Should we let students opt out of face-to-face education?

Absolutely not, the interactions that students have with fellow students and faculty members is vital to the learning process.  Although we are going to a more technological form of education, the social interaction aspect of learning is still one of the most important.  Not only do these interactions help students learn but it also prepares them for  the real world after school by working with a partners or in small groups.  Employers are looking for young people who have the capability to both work well with others and by themselves.  If education is not face-to-face where will the students be getting that experience in interactions.
If a student is passionate about opting out of face-to-face education for an online version I would tell them that there is a way that they can do both.  College classes, and now even high school classes are turning to a half and half approach where a student spends half the time in the classroom and half the time on an online forum.  This way the student is both getting the interactions they need and the technology they desire.  Their response might be that they are still interacting with their fellow classmates on a discussion board or a blog.  To this I would bring this discussion up, is our society socially awkward because of social networking.  The once routine meet for coffee is now a skill that not all can do.  Public speaking, presentations, whole group conversations are all a dieing skill because people have opted out of face-to-face interactions.  My goal for my students is for them to be prepared to enter the working world once they have finished school and the best way for them to succeed in doing so is by having face-to-face interactions in the classroom.