Why Distance Learning?

In this special episode of Why Distance Learning, hosts Seth Fleischauer, Allyson Mitchell, and Tami Moehring skip the guest interview and trade hot takes drawn from their recent run of research conversations — with Michael Barbour, Bobbi Sandberg, Jered Borup, and Kristen DeBruler. Each host came in with their own list, then picked which ones to dig into together. What surfaces is a set of specific, evidence-backed reframes:...

In this episode of Why Distance Learning, your hosts talk again with Michael Barbour — the most-cited researcher in K-12 online and distance learning — about what it would actually take to fix how teachers are prepared to teach online, and why thirty years of K-12 virtual learning hasn't produced that change yet. Drawing on his 2024 paper with Charles Hodges, Michael lays out six concrete steps — two focused on bu...

In this episode of Why Distance Learning, your hosts talk with Kristen DeBruler — Assistant Director of the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute — about what makes online learning work for K-12 students, and what quietly undermines it. Drawing on survey data from over a thousand virtual teachers and fresh findings on student and teacher AI perceptions, her work reveals where the conventional promises of online l...

In this episode of Why Distance Learning, your hosts continue their conversation with Jered Borup — professor at George Mason University and one of the most-cited researchers in K-12 online learning — about what AI in education is actually doing to relationships, what social presence requires when "build a video lecture" can be done by a chatbot, and why teacher burnout is the real bottleneck the field doesn't want to t...

In this episode of Why Distance Learning, your hosts talk with Jered Borup — professor at George Mason University, co-creator of the Academic Communities of Engagement framework, and one of the most-cited researchers in K-12 online learning — about why student engagement isn't a property of the student or a skill the teacher unlocks, and why most online programs are leaving the work undone. Borup's framework distinguish...

In this episode of Why Distance Learning, Seth and Allyson speak with Bobbie Sandberg — an educational researcher who recently completed her PhD in instructional psychology and technology at BYU — about what's actually happening in the household when a K-12 student learns online, and why most programs aren't designed for the answer. Bobbie's research, grounded in Jered Borup's Academic Communities of Engagement framewor...

In this episode of Why Distance Learning, your hosts talk with Dr. Helaine Marshall — retired professor of education at Long Island University Hudson and creator of SOFLA, the Synchronous Online Flipped Learning Approach — about the pedagogy most online courses never get around to designing, and what it costs when they don't. Drawing on five years of development work, Community of Inquiry theory, and her own linguistics...

This is the second of a two-part conversation with Michael Barbour, one of the most cited researchers in K-12 distance and online learning. Michael is assistant dean for academic innovation and integration at Touro University California, and has spent nearly three decades studying the design, delivery, and support of K-12 distance, online, and blended learning — as well as the policy and governance structures that shape it. I...

This is the first of a two-part conversation with Michael Barbour, one of the most cited researchers in K-12 distance and online learning. Michael is assistant dean for academic innovation and integration at Touro University California, and has spent nearly three decades studying the design, delivery, and support of K-12 distance, online, and blended learning — as well as the policy and governance structures that shape it. Hi...

About Our Guests

Dr. Brandon Ferderer is Head of Programming at Shared Studios and honors faculty at Arizona State University. A writer, performer, storyteller, and expert facilitator, Brandon holds a doctorate in intercultural communications from Arizona State University. His work spans private, education, and nonprofit sectors, harnessing communication technology to bridge cultural divides through dynamic educational and arts prog...

After attending DLAC — the Digital Learning Annual Conference — founded by John Watson, one thing is clear: the digital learning community doesn’t retreat under constraints. It builds.

Yet, for some, the question persists:
Was distance learning just a pandemic stopgap? Or is it a durable part of education’s future?

In this episode, John Watson joins us to unpack what the field actually learned from ...

Virtual learning didn’t start as a tech experiment. It started as a capacity and access solution.

In this conversation, Julie Young traces the early design logic behind Florida Virtual School—what problems it was built to solve in the mid-1990s, and what that origin story still reveals about rigor, relationships, student identity, and how to design learning systems that scale.

You’ll hear why the mission was never &...

How do you know if your virtual program is actually high quality—without reducing it to a checklist?

Dr. Chris Harrington returns to the podcast to share how he’s building the Virtual Learning Accelerator: a human-centered system that helps leaders assess program quality, translate results into priorities, and support teachers over time—without outsourcing professional judgment to AI.

What you’ll get f...

Distance learning doesn’t fail because of tools—it falters when leadership, policy, and systems don’t align around student success. In this episode, Seth Fleischauer and Allyson Mitchell sit down with Dr. Alexandra Salas, founder and CEO of the Delmarva Digital Learning Association, to unpack what institutional readiness for digital learning actually requires.

Drawing on her experience in higher education leadershi...

In this episode of Why Distance Learning, Seth Fleischauer, Allyson Mitchell, and Tami Moehring welcome Hope Windle, Director of SUNY COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning). Together they unpack what COIL actually is, how it works inside real courses, and why it gives all students—not just those who can study abroad—access to meaningful international collaboration. Drawing on years of experience connecting s...

In this episode of Why Distance Learning, Seth turns the spotlight to co-hosts Tami Moehring and Allyson Mitchell to explore the work they lead at the Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration (CILC). For more than 30 years—long before the digital pivot of 2020—CILC has been connecting classrooms and communities to museums, zoos, aquariums, and cultural institutions through live, interactive virtual programs. Bu...

In this special episode of Why Distance Learning, the tables turn—Seth Fleischauer steps into the guest seat as co-hosts Tami Moehring and Allyson Mitchell interview him about the purpose, design, and future of Global Learning Live, Banyan Global Learning’s next-generation experiential global learning program. They explore what authentic global learning really requires in today’s classrooms—and why the mediu...

Educators often assume that clubs, activities, and school culture must happen in person—that building belonging in virtual learning is limited or even impossible. Many imagine distance learners as isolated kids behind screens, missing the social experiences that shape identity, leadership, and community.

But what if that assumption is simply wrong?

In this conversation, Cindy Carbajal, a 20-year veteran of Pearson Virtual Schoo...

In this episode of Why Distance Learning, hosts Seth Fleischauer, Tami Moehring, and Allyson Mitchell welcome Cassie Bride, Director of School Programs, and Lauren Yockel, School Programs Education Specialist at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA). Together, they explore how one of the nation’s most renowned cultural institutions is transforming museum education through live virtual programming—making world-class art ...