When you say collage, most people probably think of a particular artistic work method where visual works are cut up and combined into a new whole. Although collage is not a typical method that has any direct connection to creativity or learning, it is a broad concept, representing one of the most varied and efficient areas of learning, as well as presenting one's point of view or organising information. They are also commonly used as a tool for developing creative writing skills.

For the sake of simplicity, we will divide the topic into three groups, which may interact and complement each other.

The first area is text collages. These are created by giving a topic (for example, global warming) and asking the student to cut out words, headings or sentences that seem relevant to the topic and arrange them, i.e. most often glue them on paper, in the time available. Sources often combine subject-specific information, i.e., relevant documents, with general ones (newspapers, magazines...). Having specialised records is unnecessary if you only work with a literary topic.

Combined collages often take the form of a particular poster. They traditionally combine visual information with textual information and are worked with similarly to a text collage. The image can often help to convey the idea better, helping with the aesthetic quality of the output, and can be a good stimulus for further work.

A relatively new phenomenon is digital collages, not created on paper but on a computer or tablet. This form of work allows for a significant expansion of what can be placed in collages. In addition to images and text (both of which are more searchable on the internet, so you don't always have to work with limited resources), collages can also include RSS feeds, social media feeds, videos and other materials. Thus, a digital collage can serve as a primary presentation interface or portal for a topic currently reflected by its author.

Most of the time, collage is not an end in itself, but is related to the creative conception of the topic, i.e. it is a form of arranging ideas and fragments that are further worked with. Typically, one writes a text on the topic or creates another object. Modern methods make it easy to shoot videos, create photographic reports, and so on. Collage thus gives an essential perspective which is further interpreted.

Digital collages are specific in this respect, as they can represent an interesting artistic conglomerate in themselves, and the text or video can then be linked to the individual components by, for example, a hyperlink. In this case, the collage is often not a solid foundation for systematic work but a springboard that is further supplemented.

Choosing a specific school assignment should be guided by the goals you need to pursue. If it is a method for developing creative writing and interpretation of a topic, it makes sense to let people work for a limited time with limited resources; for an argumentative essay, on the other hand, it is appropriate to let people search for additional materials. The digital collage can then be part of a broader self-management of digital data. It can be expected to have a more comprehensive range of uses or contextualisation than other collages.

Various tools can be used for the technical implementation of collage methods, such as:

• Milanote is an excellent tool for preparing the basis for creation. Text, images or links can be placed on the free space and connected with lines. So, if one wants to approach the product by processing and collecting all the scraps in one place and then text-processing them, it is an exciting and excellent tool. One hundred objects can be placed on the desktop for free. The application supports sharing between multiple users.
• Padlet is a fascinating creative tool. It allows you to create bulletin boards with different structures - choosing this structure is essential or valuable for creating diverse collages. Images, links, videos, texts and other elements can be placed on the desktop and linked using arrows. The result is a multimedia bulletin board that can be shared between multiple users.
• Gingko App offers an entirely different concept of working with text than we are used to. The individual parts of the reader are placed in columns like differently-sized cards. A column can be a chapter in a paper or book, a thematic unit, or anything. And the individual "slips" parts of it. They can be manipulated freely, so the writing doesn't have to be linear but rather a curatorial activity where you can set up the essential things you want to say and then build the whole text around them. Documents can be easily shared between multiple users, exported, and worked offline. The entire app is free if you don't need more than 100 monthly columns. I recommend trying it out for a non-linear writing experience.