Why Distance Learning?

In this episode of Why Distance Learning, hosts Seth Fleischauer, Allyson Mitchell and Tami Moehring welcome Pat Cassella—Executive Director of the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA), VP of Worldwide Sales at VDO360, and founder of ETC Video. Pat traces the evolution of video technology in education, healthcare, government, and corporate training—and offers bold predictions about what’s next.

Why This Matters
Educators are flooded with tools but lack training, workflows, and staffing to use them well—especially in hybrid settings where engaging in-person and remote learners simultaneously feels impossible. K-12 systems in particular face understaffing, turnover, and abandoned tech.

How to Make It Work
Pat argues for purpose-built technology aligned to teacher workflows and deliberate pedagogy for virtual/hybrid environments. The big shift: infrastructure is now easy—the work is pedagogical. He also highlights flexible learning models (including micro-credentialing) that expand choice for learners across K-12, higher ed, and the workforce.
“You don’t want technology for the sake of technology. It has to have a purpose—and fit the teacher’s workflow.”
 “Without distance learning, you’re limiting student choices. Flexibility is what today’s learners demand.”
Put It Into Practice
  1. Audit for Purpose & Fit: Map your most-used teaching routines. Keep/choose tools that reduce steps in those routines and increase engagement for both in-person and remote learners.
  2. Train for Hybrid: Treat hybrid as its own modality. Build camera/mic placement, interaction norms, and roles (e.g., a student facilitator) into lesson plans.
  3. Offer Flexible Paths: Pilot a micro-credential or short, skills-focused module to give students on-ramps that match their time, goals, and circumstances.
Episode Links
Host Links
  1. Discover more virtual learning opportunities and resources at CILC.org with Tami Moehring and Allyson Mitchell.
  2. Banyan Global Learning provides meaningful global learning experiences that prepare students across the globe for success in an interconnected world.

Creators and Guests

Host
Allyson Mitchell
SF
Host
Seth Fleischauer
TM
Host
Tami Moehring

What is Why Distance Learning??

The Why Distance Learning? Podcast explores the transformative power of live virtual learning and its role in shaping the future of education. Hosted by three seasoned distance learning experts, this podcast delivers insights, promising practices, and inspiration for educators, content providers, and education leaders integrating live virtual experiences into teaching and learning. Each episode features interviews with content creators, industry professionals, field experts, and innovative educators who are driving engagement, equity, and innovation through distance learning. By challenging common perceptions and uncovering the realities of live virtual education, Why Distance Learning highlights its true impact and explores how it continues to evolve in an ever-changing educational landscape.

Hosted by Seth Fleischauer of Banyan Global Learning and Allyson Mitchell and Tami Moehring of the Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration.

Seth Fleischauer (00:02.001)
Hello everyone and welcome to Why Distance Learning, the podcast that challenges misconceptions about live virtual education. Hosted by three seasoned distance learning professionals, myself, Tammy and Allison. Hello ladies.

Tami Moehring (00:14.958)
Hello.

Allyson (00:15.719)
Bye.

Seth Fleischauer (00:17.393)
We bring you real stories, expert insights, and research-backed strategies that uncover the true impact of distance learning in today's world. And today, we're talking with someone who has helped shape the distance learning movement from the technology side, long before virtual learning went mainstream. Our guest has spent decades advancing how people connect, collaborate, and learn through video technology, bringing innovation to classrooms, hospitals, corporations, and government agencies. He's not just an advocate for distance learning,

is helped build the infrastructure that makes it possible. Pat Casella, welcome to the program.

Pat Cassella (00:52.336)
Thank you, Seth. Nice to be here.

Seth Fleischauer (00:57.169)
Tammy, could you please introduce our guest?

