There is a widespread misconception that online education is just inherently inferior to learning in a real classroom. The Department of Education did a huge meta-analysis and found this was not the case - in face online education is a little better than face to face. Blended and hybrid learning was better than either online or face to face alone. http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/tech/evidence-based-practic...

We're talking about actual learning, not how well we liked the learning (the two are inversely correlated). An online video for example you can pause, rewind, fast forward, compared to a face to face lecture in which the speaker is likely going too fast or too slow for many.

That said, are there certain types of topics or certain types of students which are better taught face to face? Sure. Remedial courses require much more learner support, and really one-on-one tutoring. Other courses are inherently social or inherently difficult to teach online. Are you going to hire a pilot or a firefighter that only trained online? Of course not, but I would hire a pilot or firefighter who had hundreds of hours of practice with difficult scenarios in a simulator over one who had only learned in a face to face context.