Interesting…

“For example, in focus groups, students consistently say that colleges should eliminate online orientation, which they criticize as “impersonal,” but they reliably applaud online tutoring. Why? It is difficult for a virtual orientation to create a genuine sense of connection to a college. For example, a virtual tour shows a campus in a way students taking on-campus courses will never use it: Students will never eat in a virtual cafeteria or park in a virtual parking lot.
Online tutoring, however, is simply another mechanism for delivering the same service provided by face-to-face tutoring. It involves a one-on-one connection with a real person, facilitated by technology. Students do the same work (revisions to a paper, for example) that they would do if they were meeting their tutors in person.”

http://www.ccsse.org/publications/national_report_2009/CCSSE09_execsum.pdf