Tami Moehring (01:00.308)
I'd happy to. Pat is the executive director of the United States Distance Learning Association, USDLA, and a long time leader in the virtual communication technology. With more than 35 years in high tech, he has developed advanced video collaboration tools and used across education, government, healthcare, and corporate training. He also serves as the vice president of worldwide sales at VDO 360.

and is the founder of ETC Video, an educational technology consulting firm. With a background in and sorry, with a background in engineering and product and innovation, has been a driving voice for expanding access to learning through technology. Pat, you've been part of the distance learning community for more than 15 years. What first drew you to this field and what has kept you committed to its vision?

Seth Fleischauer (01:51.847)
Thank you.

Pat Cassella (01:55.472)
Wow, so that's a lot there. Thanks for that introduction. So, you know, it goes way back into my first company that really got involved with telecommunications was on the data communication side. It was a company called General DataCom. They focused on the backbone networks to transport all of the signals, all the video conferences that were going on. You know, we're talking 30 something years ago. So,

Allyson (01:56.675)
You

Pat Cassella (02:24.88)
I don't know how far back you want to go, but that's probably one of the first times that I was starting to get more involved on the data communication side than anything else.

Allyson (02:36.699)
Yeah, those first projects, I'd love to hear a little bit more about the first projects or if any of them stand out or if you had like a pivotal moment that you were like, yes, this is the career path I'm going down, especially in those early years. I mean, I love, as everybody knows, I love lining different places, ISDN lines. So I can only imagine all the fun stuff you get to work with.

Pat Cassella (03:00.112)
Yeah, you know, it goes way back for me. I actually went to a technical high school. I didn't go to your traditional four year high school. I actually did two years of tech and then two years of traditional class classwork and then went through the engineering degrees. Did an associate's degree in engineering, electrical engineering, then a bachelor's in electrical engineering, a master's in computer science. During that time, I got involved with a program called co-op where you actually would go to school for a little bit. Then you'd go to work at a company for a little bit.

And the company I actually went to work for was a big company called United Technologies. And they had a division that worked on radar called Norden Systems. And back then, one of my first jobs was to run test scenarios on radar systems to see how they would perform in real life scenarios. So that was really like my first taste of tech, if you will.

You know, from there that actually transposed to that job I was talking about a little while ago at General Data Comm on the data communication side. But, you know, from an early age, I was certainly a tech guy. You know, I think the earliest story was taking apart my grandfather's hearing aid back when I was like seven years old. So I kind of, my parents knew I was going to be both trouble and a technology guy.

Seth Fleischauer (03:59.047)
It's a trouble tech, trouble tech pad.

Allyson (04:20.785)
Two T's.

Yeah!

Pat Cassella (04:25.936)
Troubled set.

Seth Fleischauer (04:28.695)
At what point did education come into the picture for you? Because right now you're the executive director of the US Distance Learning Association, something that is dear to the heart of many people in the distance learning industry. So when did education first come in for you?

Pat Cassella (04:32.229)
Yeah.

Pat Cassella (04:44.272)
Yeah, so you know, after General Data Comm I went to one startup was there for about a year and that was recruited to another called VBRIC Systems. That's where it really started to get involved in education. So VBRIC was a startup in the 2000 times. So right around that dot com time. And I came on board as a product manager there. So, you know, my job was to actually go and talk with the customers.

find out what they're looking for, go sit with those engineers and make sure that we're building the right products there. And I had a mentor come up to me one day and was like, Pat, you really should focus on vertical. I was like, hmm, okay. And he says, you know, the educational vertical is a really good vertical for the product that we were making at the time, which was a video streaming box. And, you know, we're going back to like 2000 and streaming was

Seth Fleischauer (05:11.047)
Yeah.

Pat Cassella (05:38.256)
really at its infancy. I mean, it's 25 years ago. Video conferencing was there, but streaming was the one way transmission. Gentleman's name was Michael Baker. Michael has been in the educational industry a long, long time. Certainly is a dear friend and was my mentor. But that's the really the first time that I started to kind of peel back what education needed from a technology standpoint.

