In course and group learning places students and teachers can open the MapTool by clicking on the MapTool icon below the navigation line. MapTool is a whiteboard where users can draw concept maps and other simple diagrams with shapes, arrows and text. Several people can work on the map at the same time. A chat window is included into MapTool to allow people to coordinate their work.

To work with other members of a work group or course, go to the learning place for that group or course. At the top of the screen is a list of all members of the place. Those who are currently logged into Synergeia have their names shown in bold; if they are active in MapTool, their name is in red.

This lets you know who is currently using MapTool in this learning place. Each group and course learning place has its own version of MapTool. When a MapTool session is started, the most recent map is automatically opened so that work on it can be continued if desired. You can also reset the MapTool to start with a blank whiteboard. When other members join an active MapTool session, they see the current state of the whiteboard and the chat window, so they can catch up on what has already been done with MapTool. At any time you can save the current state of MapTool. Then you can go into the learning space and make a copy of this map. The saved map can be opened as a JPEG graphics file. You can copy this file into a Word document, a PowerPoint slide show, a larger graphic file or simply as a JPEG file in a sub-folder. In this manner you can document your collaborative work in MapTool as part of a report or knowledge portfolio.