The Human Element
Douglas E. Hersh's close crop of auburn hair and neatly trimmed goatee are clearly visible in an expandable window on my desktop. A growing body of research has all but obliterated the notion that distance education is inherently less effective than classroom education. But Hersh believes there is another major factor driving the gap between retention rates in face-to-face programs and those in the rapidly growing world of distance education: the lack of a human touch. Steve Kolowich, Inside Higher Ed, March 28, 2010