Seth Fleischauer (06:05.851)
Hmm. So, mean, this is a long history you're talking about here, 25 years ago. I'm wondering, in that time, what has changed in terms of leveraging live video for educational experiences and what are some of the principles that have remained the same?

Pat Cassella (06:22.576)
Sure, so you know, lots of change. Back then we were focused more on how do you build out the infrastructure, video conferencing if you will, right? It was really hard. You didn't just like set up a Zoom call and three clicks of a mouse and you know, start meeting with someone. You actually had to get involved with setting up all kinds of different gear. You had to have a good network. You had to have what are called endpoints, right? The video conferencing endpoints.

Allyson (06:34.618)
You

Pat Cassella (06:46.692)
You had MCUs and gateways and gatekeepers and addressing and all kinds of crazy stuff. It was really hard to set up just a regular video conference. And if any of us date ourselves back that long ago, they weren't very good. They were, they really stunk actually. Right. So you went through a lot of, a lot of trouble, very expensive and they weren't really good. So nowadays and especially with us delay, we used to be focused on.

Seth Fleischauer (07:01.18)
Mm

Pat Cassella (07:16.442)
helping schools build out these networks, work with the equipment providers to put together a video conference backbone, if you will, so that teachers could go and teach remotely. Nowadays, you can do that with, like I said, a few mouse clicks. So we focus more now on the pedagogy side of it, right? Of how do we help the educators out there, whether you're an instructional designer, a teacher, a superintendent, it doesn't matter, use the tools that work.

on that video conferencing backbone. That's the big change now. You know, you go to school to become a teacher, you don't necessarily go through a class on how to teach in a remote distance learning environment. And we all saw that happen in COVID, during the COVID times. Both of my sisters are teachers. I have two sisters, one's a college teacher, one's on the K-12 side. And both of them were lost. How the hell do you teach video, you know, in a remote environment?

So that's been a big change, is just having the convenience of having that video conferencing available at any point in time.

Seth Fleischauer (08:22.1)
And there's a common question that we've dived into on this show, which is when you're talking about preparing teachers for effective pedagogy in the virtual space, do you find yourself simply

reinforcing what good pedagogy is and it just happens to happen here and really they're just technical elements that we're trying to make sure that people understand so that they have their full tool set that they can use or do you find that there are specific pedagogies that are are applicable only to this setting?

Pat Cassella (08:57.936)
It's a combination of both and it depends on the environment. You know if you're teaching in a traditional distance learning environment that is non hybrid, I'll get back to that in a second. You know you have one set of rules that you would follow for for teaching. know you're predominantly have a set of tools that you're going to use, but you're not moving around a lot. That's that's one of the keys. You know you're teaching kind of up to it to that remote audience.

Allyson (09:09.371)
Mm-hmm.

Seth Fleischauer (09:24.103)
I think we could safely say that's

Pat Cassella (09:27.034)
Contrast that to a hybrid environment. That's where people have a lot of challenges that I've seen, and that's when you have both physical students in the classroom and you've got an audience of remote participants. That's hard to do. It takes a special set of tools and a special set of a special skill set really to keep both environments engaged, right? One thing to walk around.

Seth Fleischauer (09:51.939)
everyone's least favorite way to teach.

Pat Cassella (09:54.136)
It really is, it really is. But you know, if you can do it correctly and keep both, you you're trying to keep both audiences engaged, but you also want to bring the two audiences together. That's really what is key right there. And like I said, that takes a little bit of practice. That's not something that are going to be teaching a teacher traditionally on any topic that they're going to be an instructor for.

Seth Fleischauer (10:05.67)
Yeah.

Allyson (10:19.095)
And I wonder just with all the time that you've spent in helping both in the building the infrastructure, then also building the coursework up and that pedagogy, is there any misconceptions that you hear constantly over the really haven't changed or you know that it might be a battle or challenge that might come up that you're ready to address?

