TOPcast: The Teaching Online Podcast

Return guest Dr. Jocelyn Widmer joins hosts Kelvin and Tom to discuss a brand new book focused on leading the strategy and practice of online higher education and clarifying the role of the Chief Online Learning Officer (COLO).

Hosts Kelvin and Tom speak about (and to) the “core audience” of online faculty, instructional designers, and administrative leaders, alongside many other roles, to unpack the podcast's conceptualization of online education as centered on optimizing course design and teaching.

Return guest Dr. Sasha Thackaberry-Voinovich joins hosts Kelvin and Tom to share hard won expert tips on improving online program marketing and enrollment.

With ten years in the rear view mirror, hosts Tom and Kelvin talk through insights gained about the field of online education and the podcast itself after they reviewed the “Top10” episodes of TOPcast. [Spoiler: Tune in for a big announcement!]

1EdTech Consortium CEO Curtiss Barnes guests on the show alongside hosts Kelvin and Tom to “decomplexify” the value 1EdTech brings to the digital learning community through open standards and more.

Hosts Tom and Kelvin discuss how institutions can avoid the enrollment cliff by embracing a values-driven strategy in online higher education. Learn key insights to navigate demographic shifts, economic pressures, and the evolving digital learning landscape.

Guest Dr. Thomas J. (Tom) Tobin joins hosts Tom and Kelvin for a slightly spicy conversation about the extent to which general teaching behaviors can be meaningfully separated from other factors such as course modality, student characteristics, institutional resources, and more.

Hosts Kelvin and Tom discuss the challenge, still present after 30 years, of helping others (e.g., policymakers, potential students, etc.)  understand what a  “good online course” is without experiencing one themselves. They discuss why this still matters and what approaches might help.

Returning guest Dr. Nicole Johnson joins hosts Tom and Kelvin to discuss findings from the seventh annual report of the state of digital learning in Canada produced by the Canadian Digital Learning Research Association (CDLRA). Similarities with global themes and distinctives unique to the Canadian context are discussed.

As US higher ed institutions experienced shifts to remote work and instruction in early 2025, it's an ideal time for us as digital learning professionals to reflect on key lessons learned in ensuring continuity of operations as we seek to support successful future transitions.

Guest Dr. Vickie Cook joins hosts Kelvin and Tom to discuss unexpected career trajectories for digital learning professionals, especially COLOs, related to sought-after, transferable skill sets.

In celebration of 30 years of OLC conferences and with input and reactions from our community of online/digital learning professionals, including a live audience(!), hosts Tom and Kelvin discuss the issues inherent in predicting and shaping a desirable future for online/digital education over the next 30 years.

Guest Dr. Matt Bergman joins Tom and Kelvin to discuss the current role credit for prior learning plays in American higher education and how we can all do a bit more to use this approach effectively in our digital learning work.

In this “call-in show” episode, hosts Tom and Kelvin are joined by some of the past year's guests in sharing observations about 2024 as it ends and predictions and hopes about 2025 as it begins. Some of the themes emerging include balancing humanness and technology-assistance and staying focused on the aspirational goals of our collective work.

Guest Phil Hill joins hosts Kelvin and Tom to discuss substantive insights on the role of the LMS and trends in online higher ed enrollments. (Must see TV. Even if it is a podcast.)

Hosts Tom and Kelvin talk through themes from the CHLOE 9 report that stand out as broadly applicable to all online education professionals while we all seek to anticipate or shape the future.

Guest and former Hubert Humphrey Fellow Angelica Gabriela Rocha Guevara joins hosts Tom and Kelvin from Guatemala to discuss the similarities and differences of her country's pursuit of online education compared to that of other countries around the globe.

Hosts Kelvin and Tom consider the centrality that online learners' needs must have in shaping the work of online higher education. Particular attention is given to how responsibility for this common goal must be shared between individual faculty and institutional processes to assure quality at scale.

Return guest Nicolaas Matthijs joins hosts Tom and Kelvin to discuss some of the trends he's seeing in the rapidly changing AI-assisted technology space with an eye toward how digital learning professionals can make wise use of the tools in our work.

Hosts Tom and Kelvin discuss the relationship between the strategic value institutions find in online education and institutions establishing senior roles of responsibility for online and digital learning. Implications for a variety of institutional roles are considered. Podcast Recording Download Transcript: PDF Episode 169 Show Notes: Episode Synopsis via Twitter View complete list of episode highlights via Twitter Coffee Links  Mysterious Clues on “Ruthie's Blend” from Stomping Grounds Coffee Co., Louisville, KY Content Links  [Research study] “A National Study of Online Learning Leaders in US Higher Education” (Fredericksen, 2017) [Research study] “A National Study of Online Learning Leaders in US Community Colleges” (Fredericksen, 2018) UPCEA Hallmarks of Excellence in Online Leadership [UPCEA article] “The Chief Online Learning Officer: Competencies, Roles, and Trajectories” (Herron, Lashley, Salley, and Shaw, 2016) [From UPCEA, 2023] “Definition Update: Chief Online Learning Officer (COLO)” [Edited book] From Grassroots to the Highly Orchestrated: Online Leaders Share Their Stories of the Evolving Online Organizational Landscape in Higher Education (Bouchey, Graz, Kurland, 2023) TOPcast Episodes #36: “Finding Online Learning Leaders: ‘Fredericksen's List'” #126: “COLOs, Context, and Community” #136: “Online Higher Ed: Finding Ourselves in Other People's Stories” Just for Fun Pop Culture Links Hidden Brain podcast Extra Special Feature Video Version of This Episode!

Guest Melissa Loble joins hosts Kelvin and Tom to share an optimistic vision for the future of technology-enabled higher education. Amidst heightened automation and AI assistance, the uniquely human affordances of relationships are all the more crucial in solving our challenges. Podcast Recording Guest Melissa Loble Download Transcript: PDF Episode 168 Show Notes: Episode Synopsis via Twitter View complete list of episode highlights via Twitter Coffee Links  Single-Origin Costa Rica Central Valley from Dunn Brothers Coffee (Minneapolis, MN) Content Links  Melissa Loble's Online Profile Melissa Loble's Reflection Post on InstructureCon 2024 (referenced in this episode) Dr. Mary Murphy's (Stanford U/Indiana U) Work on Growth Mindset in Organizational Cultures Past TOPcast Episodes Episode 64: “Principles for Humanizing Online Education… and Remote Teaching/Learning” [with guest Dr. Michelle Pacansky-Brock] Episode 151: “What a Year [of Disruption] It Has Been! […But] 2024 is Upon Us!” [featuring remarks from Jared Stein] Extra Special Feature Video Version of This Episode!

Hosts Kelvin and Tom explore the catalyzing personal and organizational value of individuals cultivating a “startup mindset,” regardless of personal role, in the work of digital higher education.

Guest Dr. Justin Shaffer joins hosts Tom and Kelvin to discuss the role high structure course design can play in making online STEM courses more effective… and fun!

In this episode, hosts Tom and Kelvin explore the rationale underlying continued institutional efforts to prepare faculty for online course design and teaching. Hint: It's about students.

Dr. Jenny Sumner joins hosts Kelvin and Tom to discuss the growing role “coaching” plays, especially online, in centering students and their success within our higher ed work.

In this episode, hosts Tom and Kelvin invite “fun with syllabi” by exploring the multiple roles played by the syllabus in online courses and encouraging adjustments to make syllabi more meaningful and inviting for students.

In this time-sensitive episode (listen now!), return guests Russ Poulin and Cheryl Dowd explain how proposed actions by the US Department of Education (US ED) may negatively impact many online learners and US higher education institutions.

In this Season 10 kick-off episode, hosts Kelvin Thompson and Thomas Cavanagh revisit a “time capsule” of past predictions and pivot toward the various flavors of “possible futures” available now in online education.

Guest Dr. Jean Mandernach joins hosts Tom and Kelvin to discuss how faculty and instructional designers can design more meaningful and engaging learning assignments for students, online or anywhere.

Hosts Kelvin and Tom talk through the importance of consulting trusted sources of data and information as the basis for sound decision making in online education, no matter what role one holds.

Guest Nicolaas Matthijs joins hosts Tom and Kelvin to discuss the emergence of AI-assistance built into educational technology platforms and how this is a departure from past phases of artificial intelligence implementation.

