Arizona Online Instruction (AOI) provided an instructional alternative to nearly fifty thousand K-12 students in Arizona during the 2012-2013 school year. Growth in online education underscores the importance of evolving the role of the K-12 virtual teacher as the human agent (Turvey, 2008) demonstrating social learning theory (Bandura, 1977) by developing collaborative learning communities. The virtual classroom presents challenges to teachers in developing collaborative communities based on the transactional distance (Moore, 1997). This qualitative case study explored experiences and perspectives on mitigating challenges and interaction methodologies teachers implement to develop collaborative learning communities in online classroom environments (Duncan & Barnett, 2009; Garrison, 2011). The data was collected from teachers' experiences and perspectives to contribute to current research on K-12 virtual environments. The data collected contributes information on the potential for professional development of virtual pedagogy and on a conceptual framework designed to engage collaborative learning communities and interaction methodologies in 21st century classrooms. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]