text: Distance learning takes students away from other students their age which not only isolates them, but also hinders their communication and collaboration skills. Many times throughout a school year students are given projects to work on as a group which not only allows for the students to meet new people in their age group, but also allows for them to develop communication skills. These projects typically have some sort of reflection at the end so that the students are able to discuss who in the group put in the most effort which encourages all of the students in the group to try their hardest and collaborate with each other. Part of this collaboration involves working around each others schedules and sacrificing time to check over each others work. Sadly, the skills learned from these projects cannot be learned when utilizing distance learning. Not only are the students unable to meet up in person to discuss their project, but online schools typically shy away from giving group projects due to the difficulty to work around other students schedules. Thus, distance learners are taught to be independent when completing work which can only serve to hinder them when they enter the job force.