Why Distance Learning?

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 “deliver online,” but break the capacity ceiling—especially in places where schools couldn’t staff courses, couldn’t afford expansion, or literally didn’t have rooms to add sections.

Key Ideas and Moments

1) “Virtual delivery was the means, not the mission.”
Julie frames FLVS as a response to overcrowding, teacher shortages, and unequal course access—not a fascination with the internet.

2) The AP “try it with a safety net” design
An early innovation: students could attempt AP coursework while having a built-in path back without public shame, sometimes even with the same teacher—reducing fear of failure and expanding who even tries advanced courses.

3) Why some students “become a different person” online
Julie describes how virtual learning can enable students who were failing or labeled in traditional settings to succeed because:
  • they can move faster or slower without an audience,
  • teachers can give more individualized attention,
  • relationships can be built deliberately,
  • bullying/social status pressures are reduced.
4) Relationship-building as an operational system, not a vibe
Early FLVS practice emphasized front-loading relationship-building: extended calls, deep parent conversations, learning student voice through writing, and using that baseline for both instruction and academic integrity (in an era before tools like Turnitin).

5) The parent’s role: support pace, don’t replace the teacher
Julie is explicit that FLVS was designed with teachers responsible for learning, and parents as partners for pace, communication, and context—not as the primary instructor.

6) What online makes possible in K–12 ↔ college pathways
From ASU Prep Digital, Julie shares how online models remove “physical campus” and age-related barriers in dual enrollment—making authentic college coursework possible even for unusually accelerated middle school students.

7) Why she wrote the book now
Julie’s book aims to capture 30 years of policy, research, mistakes, and breakthroughs—the “drama and trauma” of building an industry that many newer educators only encountered through the distorted lens of 2020.

Who This Episode Is For
  • Policy and system leaders shaping virtual/hybrid strategy
  • District and school leaders designing scalable online programs
  • Instructional designers and program operators trying to make relationships reliable at scale
  • Anyone tired of pandemic-era assumptions substituting for real history

Links & References

Creators and Guests

Host
Allyson Mitchell
SF
Host
Seth Fleischauer
TM
Host
Tami Moehring

What is Why Distance Learning??

Why Distance Learning? is a podcast about the decisions, design choices, and assumptions that determine whether live virtual learning becomes shallow and transactional—or meaningful, relational, and effective at scale.

The show is designed for education leaders, instructional designers, and system-level practitioners responsible for adopting, scaling, and sustaining virtual, hybrid, and online learning models. Each episode examines the structural conditions under which distance learning actually works—and the predictable reasons it fails when it doesn’t.

Through conversations with researchers, experienced practitioners, and field-shaping leaders, Why Distance Learning? translates research, field evidence, and lived experience into decision-relevant insight. Episodes surface real tradeoffs, near-failures, and hard-won lessons, equipping listeners with clear framing and language they can use to explain, defend, or redesign distance learning models in real organizational contexts.

Hosted by Seth Fleischauer of Banyan Global Learning, and Allyson Mitchell and Tami Moehring of the Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration, the podcast challenges outdated narratives about distance learning and explores what becomes possible when live virtual education is designed intentionally, human-centered, and grounded in evidence.

Seth (00:01.502)
Hello everyone, and welcome to *Why Distance Learning*, the podcast exploring what live virtual learning actually makes possible when it’s designed well. I’m Seth Fleischauer, founder and president of Banyan Global Learning. My co-hosts are Tammy Mooring, who is not here, and Alison Mitchell, who is here from the Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration, or CILC. Hello, Alison.

On this show, we examine the assumptions that continue to shape decisions about distance learning, often without being questioned — assumptions about rigor, relationships, equity, and who online learning is really for. Today’s episode works through several of those assumptions with someone who has had an outsized impact on the evolution of large-scale virtual learning.

Julie Young was a founding leader of Florida Virtual School, an organization that started small and went on to become a national and global model for virtual learning.

We’ll talk about where virtual learning actually came from and what that origin story revealed about student capability, teacher relationships, family engagement, and systems design at scale. Alison, since Tammy is not here, could you please introduce our guest?

Allyson (00:20.716)
Hi!

Allyson (00:01.462)
Thanks, Seth. Today we are joined by Julie Young, one of the earliest architects of large-scale K–12 online learning. Julie was one of the original architects of Florida Virtual School and led its evolution from an early online school into a national and global model for virtual learning. At FLVS, she helped design systems that expanded access to rigorous coursework and personalized instruction for students across Florida and beyond.

She later served in senior leadership roles at Arizona State University, including leading ASU Prep Digital, where she focused on models that rethink the boundaries between K–12, college, and place-based learning. Today, Julie advises education and technology organizations on innovation, access, and system-level design, and brings a long view of what distance learning can do when it’s built intentionally.

Julie, welcome to the show. We wanted to dive in with an early question about how you helped design Florida Virtual School from the ground up before online learning was even a category. What problems were you actually trying to solve in the beginning — not the ones people talk about now, but the ones that felt urgent in the mid-90s?

Julie Young (01:48.762)
Thank you, Alison. Thank you, Seth. It’s a pleasure to be with you today. This was 30 years ago, and we were really trying to solve a capacity and an access problem at the time, not a technology problem. Florida had experienced explosive growth. I was with Orange County Public Schools, and the grant that was awarded to Orange County and Alachua County came from a two-page concept paper written by a computer science teacher. We did not have enough computer science teachers to go around. Our schools were overcrowded. They were building them as fast as they could.

She came to leadership and said, “If I could do this over the internet, I could teach kids in other schools.” So it was really about capacity and access.

Alachua County’s proposal was focused on advanced placement. It’s a very rural district, and many schools didn’t have advanced courses to offer. So again, it was about capacity and access.