Pat Cassella (10:40.24)
Yeah, you know, the younger generation of teachers seem more willing to embrace the technology. We've heard this for a bazillion years, right? The older generation kind of sometimes pushes technology. They're against technology, right? They don't want to, you can't teach the old dog new tricks, if you will. There's always that, right? There's always that challenge right there. You also don't want to have technology for the sake of just having technology. It has to have a purpose for it. So purpose-built technology is something that I've always been

focused on, and that goes again back to my product management, product development days of sitting with the actual user of the gear and finding out what's your workflow. How does your workflow go when you're teaching a class and making sure that the product kind of seamlessly goes in that. So yeah, there's a pushback always or often I shall say not always that folks just don't get enough. They don't get enough training.

Really, in most cases, right? They put in technology, they don't train the teachers enough on how to use them, and it becomes an unused silo of technology. And over 30 something years, it makes me cringe to see the number of systems that are put into place that are never used or underused. Yeah. You know, the expense was one thing at one point in time, people were like, it's too expensive. And I could see that back in the days pre, you know, online.

Seth Fleischauer (11:39.727)
Hmm

Pat Cassella (12:05.796)
video conferencing systems, but nowadays it's incredibly affordable whether you're Google Meet or Zoom or pick your favorite video conferencing platform, right?

Allyson (12:16.908)
Yeah, and I wonder, is that something that you saw across the sectors that you've worked in? Because you've worked in government, corporate, medical, and education. So are those ideas of the balance that you find, is that something similar? Or do you see that in one sector there might be challenges like that lack of training or lack of use of systems that might be in? I just wonder your perspective on that because

Pat Cassella (12:40.304)
Woof. Woof. Wow, how long?

Allyson (12:42.809)
You have so much back. There's such so cool because you get to make everybody be able to connect with distance learning in these environments. So.

Pat Cassella (12:49.168)
Right, right. How long do we have? How many hours? K-12 is certainly, K-12 is near and dear to my heart, even though I've had tons of experience in the other verticals. Understaffed. Simple as that, right? Understaffed in the K-12 world. Where I find on the telehealth side of things, generally better staffed, and there is an ROI behind it. Usually dollar signs are tied to it, especially when you're talking about doing any kind of telehealth service.

So there seems to be, that runs a little bit smoother, if you will. I'd say the same on higher ed. Higher ed definitely has more staff that is in tune with the technology. They're not just gonna waste money to put something in place. I see that being used quite a bit. K-12 struggles, in my opinion, the most with it. And it is a lack of resources. And sometimes it's, we've got to use this money or we're not gonna get it next year. Or I went and put a system in place and the turnover in K-12 is...

As you would probably know, it's heavy. It's heavy. So, you know, I work with a lot of contacts that were at one school and then they never even got the system in. They're over at another school and somebody else comes along and technology, you know, abandonment happens quite a bit. Unfortunately, on the K-12 side of things, no doubt.

Seth Fleischauer (14:04.103)
Okay.

Pat Cassella (14:13.102)
Yeah, similarities between them though. I know we were, you know, to add a little bit onto that. You know, in the early days, tons of similarity, right? Because you're all on a video conferencing network, if you will. But now if you look at how it has matured, the technology is very application specific, especially in the world of telehealth, right?

Seth Fleischauer (14:13.671)
Pat Cassella (14:33.006)
Early telehealth was literally a monitor, like we're doing here, video conferencing, know, stick out your tongue, let me look at you, that type of stuff. Now there's so many different components that are integrated into the system from stethoscopes to, you know, a dozen other different add-ons, if you will. So very, very specific, I've noticed on, especially on the telehealth side of things, whereas the higher ed.

Seth Fleischauer (14:38.735)
Mm hmm. Okay.

Pat Cassella (14:57.07)
You know, you could make the argument that there's automation on the video capturing side of things for lecture capture, you know, making sure it takes off automatically and whatnot. But while there is some similarities, specifics are starting to come more and more into play from the different verticals, no doubt.

Allyson (15:15.377)
Hmm.

