Etherpad is a wonderful free online software that allows students and teacher to work together in real time to collaborate on any topic. The system is public and does not require accounts. Just log on to the group and start participating instantly. Screens get updated every five seconds. You can save the results as well. Etherpad is offered free for the public version and also offers a professional version for using in a more secure environment. Check out Etherpad and get started sharing and developing ideas in meetings or the classroom.
Google has purchased Etherpad and made it open sourced creating opportunities for new software of similar construction. One new version is called “Pirate Pad”. It looks and acts exactly the same as Etherpad. Note that Google also has Google Wave but it is not the same thing.
Leave a Reply