The integration of generative AI into education offers new possibilities for instructional materials, yet questions persist regarding its impact on the human dimensions of teaching. This study aims to synthesize research on language teacher resilience, instructor presence in video-based learning, and educational sustainability to derive teacher-centered design principles for using AI-generated materials in distance language education. Through a narrative review, the analysis identifies convergence points across these strands. The synthesis reveals that generative AI is most effective when it reduces routine tasks, allowing instructors to focus on dialogic feedback and mentoring. Proposed design principles operate at micro (course), meso (professional communities), and macro (institutional) levels, with evidence drawn from diverse global contexts. The synthesis indicates comparable learning outcomes for machine versus human-produced videos but emphasizes the importance of perceived instructor authenticity. The study cautions that without workload safeguards, efficiency gains may become invisible labor. It concludes that AI’s educational promise is realized when it enhances teacher visibility and when institutional policies prioritize pedagogical care alongside technological speed.

Distance education is increasingly common in higher education, though the quality of online programs varies significantly. Students in online learning often feel isolated from their classmates, which can hinder their success in achieving learning outcomes. One of the most common ways learners socially interact in online education is through asynchronous discussions. This qualitative research study utilized six different asynchronous discussion strategies (problem-based solution, audio recording, teacher facilitation, peer facilitation, debate, personal experiences) in an online graduate class, based on a literature review and course design. They explored their implementations for the importance of social presence from the students' perceptions. All the participants were in-service teachers, focusing on learning the foundations of educational technology. A phenomenological research design was employed to analyze the participants' multiple perspectives of their experience with different discussion strategies. Results reveal insights on how different discussion types can be used to improve the social presence and provide practical implications for teachers of online courses. The findings suggest that all the discussion strategies allowed some level of collaboration; however, the problem-based solution activity emerged as a helpful strategy to improve graduate students’ social presence in online graduate courses. Overall, the researchers argue that course designers and instructors must use different strategies at different points in their courses and think carefully about their discussion prompts and protocols in online asynchronous discussions (e.g., topic, timeline).