Seth Fleischauer (15:16.99)
Let's switch gears a little bit here. You were talking earlier about the need for training. That's one problem that exists within the distance learning industry.

I'm wondering, we listed three jobs for you at the top. Do you only have three jobs? Are there more? We'll focus on the three for today. But at VDO360 and ETC Video, which you are a founder, what are the problems that you are solving through those companies?

Pat Cassella (15:45.873)
So yeah, so I started ETC Video, Educational Technology Consulting, back in 2008. And I just decided to take the experience I had from engineering and product management, and I ran marketing, and then I got into sales, and I spent quite a bit of time on the sales side. And I said, let me be the person to offer those services to different companies that are out there.

So ATC Video is my LLC, that is my company. And I do work, subcontract type work, for several different companies that are out there. I've scaled it back, there's only three, only three, that I really work with right now. VDO360, great company, camera manufacturer based out on the West Coast. So you know there's that camera technology that fits in really good with video conferencing. Another company called Discover Video, and that was spun off from VBRIC Systems.

one of the early startups that I was at, founders, Rich from Aberdannas. The company's been around since 2007. I predominantly played a sales role for them. So helping them go and sell the product and whatnot, do demos, bringing back to feature requests from the customers back into the engineering team, et cetera. Cameras side, VDO360 spent a lot more time on the marketing.

Seth Fleischauer (16:51.879)
Thank you.

Pat Cassella (17:09.06)
getting their product collateral set up, getting the marketing, getting their website taken care of, et cetera. And then USDLA is a totally different, right? So that was more of, I hate to say it as a hobby, but it has been. I got involved with USDLA back when I was at VBRICS Systems and I was a partner, I was a vendor. So I sat on the vendor side, I sat on the side of the table where I was trying to sell my services and products.

And eventually somebody asked me if I wanted to get involved on the advisory board. And then eventually I was onto their full board and then I was president. And then they asked me to be executive director. know, it has been, that's probably been the most rewarding of all of my jobs over the years to be at this point now, semi-retired and being able to give back to them because it's a nonprofit. USDLAs of 501C3, a nonprofit.

Seth Fleischauer (18:01.159)
Okay. Okay.

Pat Cassella (18:05.848)
Lots of volunteers, much different running a team of volunteers than it is a team of paid engineers. I will tell you that it has a different set of challenges to it. But you know, with those challenges come incredible satisfaction, right? To see everybody who loves doing education, put their heart and soul into it and give some volunteer time towards it. That's rewarding. You know, I feel extremely fortunate to be in this, in this position today.

Allyson (18:12.742)
You

Seth Fleischauer (18:34.407)
So you've got this unique vantage point of being in private industry, those private industries operating across multiple industries. You've got the trade organization that you are the ED of. I want some bold predictions from Pat Casella. so like looking like next like five to 10 years from your vantage point from what you're seeing.

Pat Cassella (18:51.706)
Yeah.

Allyson (18:52.487)
You

Seth Fleischauer (18:58.689)
What do you think are going to be some of these like new exciting innovations that are coming down the pipeline?

Pat Cassella (19:05.488)
Yeah, yeah. AI, no surprise, right? Artificial intelligence is everywhere and it is impacting every aspect of education from admissions to the enrollment to the teaching to the grading, you name it. And it's having a big impact. Where do I think it's going? Where do I know it's going? It's no doubt at some point in time, like it or not, the teaching model is going to be predominantly driven via AI.

And it's going to be driven through AI powered robots. It's going to go there. You why? Because robot bots the bots, you know, you think about it.

Seth Fleischauer (19:41.916)
Hold on, robots? Robots or bots?

Allyson (19:43.559)
Hahaha

Seth Fleischauer (19:47.064)
Like physical, like from the Jetsons robots or just software.

