Monday, December 7, 2009

About Me

Wow. Aaron Iba has just sold Etherpad to Google for an estimated $10 million. We used Etherpad earlier this year for an online collaborative assignment within the computer lab. It is a "real time" online notepad that allows multiple users to collaborate. In real time. Did I mention real time? That is HUGE. Google Docs tried to do this...and they were close. They made collaborative documents with chat areas and when the page refreshed, the changes by all collaborators were visible. But it still wasn't real time. How do I know this? I know this because I have been using Google Docs with my students for the past three years. And it isn't in real time.

So why the Wow? I mean really. I know I am probably one of the only geeks in a 5 county area that cares about this transaction. But I have just had some serious validation. Kids want to use tech. Some of them, like Aaron Iba, need to use tech to learn and be engaged and NOT BORED.

Please take a moment to read his "About Me" page on his personal website. Seriously...it is worth the read! And if you know me and what I stand for...you will understand my WOW!