The site uses heavy PHP for all back-end lifting, with the front-end real-time annotating is done in mostly JavaScript. I use a custom wordpress plugin for permission systems and visibility levels, where only certain students can see others work, and professors who are like administrators can see everything. The site is still in beta but will eventually be rolled out in all the professors classes and possibly adopted by the entire university.
Ten years after graduating, my classical philosophy professor asked me to make a “learning website” which allows students to analyze lesson plans, collaborate with one another, annotate primary texts and ask the professor questions. Think Rap Genius meets Wikipedia meets Quora.