Pat Cassella (19:51.281)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know, I've always admired Betsy, you know, and all the Jetsons and I do want my flying car before I leave this planet. But yeah, you know, robots, we are going to have robotic instructors. There's been a robot around Sophia, if you look her up on YouTube, she's been around for a decade plus probably. And even back then she looked pretty real. But with AI, you have that advantage of

Allyson (20:00.666)
You

Pat Cassella (20:20.196)
You got to put good data in, the more data that you're putting in and you're scrubbing that additional data and the data is getting better and better and better. They're going to be more accurate in their teaching. Their delivery models are going to be consistent. They're not going to have a level of prejudice as long as you're making sure you're programming them correctly. They certainly don't take sick time. They don't take bathroom break. Right. They don't take bathroom breaks. They don't get sick. They don't need benefits. Their salaries. So.

Seth Fleischauer (20:36.519)
That's a big F. Sorry.

Allyson (20:42.322)
Hehehehehe

Pat Cassella (20:49.393)
It is going to go there. Is it five years?

Seth Fleischauer (20:51.983)
until they rise up against the slave labor conditions you've just outlined for them.

Allyson (20:57.223)
I'm waiting for the hologram where we can all just walk around as holograms and visit each other. That's what I'm excited for.

Pat Cassella (20:57.431)
Yeah.

Pat Cassella (21:02.434)
Yeah, you know that that come in there, you know, but you see you see how powerful AI can be in improving productivity. That's at the end of the day. That's what AI is supposed to be for. It's improving productivity is supposed to make our lives easier, right? So that we can focus on some of the jobs that AI is not very good at. And certainly screening.

the data that you put into AI is super important, right? We all know that garbage in, you get garbage out, but you're gonna have a whole new series of jobs of people programming these AI models that are out there. But yeah, I mean, I have been saying this for a long time and I'm careful saying it around teachers, because I don't want them to freak out thinking they're gonna be replaced. you know, it is getting to that point. And, you know, if you see some of these

Seth Fleischauer (21:50.887)
Okay.

Pat Cassella (21:59.889)
Now they really have human looking characteristics to them. You're going to get to a point you're not even going to you hate to say it. You probably won't realize you're being taught by a robot.

Seth Fleischauer (22:12.628)
All right.

Allyson (22:13.916)
When you say some of the work that the AI doesn't do as well, I wonder what some examples of that is. And do you see video conferencing, this platform, and that idea of building human connection and community having a place within that idea of the bots not being able to do those certain tasks more?

Pat Cassella (22:39.032)
Yeah, know, in Alston, could be in the beginning that it's almost like a mirrored, just like we don't send as many troops out on the battlefield as we used to. We have somebody that's kind of behind the scenes controlling right anywhere from a drone to again, an AI powered soldier, if you will, right about soldier. And I think there could be that one to one model for a while and it could be an instructor is in charge of maybe taking care of several of these robotic teachers.

that are out there. And you know, that is on the physical side. If you look at the virtual side of things, I mean, we're getting to be a smaller and smaller world every day. Virtual classes are certainly, you know, taking off. And community is important, right? You asked about the community. The community is certainly going to be involved there if they're involved already today. But it's exciting and scary at the same time.

Seth Fleischauer (23:33.703)
Okay.

Pat Cassella (23:37.187)
of what is going on right now. But, you know, I think as a world, you know, get out there, world, country, et cetera, we have to do it here in the US because, you know, let's face it, the jobs that are necessary today require us to be more proficient in the way we're teaching today's students, right? Learning better, learning quicker, learning more accurately.

That's super, super critical. Just like micro, we can talk about the whole micro credentialing thing, but you know, that's a big part of it is making sure that they are prepared to produce the, you know, to be a workforce for the jobs that are necessary today.

Seth Fleischauer (24:23.339)
Yeah, well, I asked for a bold prediction and you certainly gave us one.

