In this paper, I briefly introduce the CoWeb, describe activities in the CoWeb, then describe a survey-based study of students' attitudes in three different classes. The activities are interesting because there is a sense in which agency is shifting from the teacher to the students. Students and teachers have equal powers in the CoWeb, and students can be the instigators of collaborative activities themselves. The survey highlights student attitudes in the CoWeb, and how they might be explained in terms of features of the environment and how the features have been used.

Conclusion: While preliminary, the results suggest that an unusual tool can lead to some unusual attitudes by students. These data suggest that a tool that leads to no enforced distinctions between students and teachers can lead to students taking ownership of the collaborative space, finding value in the postings of their peer students, and not finding the information in the space less trustworthy. However, it is certainly not the tool alone that leads to this kind of shift. The teacher's attitude and involvement is critical – since so many students were in the CoWeb mostly to hear from the teacher, a missing teacher might lead to less student involvement. The activities encouraged in the CoWeb are also related to the cultural shift. Collaborative writing and case-building by students affords students the opportunity to see the value in others' work.