Communicate and collaborate in real-time

It is almost like writing a letter back and forth between two pen pals, except the letter is a shared document and we can expand each section as much as we like. The resulting document, when we go back to read it, then captures the depth of the interaction.

One of the best things about Rizzoma is the ability to do these in-line comments to expand on an idea. The ability to see WHAT'S NEW by clicking on the NEXT button in the upper right is helpful for picking off where we left, without having to wade through everything.

Nowadays it is hard to encourage students to participate in class actively. Students have lots of questions but most of them are shy to ask. Curiously, that problem is more common with girls while boys are more active inside the class.

On the other hand, students like hands-on and interactive ways of learning and they are frequent users of social and/or participative networks on the Internet. So, I decided to search on the Internet for a solution that could help them to ask questions in an interactive and collaborative way. One day I found that solution. There is an online software, a kind of social network, but more about group collaboration — rizzoma.com.

Rizzoma is a sort of continuation of wave, which is - in my view - one of the most important developments forward in human collaboration since the invent of the speech :)

The thing is that you are writing and creating a document, dialogue, etc *together*, where all are responsible and part in what is happening, and where order appears out of increasing effort and inputs. I.e., unlike a forum or something like that, here you have a document and discussion that ends up in more and more structure and insights by itself. Self-organisation - one of the most beautiful phenomena there is :)