Allyson (24:26.855)
Hehehehehe

Seth Fleischauer (24:29.023)
And I would argue, you did say something earlier, you said AI can make our lives easier. I would argue it's more along what you were just saying, which is that it's about increasing capacity within a capitalist system. Even talking to teachers, it can reduce your administrative burden, that's true. But how many teachers are gonna be like, okay, cool, then I'm gonna go home, right? Teachers are going to be like, okay, I saved an hour, now I can spend another hour doing the important teacher stuff that I have to do, right?

Pat Cassella (24:50.627)
Yeah

Pat Cassella (24:58.33)
Right.

Seth Fleischauer (24:58.407)
I think it is about increasing capacity, especially within our system. But Tammy, Tammy, could you please bring in an old quote for Pat to respond to?

Pat Cassella (25:11.37)
boy.

Tami Moehring (25:13.044)
I'd be happy to. Okay, so we had John Watson on our podcast and he said, distance learning is all about creating options for students. From the perspective of multiple hats that you wear, how do you see distance learning expanding student choice and opportunity across sectors like K-12, higher ed and workforce learning?

Pat Cassella (25:14.02)
waiting for it.

Pat Cassella (25:38.973)
I know, absolutely. So back to tie into micro credentialing students today are, they want flexibility, period. They might want to go on campus to take a class today. They might want to take tomorrow's class from the coffee shop. They might be in bed on the third day's class. They need flexibility. and the educational institutions out there have to deliver it. Right. So, you know, virtual learning, distance learning, call it what you will.

It's an important element, whether it is two way interactive or whether it's one way, you know, asymmetrical, they want options and that's what they're going to go in demand in this day and age. And again, we've always had this model of let's just say for higher education, four year degrees, right? And you're set that you're going to take a certain number of courses through this semester. You're going to work your four years through it and get your bachelor's degree.

I think that is going to disappear. It's going to be more of an on-demand. If Seth has more capacity to get that degree in two years, he's going to go for it. Same thing, Tammy, if you are looking at a job and it requires a micro-credentialing certificate and you can go and get that in six months, you're going to go that direction. Flexibility. Some students can't stick it out to do the long-term things. They want the short, immediate impact.

Seth Fleischauer (26:51.495)
So

Pat Cassella (27:07.684)
be able to, and they might not be able to afford it financially, right? They have to be able to go in, get some kind of education, and then be able to apply that education so they could start earning money and whatnot, and hopefully go back and continue education. But yeah, it's, at end of the day, it is flexibility, and that's what today's students demand. And the schools that are getting it, they are adapting rapidly right now. And the ones that aren't,

Seth Fleischauer (27:23.527)
Thanks.

Pat Cassella (27:37.838)
I hate to say it, but they're not going to be around in another five years.

Allyson (27:41.239)
Excuse me.

Seth Fleischauer (27:41.479)
Allison, could you tee up our golden moment question?

Allyson (27:46.495)
Yes, I was going to say just this is I always love learning from you Pat and I always love being able to learn from everything that in the US DLA community and I do wonder you have so much experience and so many wonderful things that you share but is there one golden moment for you in your career that you've really read that's like reinforce the impact of this field that you think about.

Pat Cassella (28:10.074)
golden moment. You know, coming full circle to be in here at USDLA, that is certainly for me a golden moment of tying it kind of like all back together. But you know, I will go back into you know, we talk about education in particular, I will go back to that day at the BRICS systems where you know, I had my mentor come up to me and tell me, go focus on one vertical. And while I did continue to dabble on the other three verticals, I really focused on the the educational side and, you know,

I've been blessed, right? I had just an incredible career, met tons and tons of great people and I'm still at it, right? But I would tell everybody, continue to learn. You never stop learning. That's the biggest key, right? You never get to a point where you're like, poof, I'm done. I'm just gonna, you know, kick up. I can't do it. You know, this is like semi-retirement for me, right? So I always will remain in the industry in one way, or form. There's still so much more to come.

Allyson (28:52.071)
You

Seth Fleischauer (29:00.103)
Well, Pat, the other question that we ask everybody is the title of the podcast with your decades of experience. Why distance learning?

