At Duke, students in the virtual business degree program meet once every four months. Faculty say those sessions help build trust and familiarity between students working together, albeit online, on academic projects. Other campuses, however, are reluctant to offer any virtual classes. It is an entirely different mind-set for colleges to consider, and it presents an awful lot of questions about the style in which you want your students to learn. Life as a virtual student also has its own distinct glitches and shortcomings.
Some colleges say lessons have been disrupted at times by computer problems.
In some cases the programs are more costly because they require a computer and online access. Time differences can delay faculty responses to student questions. Some students say that when they travel, hotels lack the computer services they need to tap into their classes. Hunter said that problem has forced her to wait until she returned from a business trip to rejoin her virtual class. She had fallen days behind other students.