TOPcast: The Teaching Online Podcast

Hosts Tom and Kelvin explore the various perspectives represented in the “Cameras-On vs. Cameras-Off Debate” with an eye toward finding common ground and actionable insights for designing effective synchronous online sessions beyond the emergency ad hoc remote instruction era. For show notes and interaction opportunities, please visit: http://cdl.ucf.edu/topcast-s07e101/

In this episode, Dr. Sasha Thackaberry joins hosts Kelvin and Tom to discuss change management strategies for leading online initiatives. For show notes and interaction opportunities, please visit: http://cdl.ucf.edu/topcast-s07e100/

While specialists in online education, such as instructional designers and administrative leaders, help carry out online courses and programs strategically, it is the faculty whose voice, wisdom, and human connections make online learning successful. In this episode, hosts Kelvin and Tom discuss the importance of this faculty voice and valuing. For show notes and interaction opportunities, please visit: http://cdl.ucf.edu/topcast-s07e99/

Guest Ryan Rogers joins hosts Tom and Kelvin to discuss the experiences of K12 students during remote instruction and the challenges higher education institutions face in re-setting incoming first year students’ expectations of actual online courses. For show notes and interaction opportunities, please visit: http://cdl.ucf.edu/topcast-s07e98/

In this episode, join hosts Kelvin Thompson and Tom Cavanagh for a discussion of the factors affecting institutions’ pursuit of the mix of course modalities that is best for them. Online, blended, hybrid, and in-person courses are all part of the mix. For show notes and interaction opportunities, please visit: http://cdl.ucf.edu/topcast-s07e97/

Renowned guest Dr. Patsy Moskal joins hosts Tom and Kelvin to share key insights from 25 years of conducting research studies and impact evaluation on digital teaching and learning. Grounding our work in this robust body of literature is especially important as we seek to distinguish intentional online learning from ad hoc remote instruction. For show notes and interaction opportunities, please visit: http://cdl.ucf.edu/topcast-s07e96/

Join hosts Kelvin and Tom for a consideration of the range of options for post-pandemic work being considered across higher education. As online education professionals, if we can’t figure out how to do this well, who can? For show notes and interaction opportunities, please visit: http://cdl.ucf.edu/topcast-s07e95/

Hosts Tom and Kelvin are joined by guest Dr. Julie Mendez to consider how to overcome challenges faced by STEM faculty who might be resistant to teaching online or blended courses. Spoiler: It’s about faculty talking to faculty! For show notes and interaction opportunities, please visit: http://cdl.ucf.edu/topcast-s07e94/

Hosts Tom and Kelvin discuss themes found in the recent CHLOE 6 report on how higher ed’s remote instruction pandemic response has impacted the landscape of online education. Listeners are encouraged to compare the presented themes with their own observations in order to better understand our field and prepare for the future. For show notes and interaction opportunities, please visit: http://cdl.ucf.edu/topcast-s07e93/

From her time as CAO of Davis College, guest Dr. Cristi Ford joins Kelvin and Tom to talk about the impressive work of Rwanda’s Akilah Institute in providing educational access to women via a combination of blended learning, competency-based education, and international partnership. For show notes and interaction opportunities, please visit: http://cdl.ucf.edu/topcast-s07e92/

Redesigning courses from one modality to another was a rushed necessity in the early days of remote instruction, and it might be an expectation of some administrators post-pandemic. Join hosts Tom and Kelvin as they unpack what listener Jerry Dougherty has termed “intermodal learning.”. For show notes and interaction opportunities, please visit: http://cdl.ucf.edu/topcast-s07e91/

President Gregory Fowler of the University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) joins hosts Kelvin and Tom to discuss distinctive ways that our individual institutions can innovate to create opportunities for unique groups of students by meeting them where they are. For show notes and interaction opportunities, please visit: http://cdl.ucf.edu/topcast-s07e90/

In this Season 7 opener, Tom and Kelvin try out seven slogans intended as rallying cries to capture succinctly the aspirational goals of high quality online education and to serve as antidotes to widespread mischaracterizations post-pandemic. For show notes and interaction opportunities, please visit: http://cdl.ucf.edu/topcast-s07e89/

The MOST downloaded episode from Season 06. Currently, that episode is Episode 74: “Connecting the Dots: ‘Lessons for Leadership’” with guest Dr. Shubha Kashyap. You can find this episode wherever you’re listening to this message or online at the following direct url: http://bit.ly/topcast_s06e74. Whether you’ve heard it before or not, give a listen to this time capsule from when Episode 74 was released in September of 2020.

Currently, the SECOND-most downloaded episode from Season 06 is Episode 72: “Pro Tips on Vocal Care for Faculty” with guest Dr. Richard Zraick. You can find this episode wherever you’re listening to this message or online at the following direct url: http://bit.ly/topcast_s06e72. Whether you’ve heard it before or not, give a listen to this time capsule from when Episode 72 was released in August of 2020.