Pat Cassella (29:10.383)
No doubt about it.

Allyson (29:12.411)
Lifelong learning, yes.

Pat Cassella (29:14.35)
Lifelong learning, right? Absolutely.

Pat Cassella (29:27.236)
Yeah, again, we'll talk about that question you asked a couple before on the flexibility side of things. Without distance learning, you're really limiting the choices for students. Back when I went to do my degrees, there was no distance learning. I actually did all of my degrees while working. So I was a commuter, which meant I physically went to work every morning, got out of work, broke.

Seth Fleischauer (29:52.455)
That's a different kind of distance learning.

Pat Cassella (29:54.789)
That was a distance learning boy. was driving this school, you know, and I was in Connecticut and you know, I, people ask me questions about like movie shows and whatnot during that timeframe. And I'm like, I don't even know what you're talking about, right? I had no time. I barely ever watched television or anything. see how that flex really did. All these shows that I missed are like a six year time span, right? But yeah, it's, the flexibility having the, you know, why distance learning, you get so much more.

Seth Fleischauer (30:06.906)
Next.

Pat Cassella (30:24.59)
done. And hopefully, you know, those those choices add up to productivity improvement somewhere along the lines for those students, whether they're getting the degree in a quicker time, or they're actually sticking with it because they can, you know, some students are taking care of families, and it's almost impossible without distance learning to continue their education, it is impossible, right? So

Seth Fleischauer (30:43.527)
Okay.

Pat Cassella (30:51.472)
I'm being able to learn when you can, where you can in a flexible model of however it works for you. And that might change from day to day. That's why distance learning.

Seth Fleischauer (31:05.184)
Well, thank you so much, Pat. A huge thank you to you for sharing your expertise and your decades of perspective on how technology and leadership and access continue to shape the future of distance learning. Your work with USDLA reminds us that virtual learning isn't just a delivery method, it's a movement built on connection, opportunity, and impact.

If you enjoyed this episode, please make sure to follow or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts so you don't miss an upcoming conversation with leaders who are redefining what learning can be. You can also visit...

Allyson (31:40.699)
And Seth, I want to remind everybody really quick that the USDLA has National Distance Learning Week, which is the first full week of November. So in the show notes, we are definitely going to be able to link that. There's amazing opportunities to check out lots of different content. You can see exactly in action the things that Pat talked here today.

Pat Cassella (31:46.833)
yeah.

Allyson (32:01.649)
wanna make sure because this is gonna come out right before that week. So we're really excited for everyone to really be able to go and see all of this fun stuff in action. And here's from some other experts. Sorry to jump in there. You're welcome. Gotta be the cheerleader.

Pat Cassella (32:11.632)
Thanks for that plug, Allison. Perfect, perfect. Good reminder, good reminder.

Seth Fleischauer (32:14.324)
Yeah.

Pat Cassella (32:18.478)
Absolutely.

Seth Fleischauer (32:20.295)
Awesome. And speaking of show notes, you can check those at cilc.org slash podcast to explore past episodes, resources and ways to connect with our community. Thank you as always to our editor, Lucas Salazar. And on behalf of the team, we appreciate you listening and we'll see you next time as we continue to challenge misconceptions and explore the real power of live virtual learning. See you next time.

Allyson (32:36.263)
Thank you.

Allyson (32:47.783)
Pat Cassella (32:51.024)
Very cool.

Seth Fleischauer (32:53.287)
Bravo. How was that experience for you, Pat?

Allyson (32:53.776)
Yay!

Pat Cassella (32:56.603)
Very cool. Love it. Nice and seamless. I don't go on. I'm not a scripted guy anyhow, it's like just, know, Alice gave me the notes. I was looking at him seven minutes before the session.

Seth Fleischauer (33:01.159)
Awesome.

Allyson (33:01.499)
Yay.

Allyson (33:05.319)
Ha ha ha ha