To truly have open-source, egalitarian collaboration, however, anonymity is essential. In describing an ineffective use of electronics in the classroom, Hawisher and Selfe observed the following: "Another kind of computer-supported class we observed reflected traditional practices of writing instruction in American classrooms. The instructor projected a student paper on an overhead projection system, and students critiqued various aspects of the paper. In each instance, classmates seemed to be searching for answers to the instructor's preset questions... Although the instructors were not lecturing, they had in mind answers that the students were to supply; hence, the discussion, in effect, became the instructor's ‘presentation.’ (61)
 

Though not referring to a purely online discussion space, this example reflects a wider trend in all hierarchical communication: the dominant voice (in this case the instructor’s) guides the discussion, and any contributions given are done less with a mind for questioning or adding new content, but instead to placate or extract useful information from a single voice. This effect is duplicated online in pseudonymous communities, where the instructor’s voice is merely replaced by that of the most reputable user. 

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In online classrooms, collaborative privilege centers around the most academically proficient contributors whose work has been praised by the teacher. Though no voices are stifled directly in this model, the burden of leadership is effectively foisted onto a small number of contributors, just as in Selfe’s classroom. Students who lack the social capital of their “betters” are likely to be ignored, or else they will not even bother to contribute in the first place. Anonymous contribution, however, creates an egalitarian model of collaboration, where content is privileged over identity. If all students are required by the assignment to share their sources before the first draft is even begun, and if there is no external measure of value beyond the contributions themselves, students will be free to peruse and borrow from resource that they might not have otherwise found.