But You Can't Smell It - What is lost in the virtual world?

Full disclosure.  My epiphany.  Face to face teaching as opposed to online teaching - what is lost in the transition to a virtual environment?   You can't smell it.  

I just presented at a conference about online learning for adult basic education students.  I found a part of me felt a little like an imposter.  Like I betrayed (a little) the conventional adult basic education classroom that is literally in your face.  Can virtual learning replace face to face instruction?  Yes (though there is a caveat about needing a mentor that is physically present).  Can it provide the same support that a face to face environment does for under-represented learners at a basic/foundational learning level?  For me right now, that is the predominant question.

After all, at the other end of the virtual superhighway is a person.  A smelling, smelly, noisy, unconsciously vibrating, smiling, nodding, frowning, yawning, feeling student.  Who brings a myriad of experiences, prior knowledge, baggage, barriers, and interpersonal needs.  Teachers who are intuitive, instinctual, and respond to the immediacy of learners sitting in front of them, lose some of those facilities in the transition to online programming.  

Yes, there is good virtual pedagogy.  Yes, there are  ways to translate what works face to face into online teaching strategies.  But I still need to investigate: what are we not smelling?