<p>I teach in the classroom, not online and I also find that most of my students are very dependant and want exact instructions of what is expected from them. I am very interested to hear that online students are more self directed, independant learners. I have always felt that the personal connection of the onground classroom was more conducive to learning but I am now having second thoughts with regard to that opinion. If you only teach online and are refering to students who are new to online courses then perhaps it is their unfamiliarity with navigating the virtual classroom.</p>