Grades and tests exist primarily because no one can tell if anyone is awake in large lecture halls. Any measure of actual student performance in real world tasks would be too complex for the professors to undertake. Students go to college to have a good time, and usually, even at the best schools, a good time is what they spend a large percentage of their time having. University administrations can do nothing about any of this without incurring the wrath of students, faculty and alumni. At first glance, the idea of the virtual U replacing dear old State U seems frightening indeed.
College is a time of great joy and excitement for the young.
It is often the best time of their lives. But it is not necessarily the highlight of their personal education. Very few people learn what they need to know in life in school. The days of yesteryear may or may not have been wonderful at old State U, but no matter, because they will soon be gone forever. Courses that emphasize doing are a lot easier to design and run on a computer than they are to design and run in a classroom.