Distance learning is a form of learning that allows students to learn outside the classroom setting through video conferences and online courses. This form of learning allows students to learn in any environment they want, whether that be their home, a library, or any other setting they feel most comfortable in. Although this may seem like a good option for students to opt for, students would not benefit more as opposed to learning from an actual classroom setting in a school building, especially when thinking about the resources and skills that schools can teach and offer.

One of the many reasons why schools exist is to provide a social setting that students are able to immerse themselves in. Schools provide a setting in which students are able to able to socialize with other students, creating a group or community for themselves as they form friends with the students they attend these classes with. This is not provided online; take home-schoolers, for example. Many home-schoolers report feeling socially isolated from people of their age group as a result of not having the social setting to thrive and form friendships in. These home-schoolers are not given the opportunity to create bonds with students because their classes are primarily online; it is because of their isolation that many home-schoolers find difficultly forming friendships with others. Online schooling and video conferencing takes away that social aspect of school, and can thus result in students who are unable to socialize with other people when it comes to the real world. However, there are people with certain anxiety disorders who would appreciate being able to learn from the comfort of their own home. But, immersing them in an environment that encourages social interaction would be a more ideal situation as they would be able to learn how to overcome their anxiety; there are more effective, and less drastic measures that can be taken to help a student with social anxiety as opposed to taking them out of the classroom setting altogether and replacing them with online settings.

Not only do schools and classroom settings provide the ability for one to form relationships and learn how to interact with other students and adults, they also instill the necessary cooperative skills that students need in the real world once they have completed their school career and move onto the next step of their adulthood. For example, schools have their students build collaboration skills through group projects; online schooling or video conferencing does not provide this same benefit of collaboration. When a student is working from the comfort of their own home, they are not actively collaborating with other students; it is essential for students to have the ability to cooperate with other people in the real world. These group projects add the benefit of teaching students how to work with others in order to get certain tasks done, preparing them for when they have to inevitably work with other people they may not necessarily like. Online schooling is largely independent, and requires the student to rely on themselves and only themselves, while classroom settings teach both independence and dependence. Students must learn how to work with other people so that they can learn how to deal with individuals who are difficult to cooperate with, and so that they learn to rely on others when in need of assistance.

Not only do online classrooms lack certain aspects necessary for a student to survival in the real world, but they also lack the accessibility of help when a student needs it. In a classroom setting, students are able to ask for help from their peers and teachers so that they can better understand the topic they are learning about. Online settings do not have this help accessible to their students all the time. Video conferencing may provide that needed assistance should a student need it, but students may feel uncomfortable asking for help as video conferences are typically done in masses; students who are all taking the course from home would be on the video call, and asking questions would require teachers to stop their lesson to re-explain a concept to everyone because one individual asked for help. In addition, video conferencing settings lacks the ability for that students to bond with the teacher, unlike classroom settings, which can increase their feelings of discomfort towards asking for help. An example of this lack of accessible help can be seen through loudoun vision, an online system which allows students to take their classes from home and online. Many students who take courses through vision feel an overwhelming anxiety about taking the class because they do not have a teacher accessible to them; they are expected to complete overwhelming amounts of work without the help of a physical teacher nearby. As a result, many students procrastinate doing the work, and are thus left with more anxiety about the class in general. Students who take vision courses complain about their teachers, who have a tendency to fail them as a result of doing an assignment wrong because they did not understand it. It is because of these scenarios that physical classroom setting are more beneficial than online or video conferences, as they have the necessary resources for students to be able to ask for help.

When comparing distance learning and in-class learning, it is evident that students would benefit much more from being in a classroom setting than from learning in the comfort of their own homes. Not only do online classes and video conferences lack the ability for students to gain any sort of social skills, but they also lack the ability to teach students how to cooperate with one another, which is an important skill that students must acquire to survive the real world. In addition, in-class learning allows for students to ask for help when needed. It is because of this that students would not benefit from attending classes at home.