Extensive evaluative literature has pointed to the conclusion that there is no significant difference between the face-to-face and the various models of distance learning. Nevertheless, there exists the other face of the fact that some authorities still maintain that online education is never equal to traditional classroom instruction (Phipps & Merisotis, 1999). One critic even branded virtual schools as "digital diploma mills" (Noble 1997). There is thus a perceptible need to confirm or disconfirm the claims of both camps regarding comparable effectiveness between traditional and online...