When a student gets excited about a topic, they bring a much richer level of discussion back to the class because they have access to so many more resources. The only pitfall UMUC staff have witnessed so far falls on the faculty side. A regular class doesn't require participation, but all online classes do, and it's all text based, coming in at all different times. It can burn out a faculty member pretty quickly. Thus, UMUC has developed a training program to help professors learn how to teach in and cope with the online environment.
Nobody teaches until they go through the training.
In other words, we don't put novices online. The focus is on how to use the technology and the pedagogy. It's more than just technology training. In July, UMUC was chosen to participate in a new federal program aimed at distance education students. Only 15 post-secondary schools from across the country were chosen to participate.