The professors consider the student grade seriously but ultimately the professor decides the grade. Getting feedback from students is very important for professors to improve the course in the future but more importantly, to adapt some course elements during the current semester. Students have access to the work of others so they can compare their work and learn from each other. This has been particularly successful in the area of paper writing and group discussions. Equalitarianism means equal responsibility as well as equal privilege.
Students depend on each other to make on-time statements so that they can complete their own work.
Each student must present an initial comment and a reply to one other initial comment in each discussion area. BSCW is also equalitarian in terms of access. The program is run on a server in Germany that the developers allow free access. Thus faculty and students can test out the software in a real situation before considering adding it to an existing server at their school or purchasing a dedicated server. Finally, the BSCW is freeware for educational use.