In this episode of Why Distance Learning, Seth talks with Dr. Mark Deschaine - Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Mississippi and editor of the Journal of Contemporary Research in Education - about what online teacher preparation actually requires, and why this moment of institutional disruption represents a structural opening for distance learning. Deschaine draws on three decades of work at the intersection of online learning policy, special education research, and K-12 practitioner experience. Together, Seth, Allyson and Mark explore why teacher preparation programs still treat online instruction as a digital extension of face-to-face teaching rather than its own discipline, and what the NSQOL standards actually get right (and why state adoption is uneven). They trace the structural roots of "à la carte education" — the pandemic-era shift in which parents bypassed school-provided content and found it wasn't that hard — and Mark argues it wasn't an anomaly but a preview. He walks through the three gojies — pedagogy, andragogy, and heutagogy — as a framework for understanding how learner agency changes across contexts, and makes the case that a heutagogical twelve-year-old with internet access could test out of their grade if the system would let them. The conversation builds toward a central claim: what traditional schooling sells isn't content, it's credential and trust — and right now, both are actively eroding through school choice legislation, educational savings accounts, and the dismantling of federal categorical funding. That erosion, Mark says, is where online learning's real opportunity lives. He closes with a preview of decentralized learning, soul-bound tokens as credentialing infrastructure, and the fourth "gogy" he's currently developing — agentagogy — a framework for learning with agentic AI he'll be presenting at AACTE. Key topics: Online teacher preparation as a distinct discipline (not technology added to traditional training) NSQOL standards: what they are, why states adopt them, and where they fall short À la carte education: the post-pandemic structural shift in family-school authority Pedagogy, andragogy, and heutagogy — the three frameworks for learner agency Credential and trust erosion in traditional schooling Decentralized learning and soul-bound tokens as credentialing alternatives Diffusion of Innovations: why the DLAC community matters Links & Resources: "Ala Carte Education: An Inevitable Outgrowth of COVID?" — Mark Deschaine, Academia Letters, January 2021. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348827105 "The Five Cs of Digital Curation: Supporting Twenty-First-Century Teaching and Learning" — Deschaine & Sharma, InSight: A Journal of Scholarly Teaching, 2015. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281641256 National Standards for Quality Online Learning (NSQOL): https://nsqol.org/ Michigan Virtual: michiganvirtual.org The Sources of a Science of Education — John Dewey, 1929. Available free at Project Gutenberg The Reflective Practitioner — Donald Schön https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/donald-a-schon/the-reflective-practitioner/9780786725366/?lens=basic-books Diffusion of Innovations — Everett Rogers https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Diffusion-of-Innovations-5th-Edition/Everett-M-Rogers/9780743222099 Journal of Contemporary Research in Education (JCRE): https://egrove.olemiss.edu/jcre/ Guest Bio: Mark E. Deschaine, PhD Mark Deschaine is a Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Mississippi, where he prepares MA, EdS, EdD, and PhD candidates for school and district leadership roles and serves as editor of the Journal of Contemporary Research in Education. His research focuses on online learning policy, special education in virtual school settings, and differentiated instruction — grounded in a practitioner career spanning building-level principal, special education teacher, and paraprofessional. He is a Research Fellow at Michigan Virtual and a Leadership Team Member for the National Standards for Quality Online Learning. About the Hosts: Seth Fleischauer is the founder and president of Banyan Global Learning and a host of Why Distance Learning. Through Banyan, he designs live virtual exchange programs that connect K-12 classrooms to global peers and expert facilitators. Find Banyan at banyangloballearning.com. Allyson Mitchell and Tami Moehring are co-hosts of Why Distance Learning and part of the team at CILC, the Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration, which connects students to real experts through live virtual field trips and experiences. Find CILC at cilc.org. Why Distance Learning is available at whydistancelearning.transistor.fm.

In this episode of The Smarter Campus Podcast, Zach sits down with Dr. Jason Bock, Director of Online Education at the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University, instructional designer, learning engineer, and AI EdTech founder. Jason brings a fascinating perspective to the AI conversation by connecting it to higher education’s previous shift toward online learning. While COVID forced institutions to adapt quickly, generative AI presents a very different challenge: it isn’t going away, and the technology continues to improve. That reality is forcing educators to reconsider not just how students complete assignments, but what those assignments were actually designed to measure in the first place. A major focus of the conversation is higher education’s reliance on writing as the default form of assessment. Jason explores alternatives like AI-assisted oral exams, role-play agents, and even evaluating students’ AI conversations to better understand how they ask questions, iterate, and think through problems. The conversation also tackles transparency around AI grading and why students deserve to know when AI is being used to evaluate their work. For educators and higher education leaders, this episode offers a practical look at moving beyond the question of whether students are using AI and toward a more important one: How do we redesign learning and assessment for a world where AI is here to stay?

How do creatives protect their intellectual property? Meet Gordon Firemark - Attorney At Law! Gordon Firemark, widely known as "The Podcast Lawyer™." has decades of experience bridging entertainment, theater, media, and law,. He is a prominent entertainment lawyer based in Los Angeles, specializing in the theatre, film, and television industries. On this episode, Gordon breaks down the essential legal foundations every podcaster, content creator, and entrepreneur needs to protect their brand and income. From avoiding trademark disputes over duplicate podcast titles to navigating the wild frontier of AI clones, holograms, and synthetic voice recreation, Gordon explains why treating your creative passion like a real business isn't optional—it's your ultimate safety net. Gordon is also recognized for his professional contributions beyond private practice, including his role as faculty at the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law and his work as a producer and legal consultant in the entertainment sector, as noted in industry databases like IMDb. Key Takeaways: - why creative work requires a strong business and legal foundation - real legal implications of AI clones, digital replicas, and holographic performances - how trademark law protects your creation and brand from audience confusion - financial management advice for creators to survive "lean years" and plan for retirement - the legal difference between front-end contract protection and costly courtroom battles ...and so much more! Listen to the Podcast, subscribe, leave a rating and a review: Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legal-secrets-every-creator-needs-to-know-w-gordon-firemark/id1614151066?i=1000786911022 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6YZHjtSJmBGTL55BB80Qfm?si=c2216c27d98c4259 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Amb9pge_g4o

In this episode, Jethro sits down with Dr. Erin Bailey, VP of Literacy Programs and Research at Reading Is Fundamental, to explore two exciting 2026 developments. Erin shares the growth of Skybrary, RIF's e-book app offering 1,000 read-to-me picture books, now with a free tier providing 100 books per household — a number rooted in research linking book access to reading and academic achievement. She also discusses RIF's acquisition of August House Publishing, bringing 185 titles focused on oral storytelling into RIF's mission of book access. The conversation turns to Erin's own podcast, Reading Inspires, covering the realities of podcast production, building thought leadership, and RIF's core belief that reading should above all be joyful.

In this episode, Craig Randall talks with Emily Taylor, a visual arts teacher at The John Cooper School, about creating a positive classroom where students feel safe experimenting, solving problems, and developing their own ideas. Emily explains how care, clear expectations, and thoughtful questioning shape both student behavior and learning. She shares how her design-based art projects move beyond simply making artwork by asking students to consider audience, function, color, marketing, and product design. She also discusses why she prefers guiding students with questions rather than immediately giving them answers, giving them space to experiment, reflect, and learn from what does not work.