Section Editing allows a user to edit a sub-section of the page only. This makes it easier to change long documents.
If you have the rights to do it, each headline (usually only the first 3 levels) starts a new section. When a page is writable a small Edit button appears at the end of the section. Using this button loads only this section into the editor.
In the Admin page, you can set up the maximum level of section editing, so that your page isn't flooded by “edit” buttons. See Maximum section edit level in your admin page or maxseclevel in your local.php config file.
Setting up a maxseclevel of 0 will disable section editing.
It is not possible to collaborate on one page with one editing a section and someone else editing another. This is due to the fact that section editing locks the whole page