Google Wave is one of Google's newest ventures, and may as well be the ultimate source in online collaboration, networking, and file sharing in the near future.

The program permits users, in a manner similar to wikis and Google Docs, to work on documents with LIVE updating, as well as on sharing files with LIVE updating too, or even collaborating on blog entries!

My guess is that Google Wave will definitely be used for academic purposes once it is released to the public, as it is by invite only right now.

The following video will give you a clearer idea of what Wave is all about: