Over the last decade, museums have reevaluated the ways in which they serve the public, particularly K-12 audiences. As funding concerns, travel distance, and school requirements prevent many students from visiting museums in person, America's 8.9 million rural students are disproportionately impacted, and educators are left to fill the gap with whatever resources they can find. Museums have begun serving rural educators through distance education, a technique that uses technology as a medium for connecting museum instructors and learners. Dozens of museums across the U.S. currently offer distance education resources. These offerings fall into three main categories: teacher resources, including curriculum packs and professional development, interactive modules and online courses, and alternative field trips. Despite the increasing popularity of distance education programs, little research has been done to understand the reality of these programs for end users, especially rural K-12 educators. This thesis uses 14 interviews with rural educators, museum staff, and museum consultants. Seven interviews with educators from two rural school districts enable a better understanding of the needs of rural audiences. Seven interviews conducted with museum staff at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, and the American Museum of Natural History in New York, as well as a museum consultant, explore the design process of distance education resources. At the time of writing, the need for distance education became critical as nearly 55.1 million school children across the U.S. shifted to online learning due to an unprecedented health event in 2020 that mandated nationwide school closures. This thesis culminates in a list of suggestions to help museums better serve rural communities -- and the country as a whole -- as they develop and implement distance education resources.