Being currently enrolled in an online master's degree program for computer science at Illinois, I can tell you that I don't feel as if I am getting as much out

Being currently enrolled in an online master's degree program for computer science at Illinois, I can tell you that I don't feel as if I am getting as much out of it as I did as an undergrad. The lectures are far more convenient in an online form since I can watch them at any time, pause them, rewind them, jump around the slides. Occasionally, I wish that I could be able to ask questions, but I know that I can always email the prof. separately or involve the entire class by posting a question to a newsgroup. Newsgroups (and forums), by the way, are great in this setup. Unfortunately, my experiences in working on a project (pretty much for every class) leave a lot to be desired. Working remotely with others can be really difficult due to schedule conflicts and lack of face-to-face communication. Skype-ing is amazingly helpful, but is no way close to sitting down with your teammates in a study room and brainstorming/hacking. Long silences while thinking becomes awkward when you can't see other's body language. I suppose video chat could help here, but I still think the teamwork experience is really lost when this kind of study is completely online.