In this episode, hosts Tom and Kelvin summarize the current issues surrounding proposed changes to “inclusive access programs” for digital instructional materials and how this affects the affordability work of digital education professionals.

Guest Dr. Carmin Chan joins hosts Tom and Kelvin to consider how we might reframe the typical institutional data that might not present clearly the needs and progress of post-traditional learners served by online education.

In this episode, spring-boarding from one of the chapters in the new SAGE Handbook of Online Higher Education, hosts Kelvin and Tom advocate for high-quality online discussions and reflect upon research-based practices that lead to well-designed and successful discussion experiences.

Guest Dr. Anna Porcaro joins hosts Tom and Kelvin to share insights on how higher education institutions can be more effective in meeting workforce needs through digital alternative educational programs.

As a follow-up to the pre-2024 call-in show, hosts Tom and Kelvin talk through the need to re-examine, challenge, and change existing institutional structures as we seek to serve learners better - both existing students and a wider variety of potential new students.

Guest Patti O'Sullivan joins hosts Kelvin and Tom to discuss the significance of advance planning for academic continuity and the role that digital teaching and learning can play. Important all the time - not just for global pandemics.

In this “call-in show” episode, hosts Kelvin and Tom are joined by multiple voices from the online education community to help us all make sense of 2023's disruptions and make the most of 2024's opportunities in our collective work. Themes include meeting the needs of diverse potential students and incorporating continually-evolving AI resources in this work.

Guest Dr. Safary Wa-Mbaleka joins hosts Tom and Kelvin to talk about the importance of cultivating a more global perspective on our online higher education field and shares how a new book can help. The SAGE Handbook of Online Higher Education is out now.

Emerging from the “TOPcast Live” session at OLC Accelerate 2023, join hosts Kelvin and Tom as they discuss how the framing and implementation of our increasingly AI-influenced digital learning field might continue to evolve over the next few years.

Guest Jared Stein joins hosts Kelvin and Tom to discuss the ways that we think about, talk about, and foster innovation in our higher education digital learning context, to the benefit of students and faculty. 

In this episode, hosts Tom and Kelvin discuss highlights from and reactions to the CHLOE 8 report, including the importance of faculty preparation, other quality assurance practices, and more.

In this second of two back-to-back episodes on AI in higher ed, guest Dr. Rohan Jowallah joins hosts Kelvin and Tom to share his insights and advice after years of evaluating and working with AI tools.

About Episode 145: Hosts Tom and Kelvin conclude that “nobody's through talking about AI” and provide the first of two back-to-back episodes with an update on developments within the digital teaching and learning space, reflections on institutional support, and a conclusion that we need “more of the human element.” Podcast Recording Download Transcript: PDF Episode 145 Show Notes: Episode Synopsis via Twitter View complete list of episode highlights via Twitter Coffee Links Single-Origin Kenya - Davis Roasters (Madison County, NC) Content Links [Please Click and Vote Now!] Listener Poll: Topic Selection for “TOPcast Live” session at OLC Accelerate 2023 On Wikipedia: “DALL-E” In EdSurge: “Instructors Rush to Do ‘Assignment Makeovers' to Respond to ChatGPT” (Jeff Young) “Official Conference Report: AI x Education” (hosted by Stanford University) Participant Reflection from UPCEA/Schroeder AI Course: “Preliminary Evaluation of Generative AI and Lifelong Education” (Rod Lastra) On Diigo: AI Weblinks Shared by Ray Schroeder (+some others collected by Kelvin) UCF Conference: “Teaching & Learning with AI” Visual: “Gartner Hype Cycle” Course from Auburn University: “Teaching With AI at Auburn” Course from University of Sydney: “AI in Education” (for students and built by students) Website: “AI @ the University of Florida” Website: “Teaching and Learning with Artificial Intelligence Apps” (University of Calgary's Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning) Website: “UCF's Information Literacy Modules” In The Chronicle of Higher Education: “GPT-4 Can Already Pass Freshman Year at Harvard” (Maya Bodnick) Blog Post: “No, an AI could not pass ‘freshman year' in college” (Steven D. Krause) From CNN: “ChatGPT passes exams from law and business schools” Keynote Video: “If AI is the Answer, What is the Question: Thinking about Learning and Vice Versa” (Dr. Chris Dede) On Memory Alpha: Star Trek's “Commander Data” On Memory Alpha: Star Trek's “Captain Picard” TOPcast Episode Episode #131: “ChatGPT: Friend or Foe?” TOPcast Episode Episode #120: “Academic Innovation Lessons: Hype vs. Hope” Just-For-Fun Pop Culture Links From “All About Psychology:” “The Fascinating Phenomenon of the Old Woman Young Woman Illusion” Annotated Photos: #KelvinsCupCollection (on the platform formerly known as Twitter) “Chock Full O' Nuts” Coffee Extra Special Feature Video Version of this Episode!

