Joseph,
I would argue that the learning can certainly be the same and for some students they perform better in online courses. The pedagogy may be different. The design of some of the assignments and activities might vary, but functionally they are very similar. In fact the online tools can be so useful many instructors are beginning to use a "flipped" classroom approach, where they provide most of the routine knowledge content in an online format, and use their traditional class time for more in-depth discussions and "deeper" content.
Herbert Brown III
