Mandatory eLearning: What are you afraid of?

For those of you who aren't from Ontario, not that long ago the provincial government here announced that they were going to require that high school students complete a number of online courses as part of the graduation requirement. If you haven't read their announcement it may be worth your time to check it out. 

This has touched off a bit of a furor. There are a great many people reacting with strong feelings to this announcement.

Now don't get me wrong there are some significant hurdles to implementing this well:

• High quality internet connection is not available everywhere.
• Not all students have access to devices especially those in lower income brackets.
• Online courses aren't going to work well for all students. (But then the regular classroom doesn't work well for all students either.)

But the level of reaction to this announcement suggests to me that there might be more going on. 

So what makes eLearning or online courses scary? 

What is it about eLearning or online courses that raises so many concerns?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.