About Episode 144: In this episode, UPCEA CEO Dr. Bob Hansen joins hosts Kelvin and Tom to discuss the intertwined histories of professional/continuing education and online education and the importance of attending to the “business” of both. Podcast Recording UPCEA CEO Dr. Bob Hansen Download Transcript: PDF Episode 144 Show Notes: Episode Synopsis via Twitter View complete list of episode highlights via Twitter Coffee Links Decaf Cafe Carmelita Blend, Tony's Coffee (Bellingham, WA)                                  Decaf Humbucker Blend, Fundamental Coffee (Seattle, WA)                        “Super Coffee” Content Links Dr. Bob Hansen's Online Profile                                              UPCEA - University Professional & Continuing Education Association “The Wisconsin Idea” [Article in UWisconsin alumni magazine] “Who Needs Classrooms?” TOPcast Episode #133 “Professional Development Across Our Online Education Community” TOPcast Episode #126: “COLOs, Context, and Community” TOPcast Episode #36 “Finding Online Learning Leaders: ‘Fredericksen's List'” Extra Special Feature Video Version of this Episode!

Hosts Kelvin and Tom discuss how to talk about the value of online education in various ways that matter to different audiences, including speaking about return on investment (ROI), social mobility, quality of learning, and more. Podcast Recording Download Transcript: PDF Episode 143 Show Notes: Episode Synopsis via Twitter View complete list of episode highlights via Twitter Coffee Links Lenore's Light Roast (Single-Origin Honduran) from Pike House Coffee, Johnson City, TN About Pike House Coffee Content Links (From Ideas & Insights Blog) “Lifting Lives and Livelihoods - At Scale” “Kelvin's Report Out from the First 90 Days and Beyond” (From Marketing Partners) “Guide to Strategic Message Framing and Reframing” (From Investopedia) “Value Proposition: How to Write It With Examples” TOPcast Episode #135 - “Different Institutions, Different Methods, Same Goals” TOPcast Episode #23 - “What Is Your Elevator Pitch? Talking to the Public about Online” Education TOPcast Episode #1 - “What is Online Learning? Definitions, Boundary Objects, and Baggage” Extra Special Feature Video Version of this Episode!

Guest Dr. Kathy Gosser joins hosts Tom and Kelvin to discuss how faculty, instructional designers, and others can adopt habits of “repurposing” across the multifaceted work of online education and digital learning. Podcast Recording Download Transcript: PDF Episode 142 Show Notes: Episode Synopsis via Twitter View complete list of episode highlights via Twitter Coffee Links Single-origin Honduras from Fante's Coffee (Louisville, KY) Keurig's Original Donut Shop Decaf Content Links Dr. Kathy Gosser's Online Profile UofL's Yum! Center for Global Franchise Excellence Yum! Brands Diagram: Reusability/Contextualization (“Modular Content Hierarchy”) based on work of Hodgins (Autodesk) Extra Special Feature Video Version of this Episode!

In this episode coinciding with American Independence Day, hosts Kelvin and Tom invite a consideration of distinctly American contributions to the models of online higher education. These contributions continue to shape the evolution of online learning around the globe.

Guest Neil Mosley joins hosts Tom and Kelvin to discuss ways to gauge and foster maturity in the way institutions carry out learning design, the core work of online education.

More options to scale efficiencies through automation are available now than ever before. Join hosts Tom and Kelvin for a consideration of how well-intentioned digital teaching automations can go horribly wrong.

Guest Jarret Cummings joins hosts Kelvin and Tom to unpack the issues surrounding the US Department of Education's 2023 communications regarding “third-party servicers” in higher education.