Google Docs is an excellent tool. Whilst some institutions may have software on their internal network that does the same job, Google Docs makes this feature possible across locations. Dropbox appears to offer the same functionality as Google Docs - which one you use, I suppose, is down to personal preference. Why do different providers feel we need duplicates?! (Reading back this appears to be an ongoing niggle of mine!)Wikis, I also believe, are great online collaboration tools. Prior to Wikis I believe the only tool available with similar functionality would have been discussion boards - not always an appropriate format. We used a Wiki at work to host our thoughts on a particular centre development. It proved really useful in allowing us to intersperse our own comments in with those already posted.
I am a self-confessed long-hand referencer! Personally I could never convert to an online reference management system. At work, part of our study skills induction offering includes teaching students about plagiarism and how to do Harvard referencing. Many of the students who we deliver this session to are on courses affiliated with a university. The universities use Harvard, specifically following the guidelines in Pears and Shields' Cite them right. Therefore we discourage the use of either built-in or online systems so that students can ensure they are handing in work referenced exactly how the markers wish to see it.
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