Practice does not make perfect. Practice makes permanent. If you let people convert their partner drills to solo drills, most are going to get some part of it wrong. (especially considering Gerry's point, that most of it is impossible to covert) If they then practice intently, for these weeks while we are out... they will be build bad habits that will be even harder to change.
I even see that as a problem for striking arts with kata. There is only so much you can see through a web cam. If people have learned their kata, then they can practice it. But if you are trying to learn a new kata or form... you may end up with something you didn't intend.
I trained with a Judo coach once, who gave a great example. Practicing your moves is like drawing a shape in the sand with a stick. The first time you try to draw the shape, the stick can go anywhere, very easily. Each time to trace the shape, it gets a little deeper, and easier to follow. However, the deeper it gets, and the easier it is to follow, the harder it is to change. The best time to change your technique, is the first time you learn it, when the ruts are the shallowest. Make sure you make the right shape, even if you have to go slow. That way your ruts are correct.
I think right now, in our eagerness to do something and be productive, we have to be careful of digging ruts we will need to fix later.