There are many arguments and positions out there. The overall impact analysis, to me, depends on which society and the level of development of its people. Generally speaking, the following points represent the advantages of person-to-person traditional classroom based education over the virtual (online) classroom environment:

1. PROMOTES COLLABORATIVE LEARNING

Basically, classroom environment is essential to promote and stimulate collaborative learning. Collaborative learning increases a student's self-awareness about how other students learn and enables them to learn more easily and effectively, transforming them into keen learners inside and beyond classroom.

2. ENHANCES CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS

It enhances students' critical thinking skills. Teaching in a classroom gives students the opportunity to engage in live discussions in which they are forced to use their critical thinking skills to formulate opinions or arguments.

3. IMPROVES SOCIAL SKILLS

Inside a classroom, students experience social interactions with peers and establish rapport with teachers. Helping children develop socially is an important aspect within the realm of their academic education.

4. BUILDS ORGANISATIONAL SKILLS

Classroom teaching teaches students how to develop organizational skills, beginning with the basics, such as arriving to school on time. In a live classroom, students are held accountable for being prepared to do school work, which includes having done their homework the night before, being ready for pop quizzes, turning in assignments by their due date and being prepared for in-class discussions. In effect, students learn how to organize their time, prioritize their assignments and get their homework done.

5. KEEPS STUDENTS STIMULATED

The physical presence of a teacher keeps students stimulated through the interactive and interesting activities. This enables students to retain more from what they have learned during a session.

6. TEACHING STYLE CAN BE MODIFIED ACCORDING TO THE STUDENT'S ISSUES

Teachers can modify their teaching style based on types of learners in their classroom i.e. classroom activities can help visual learner, interactions can help auditory learners, etc. Teachers can get a clear idea whether students are following what has been taught or they require further explanation. At the same time, students can get their doubts clarified immediately before moving ahead in a topic.   

7. DEVELOPS IMPORTANT PERSONALITY AND CAREER BUILDING SKILLS

Classroom teaching inculcates conflict resolving skills, presentation skills when it comes to presenting their ideas confidently in front of peers, develops team spirit and teaches them to get along with those from different cultural backgrounds. Such experiences are valuable in shaping students' communication and listening skills, as well as growing and maturing emotionally.

I think the impact is great!! For the last five years, I’ve taught college courses to high school students. Some students have already completed their high school requirements for graduation so in most cases, we place them in an online class!! Huge mistake. Students nowadays don’t have the discipline or attention span to attend to an online course. They need immediate feedback and want to be able to ask questions and not wait a day or two for a response. Also students like to be able to put a name to face and build relationships with their teachers. In most cases, teachers become role models and that’s not possible with online learning.

It is difficult to construct a study that compares online and classroom learning because they typically involved different learners with different abilities. Please take a look at Patrick Terenzini and Ernest Pascarella's How College Affects Students which examines the research on outcomes of college education.

https://www.wiley.com/en-us/How+College+Affects+Students%3A+A+Third+Decade+of+Research%2C+Volume+2-p-9780787910440

If you think back what impacted and inspired you at school, mostly it was one particular teacher. Besides all technology, this human element stays imperative. Of course Virtual Reality should be used to develop experiences which are difficult to transport just with books, stories or videos. This like standing in the middle of the Roman Colosseum or in interviewing room of the Eastern Germany secret service: http://blogs.deutschlandradiokultur.de/stasiverhoer/

Given the short attention span of kids today due to using fast-paced technology, traditional classrooms do not work for all students--a lot of kids are like special needs children with ADHD symptoms thanks to videos, tv,.... A traditional classroom can "lose" students' interest if not infused with frequent challenging activities that engage students. Students certainly do not want to be "talked at." They are doers--more visual-kinesthetic learners because of today's technology. Nonetheless, I am old fashioned and believe traditionalism should be mixed in with online education--especially when it comes to experiential learning (i.e. field trips, hands on creative projects, assignments that require students to find resources other than google/technology,etc.)

In 2008 I wrote a paper about the 'impact' of ICT on education from a policy perspective.

