Even if the student is earnest, the public image they start from does not assume it. Being attentive and asking a question in the physical space would be an assessment signal that one is serious about study, even if one is actually not. Assessment signals are features which are so costly to fake that they can be reliable indicators of another characteristic, and participants in online spaces are uniquely aware of these signals because they still have to pay for online services which are found in the internet shop because not all the students are able to buy a computer and pay for internet connection..
I find and I fill in tones and cues in messages from students to face-to-face courses, but cannot do the same to online students because there is a better interaction when its said and done through speaking than in written text... Surely the public has picked up on the distinction between the channels. How do we assume that those learning completely online are getting enough exposure to the discourses they need in face-to-face settings? I really say that face-to-face settings is still the greatest thing but of course with exposure to technology like computer..
These are the things that I think are the obstacles in I.T. education practice..