I co-founded Elgg (http://elgg.org/ http://elgg.org/), which was started as a social environment for education. It's got a wider remit now, but is nonetheless u

I co-founded Elgg (http://elgg.org/ http://elgg.org/), which was started as a social environment for education. It's got a wider remit now, but is nonetheless used in a very large number of schools and universities (NB: I left the project last year to move onto other things). One thing I said publicly, and other members of the team were aware of: if I thought anyone was using Elgg to replace face-to-face education, I would stop developing it immediately. I still think this kind of thinking is dangerous. As another commenter has said, humans are social animals. Learning how to behave socially is a hugely important part of education. There's certainly an important place for elearning too, but they're complementary - all part of a nutritious breakfast - rather than an either/or. More generally speaking, online social communications should augment, not replace, face-to-face communications.