We are now living in a world where information technologies give us many possibilities for permanent interpersonal connection. Through social networks, collaborative tools and cloud computing, we can keep in constant touch with a large amount of data generated by those who exist in our social and professional circles. Today’s university students don’t see those technologies as wonders from a modern world. As members of the Millennial Generation, raised in an interconnected multimedia environment, they use the digital communication tools in a very natural way in their daily lives. As they their professional lives begin, those technologies become part of their work toolset, optimizing teamwork and boosting their productivity. However, it is surprising that in the twenty-first century, most of those resources are not applied in class. There is a complete mismatch between the way the students think and work outside the university and the methods used by their tutors. It is still common to find teachers that, regardless of their technological knowledge level, inhibit the use of digital tools in class, asking their students to turn off their cellphones and portable computers and eliminating any contact with external sources of information. The usefulness of those tools are underestimated in an exaggerated way and teachers ignore the fact that they are fundamental for the students professional lives. This study was aimed at the investigation of digital collaborative methods through the use of everyday technologies as a means to verify the impact on the academic performance of the students. For this purpose, four controlled experiments were conducted in several Design classes at PUC-Rio, where the progressive implementation of digital tools led to the proposal for an update of the teaching methodologies. The experiments made it possible to verify that the students are able to integrate the collaborative tools in their academic lives with ease, demonstrating a visible improvement in their production quality. As a conclusion, the controlled introduction of those tools in the academic environment can offer important subsidies for their efficient use as the students enter their professional lives.