we are at a point where our students spend more time using technology and less time actually learning.
Of course, if geographically disparate groups of students need to collaborate, technology certainly can help, but even still it can never fully replace face-to-face interaction.
Now, if the communication is attached to a project, as in collaboration via Evernote, Assemblee or FieldNotes, then I can see a purpose and a reason to share thoughts with each other, but that could be done just as easily face-to-face -- which is more powerful still.