Seth (03:29.097)
That makes sense. When people ask me why distance learning, the word “access” comes up more than any other. It’s about providing opportunity where it doesn’t exist. It’s interesting to hear that was the problem you were trying to solve from the start.

Florida Virtual School became the first of many virtual schools in Florida. Florida has become something of a virtual learning hotbed. You once described an early system where students could try AP and move back if needed while staying with the same teacher. Why was that so impactful?

Julie Young (04:46.16)
Virtual delivery was the means, not the mission. The mission was breaking the capacity ceiling. Many students were unable to access advanced placement not because they lacked capability, but because of capacity constraints. Seventeen districts in Florida had no AP courses at all. Governor Bush wanted every student to have access to high-quality teachers and courses regardless of zip code.

Sometimes districts couldn’t attract teachers. Sometimes it was financial. Sometimes there weren’t enough rooms in the building.

We engaged students by encouraging them to try AP, even if they couldn’t get in traditionally. If a senior wanted to try AP English, we placed them with a teacher who taught both AP and standard senior English. They had a safety net. If they struggled, they could move back seamlessly with the same teacher. There was no shame, no classroom change, no public signal of “failure.” That mattered.

Seth (07:17.885)
That reminds me of current “AP for All” initiatives where there’s no gatekeeping. Students can sign up without hitting a threshold first. It lifts expectations for everyone.

You’ve also shared that counselors sometimes warned you certain students wouldn’t succeed virtually — yet those students often did. What were you designing differently that enabled that success?

Julie Young (09:04.24)
It’s about scaffolding, relationships, and personalized attention. In a virtual environment, teachers aren’t managing 25–35 students simultaneously in a room. They can be intentional with each learner.

We once invited three struggling students to speak on a panel. The counselor questioned our choice. Those students showed up with their parents, prepared carefully with their teachers, and performed beautifully. They had never had the chance to shine before.

Students can move faster or slower without shame. Accelerated students don’t want to stand out. Struggling students don’t want to stand out. In virtual learning, adults respond differently. Teachers can engage parents easily. Early on, the phone was our most powerful relationship tool. There was no bullying. Students weren’t competing for attention based on appearance.

It allowed us to treat each child as an individual and coach them without an audience.

Allyson (14:14.702)
You’ve emphasized relationships. Structurally, how did you ensure teachers built them?

Julie Young (15:12.89)
We trained teachers around the idea that students need to love you before they learn from you. The first weeks weren’t primarily about academics. They were about building relationships — phone calls, conversations about interests, dialogues with parents.

We positioned the support system as a three-legged stool: teacher, student, parent.

This was before video. Everything was email. Teachers had students write extensively so they could learn their voice, writing style, strengths, and challenges. That established a baseline for academic integrity and growth. We spent about three weeks easing into academics.

Allyson (18:00.253)
Is that still the model with today’s tools?

Julie Young (18:30.736)
It’s faster now because of video and text tools, but relationship-building remains foundational. Zoom allows the family, teacher, and student to meet together in real time, which strengthens alignment.

Seth (19:27.401)
Let’s zoom in on the family role. How do you invite parents in without shifting professional responsibility to them?

Julie Young (20:08.452)
Florida Virtual School was deliberate: teachers are responsible for learning. There were debates about models where parents were primary instructors. We rejected that.

Parents support pace and engagement. If a student isn’t participating, teachers need parent partnership to re-engage them. We also educated parents about plagiarism and appropriate support. Some parents unintentionally overstep.

We expected parents to inform us about life circumstances affecting the student. Beyond that, their role was traditional support — helping when a child was stuck, not doing the work for them.

Allyson (23:48.341)
You later led ASU Prep Digital. What did virtual learning enable there that traditional systems resist?

Julie Young (24:36.824)
Dual enrollment is common, but typically limited to juniors and seniors or tied to physical campus access. In virtual environments, those barriers fall away.

I met an 11-year-old taking dual enrollment courses accompanied by his grandmother. We admitted him, placed him appropriately, and began integrating authentic college coursework. It’s not unusual for middle school students in that model to take real college courses. The online environment removes age and proximity constraints.

Seth (28:12.989)
You recently wrote *Virtual Learning, Actual Learning*. What’s in the book and who is it for?

Julie Young (29:36.859)
The book captures 30 years of industry development — the policies, research, setbacks, and breakthroughs that built virtual learning. It’s not just my story. It documents the broader journey, including case studies and interviews from the time.

It’s particularly valuable for policymakers, legislators, state leaders, and school leaders contemplating major change. It shows that building this wasn’t easy, but it was doable.

Many younger educators see virtual learning as something that simply exists. They missed the drama and trauma of creating it.

Allyson (32:20.27)
That historical grounding is why this podcast exists. We want people to understand this field didn’t begin in 2020.

Julie Young (34:01.584)
Why distance learning? My flippant answer is: why not?

I’ve spent 45 years in public education. I advocate for public education and for student choice. When one avenue doesn’t work, we have a responsibility to find another. The more pathways to success we provide, the better outcomes we’ll see. We try, and try again, until we find the right solution for the student.

Seth (35:24.969)
Julie, thank you for being here. We’ll link your book and website in the show notes.

Allyson (36:09.666)
Thank you for everything you’ve built and shared.

Julie Young (36:31.012)
Thank you for bringing this information to people.

Seth (36:44.069)
This episode was written and produced by me and my co-hosts and edited by Lucas Salazar. If today’s conversation challenged any assumptions you’ve been carrying about distance learning, explore the show notes for additional resources and related episodes. Share it with a friend, and leave a rating or review.

Why distance learning? Because access to amazing learning experiences shouldn’t depend on where you happen to live. See you next time.