Is there a place for informal "text" language in the classroom?

In this post I would like to expand on how writing activities in the 1:1 classroom, digital learning environment (DLE) are helping us consider the value of informal language in the form of "text language".

Texting refers to the use of abbreviations and other techniques to craft SMS and instant messages. Texting does not always follow the standard rules of English grammar, nor usual word spellings. It is so pervasive that some regard it as an emergent language register in it's own right. This is largely due to the proliferation of mobile phones as well as internet-based instant
messaging (IM) (Vosloo, 2009).

To date, texting has provoked a negative response from teachers, parents and language experts.  Teachers and parents have blamed texting for the corruption of language and the degradation in spelling in youth writing (Vosloo, 2009).  Despite the view that texting is responsible for linguistic deterioration, there is research recognizing the positive side of texting to provide, phonetic abbreviation, phonological and orthographic awareness (Plester, Wood & Joshi, 2009), abbreviation usage (Leake, 2008), economic, inventive and playful writing (Crystal, 2008) and experimental letter-sound correspondence (Wood, Plester & Bowyer, 2008).

The event which led us to want to better understand informal language in the classroom involves an online discussion area where students provide responses to a teacher initiated question.  The online discussion area appeared to spark one particular student to write.  I was told by the DI facilitator and classroom teacher that, in the past, using traditional writing methods, this student would not write more than one sentence.  In one experience I walked into the classroom where the student was calling me over to their table, wanting me to see what was on his/her netbook.  The student expressed to me that he/she wrote seven sentences in response to the teacher's question posted on the discussion area of the classroom wiki.  The student then enthusiastically expressed to me that they have never written this much in the past.  As I stood looking at what the student wrote, the student asked how to spell a specific word.  After I told the student the correct spelling of the word, the student fixed the misspelled word in his/her post.  After sharing my experience with both the classroom teacher and DI facilitator, they told me that they have both experienced this student asking them how to spell specific words when writing a discussion post in the classroom wiki.

This experience has raised some questions for the project team including:

1. What has sparked this student to write more than previous times?  Could it be related to netbooks vs. paper or typing vs. handwriting? 
2. What is the online environment providing which encourages the student to write?  Could it be related to comfort level, expectations, ability for students to write in a more informal (texting) language vs. more traditional formal writing?

At this point we do not have the answers to our questions but are excited to continue with the project to see if answers can be found.