These advocates for distance learning foresee a future in which be delivered via video-on-demand, discussion sections can be held through online chats (lead by inexpensive free-lance teaching assistants), and grading can be done by software. This vision misses the point. Distance learning is a powerful tool, and will play an increasingly large role in adult, post-collegiate education. For corporate training, where the primary objective is the rapid, efficient acquisition of specific knowledge sets, distance learning will be a popular option. But the efficient acquisition of knowledge is only a tiny fraction of what going to college means. Face-to-face interaction with professors, living away from one's parents, and socializing with a diverse group count for a lot in higher education -- and these experiences can't be replicated online.

-- Dylan Tweney, Distance learning is no substitute for real-world education. InfoWorld, May 17, 1999, page 66.
(available at http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayIcommerce.pl?/prophet.htm)