Quote from Conclusion: It has been shown that the financial investment in two Singapore Masterplans for IT in Education has led to the development of an island-wide IT infrastructure and technological fluency, and there has been some degree of impact on teachers’ pedagogical development and digital competency. The grand narrative of Masterplans do not guarantee the impact on teaching and learning desired by policy makers though. Teachers require specific guidance within an on-going professional development programme supported by schools and education ministries.

Vallance, M. (2008). Beyond policy: Strategic actions to support ICT integration in Japanese schools. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 24(3), pp. 275-293. Available online at https://ajet.org.au/index.php/AJET/article/view/1209

[Teaching Philosophy]

Although any learner-centered teaching philosophy, or Boyer Model of scholarship, is constantly in flux, the mission of a public or private educator is: [1] to promote positive learning; [2] to motivate students, staff and graduates; [3] to provide a strong foundation for lifelong learning; and in modernity [4] to enhance career and life-work opportunities; to [5] improve bottom-line financial metrics, and [6] to collaborate on a national and global basis.  

However, because we are specifically operating in the rapidly changing healthcare and education milieu, even deeper experiential insight is needed.  

Developing NEW Teaching AND Education Skills FOR Healthcare 2.0  

Medicine today is different than a generation ago, and all educators and healthcare professionals need new skills to be successful. Traditionally, the physician - like the classroom professor - was viewed as the “captain of the ship”. Today, their role may be more akin to a ship’s navigator, utilizing clinical, teaching skills and knowledge to chart the patient’s, or student’s, course through a confusing morass of requirements, choices, rules and regulations to achieve the best attainable clinical or didactic outcomes.  

This new teaching paradigm includes many classic business school principles, now modified to fit the PP-ACA, the era of health reform, and modern technical connectivity. Thus, a Professor, Chair or Dean must be a subtle guide on the side; not bombastic sage on the stage. These, newer teaching philosophies must include:

• Negotiation - working to optimize appropriate curricula, services and materials;
•  Team play - working in concert with others to coordinate education delivery within a clinically appropriate and cost-effective framework;
•  Working within the limits of competence - avoiding the pitfalls of the generalist teacher versus the subject matter expert that may restrict access to professors, texts and facilities by clearly acknowledging when a higher degree of didactic service is needed on behalf of the student;
•  Respecting different cultures and values - inherent in the support of the academic Principle of Autonomy is the acceptance of values that may differ from one’s own. As the US becomes more culturally heterogeneous, educators and medical providers are called upon to work within, and respect, the socio-cultural and/or spiritual framework of patients, students and their families;
•  Seeking clarity on what constitutes marginal education - within a system of finite resources; providers and professors are called upon to openly communicate with students and patients regarding access to marginal education and/or treatments. 
• Supporting evidence-based practice – educators, like healthcare providers, should utilize outcomes data to reduce variation in treatments and curriculum to achieve higher academic efficiencies and improved care delivery; 
• Fostering transparency and openness in communications – teachers and healthcare professionals should be willing, and prepared, to discuss all aspects of care and academic andragogy; especially when disclosing problems or issues that arise;
•  Exercising decision-making flexibility - treatment algorithms, templates and teaching pathways are useful tools when used within their scope; but providers and professors must have the authority to adjust the plan if circumstances warrant;        
•  Becoming skilled in the art of listening and interpreting -- In her ground-breaking book, Narrative Ethics: Honoring the Stories of Illness, Rita Charon, MD PhD, a professor at Columbia University, writes of the extraordinary value of using the patient’s personal story in the treatment plan. She notes that, “medicine practiced with narrative competence will more ably recognize patients and diseases; convey knowledge and regard, join humbly with colleagues, and accompany patients and their families through ordeals of illness.” In many ways, attention to narrative returns medicine full circle to the compassionate and caring foundations of the patient-physician relationship.
•  The educational analog to this book is, The Ethics of Teaching [A Casebook], co-edited by my teacher and colleague Deborah Ware Balogh PhD of the University of Indianapolis.

Finally, these thoughts represent only a handful of examples to illustrate the myriad of new skills that tomorrow’s healthcare professionals, and modern educators, must master in order to meet their timeless professional obligations of compassionate patient care and contemporary teaching effectiveness. 

Respectfully submitted,
Dr.  David Edward Marcinko MBA