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.

Michael G. Strawser, Ph. D., Assistant Professor, Nicholson School of Communication and Media, College of Sciences, was awarded the Barbara Truman Award for Excellence in Blended Teaching by the Center for Distributed Learning (CDL) and the 2024 Truman Award Faculty Review Committee. Dr. Strawser received this award for demonstrating excellence in blended teaching in his course, SPC6340, Teaching Communication.

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.