Comments on "In the Wild" - from Web 2.0 in Education (Key Info)

Author Dean Groom, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia shares some interesting observations about his students when using Classroom 2.0 tools.  Some that I found particularly interesting (paraphrased) are as follows:

• Kids' blogged or otherwise electronic comments about a peer's work seemed to be "kinder" than the verbal, face-to-face comments.
  
• When blogging, comments to others could be up to seven times longer than their original post to their own blog.
  
• The Classroom 2.0 tools used allowed no room for "techno-bling" (bells and whistles).  Consequently, the high-tech kids did not have an immediate advantage over others in the class.  The Classroom 2.0 tools gave middle-level kids a better chance for success, while the high-tech kids had to work harder to maintain their status in the class order.