1.  What are the “affordances” and “constraints” of the technology? In other words, what does the technology allow us to do or prevent us from doing? This fundamental understanding is important to answer the next questions…

Affordances: Expansion of the classroom into the larger world. Input from parents. Input from outside experts. Ability to hop in and guide a student after each comment. Ability to include other websites and media to support your argument. Archived record of classroom discussion.
Constraints: You relinquish total control of the direction the students are going. You can act as a shepherd and guide them, but not as a drill sergeant. It’s possible for a discussion to go completely off topic and enter into a new discussion which does not feed your objective. Students with limited experience with computers will face a steeper learning curve. Students could potentially face ridicule and disrespect from other students as a result of their postings, thus harming the feeling of community/classroom safety.

Students working through interface issues to get a computer to do what they want it to do is a form of problem solving. If a student is confident enough in him or herself, any time spent on a computer is a learning experience. However, students who lack confidence in their ability to work through problems could quickly get frustrated when faced with the additional obstacles using a computer faces, as opposed to pencil and paper.