Using iEtherPad/typewith.me

http://typewith.me

http://ietherpad.com

To facilitate weekly discussions on the class topics, we may divide the class into Discussion Groups. Each week, we will set up Public Pads in iEtherPad/typewith.me and send you the links in an email message to the class in Blackboard. All you will need to do is click on your Discussion Group's link and you can start writing, with the other members of your group. Just identify yourself in the right side of the page (and you will be assigned your own unique color). What you type will be color-coded in the text editing window on the left side of the screen.

(We need to experiment, but if you log in with different browsers, or different computers, you will get additional identities on the iEtherPad/typewith.me... But we only intend for you to write brief comments in a single session... and it is really fun to edit simultaneously... but not required.) When you log out, your identity will disappear from the Authors window, so just sign your name (type it) to the bottom of the page, which will identify your color.

There are a maximum of 16 writers in a single Public Pad. Also, the conversation can get a little chaotic if there are too many authors. You can try it yourself. It takes just one click to create a Public Pad (be sure to copy the URL because, unlike Google tools, there is no log-in required to use the site, and it doesn't keep track of the pages you create... you need to do that yourself). For the purposes of the course, though, we would like you to use the pages we create for the Group Discussion.

Notice that you can use the Time Slider to see how the conversation developed. Press the Play button on the right or drag the vertical marker along the timeline.

Have fun trying out this tool for collaboration!