collaborators to chat to each other about tasks or to-do lists. Users can also share files related to specific tasks so that all the information is available to view and access in one place. Sub tasks can be created to help make tasks or projects more manageable and transparent for all collaborators or supervisors.
Time management and productivity is facilitated in a number of ways through Wunderlist:
You can re-order and star tasks to help prioritise work and can hide completed tasks without deleting them by ticking the checkbox next to the task
Smart lists are available which allow you to quickly see, for instance, all the tasks that are due today, all of your starred tasks, etc to help you focus on time sensitive requirements
You can add a note, comment or task through audio making it easier to add information on the go
An activity section allows you to see all the activity of other users on your shared lists, all in one place
Wunderlist includes a backup feature so you can save your lists and information
Wunderlist has a browser extension for Chrome that allows you to save an item directly from the web to one of your lists, for instance you can add a book that you see on Amazon to the list “Books to read”. The browser extension can be found here: https://goo.gl/gHNDLw
https://www.wunderlist.com/
Unless otherwise stated, all reviews and recommendations are solely those of the Department of Technology Enhanced Learning team and do not reflect the views or opinions of any organisation, including Cork Institute of Technology. The Department is not responsible for any inappropriate, offensive or illegal content viewed or accessed through the tools and products reviewed.
