QuickTopics has been around for quite a while and is, surprisingly, still free. In fact, it has been made even better by the addition of two additional tools. QuickThread lets you create a QuickTopic thread from any two email messages - handy if you are on a roll with a listserv or a colleague. DocReview which makes an uploaded .html file editable by anyone accessing the forum - works much like Words Comment feature except that comments are posted to a threaded discussion. How cool is that! When you remember that any word processing document can be saved as .html, you get an idea of the power of this tool for the laptop classroom (or HW assignment). Images are NOT displayed, one thing that could be improved upon.
My second choice for a super cool tool, after NiceNet and CHNM Scrapbook, has to be the free account from Advanced Survey. They actually apologize for the little logo on the clear, clear survey displays. As soon as my survey has more responses, I will let you know how the data filtering works. I have a feeling IE on my Mac is going to struggle with that task.
And speaking of surveys, CHNM's Survey tool is another winner. Not only does the Administrator have enormous control over the survey content, appearance and user-group, the survey itself can remain inactive until it is time for it to be used in the classroom. This is not a checklist survey, but a narrative response survey. Responses can be e-mailed to the Administrator (making it a test mechanism) or posted for all respondants to see, making it a wonderful tool for inquiry in the classroom.
Another tool with a similar value is S.L.A.T.E. from the Landmark Project. Designed as billed as a Web Quest builder, a task it does very well (a rubric builder and a quiz or feed-back tool are built in to the design), S.L.A.T.E. can be used for inquiry activities as well - you can, for example, ask questions about a painting or photograph. The feed-back generator can collect and post comments from "collaborators" instead of having responses e-mailed to the teacher.
Other sites will be highlighted in this column. In the meantime, please do check out Cool Free Tools for Teachers - there is even a Sight Suggestion Form on the homepage.