Group working in education - hot or not?

"Tutors LOVE group work.. they never have to prepare classwork.  Where groups abound, work ethic is scarcer than a patch of green grass on campus." - 2011 issue 2 of Vertigo, the UTS student magazine.  The students have spoken.  Needless to say, there isn't much green grass on the UTS campus!

What do you think?  What is your experience?  I began my teaching as a committed group worker, but these days I try to use it at the right time in the right way - it certainly isn't always the right way to do things.