so long as the standard remains the same, I do not see a problem with online education. I firmly believe that my daughter's Calculus I class is better online than the comparable class would be at a large university. Her teacher is very committed to the learning process and responds to questions quickly. She has put a great deal of work into structuring the class, and I only regret she is not teaching Calculus III online (as of yet).

On the other hand my daughter's other online classes have been somewhat weak. I think she has done a very good job in them, but the teachers do not seem to be engaged to the level I would like to see. Her speech teacher seemed to check out for the last half of the class (she was having medical problems). The course was also mostly canned, based upon the textbook. I did think the content was good, and my daughter did four videotaped speeches (the last in front of about 40 people).

Of course brick and mortar is no guarantee of quality. My daughter's on campus Chemistry class this summer was split. The first half was taken by a very skilled professor who did an excellent job. The second half was covered by an individual who was not very good in Chemistry which frustrated my daughter.

I have done probably 20 online classes, and I have been happy with the instruction in them. They provide me an opportunity to take M.S. Engineering classes I would not otherwise have.

And it's not for everybody. The larger point in my mind, is that for some people and some subjects it is not the right thing at all, and there is a tendency to push it because it is cheap and to use it as a band-aid for administrative and government failures.

mathematics and courses dependent on them, i.e. STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics).

That will happen regardless of whether old gray beard professors want to keep face to face contact.

Students enabled or disabled with technology will demand it.

I don't see how accrediting agencies can ensure the student of record actually took a course unless students take a comprehensive test over the course material in a proctored environment.

And ALL knowledge workers are under threat from both outsourcing and the internet.

Therefore, the profit motive is not appropriate in an educational situation, which is essentailly altruistic, or should be.

Therefore, teachers should be paid, and well, but schools should be non-profit and preferably with fixed and guaranteed funding.

The use of degrees to determine eligibility for jobs, of course, is part of the problem too.

I really appreciate the topic which has been discussed over here. It an important and a relevant fact to be discussed among the students as well as the every individual. Online education now-a-days plays a very pivotal role in building up an educational base for the students. What Reed has suggested here that online education is just as good as a classroom education.
Here, a point has not been suggested that, it can be a good option for the students,as the online classes can be replaced due to the financial reason as well.A conversation has been noted in this post with a student that they are taking the online courses not just because they are willing to but sometimes they could not get the seats there.

Overall!!!Nice post!!!