Thursday, November 20, 2025
9:30am – 10:15am U.S. Eastern Time Zone
What has a decade of online education podcasting taught us? Join leading voices Dr. Kelvin Thompson and Dr. Tom Cavanagh for a live, reflective conversation distilling 10+ years of insights from the field. Expect practical wisdom, shared stories, and community dialogue as they record the final episode of TOPcast.
Thursday, November 20, 2025
9:30am – 10:15am U.S. Eastern Time Zone
Pacific Ballroom
They must have learned something after all that talking about online education! In this intimate and interactive plenary session, longtime OLC community members and podcast co-hosts Dr. Kelvin Thompson and Dr. Tom Cavanagh share what they’ve learned about the field and its future as they wrap-up 10 ½ years of TOPcast: The Teaching Online Podcast, billed as “a collegial conversation about online learning over a shared cup of coffee.” After more than 100 hours of recordings, including nearly 140 guest appearances from more than 125 colleagues in roles such as online faculty, instructional designer, COLO, and more, this session will be recorded as the basis for TOPcast’s final, 200th episode. Consistent with the podcast’s format, this session will be conversational and collegial, unpacking themes and insights about effective online/digital education. Community members are invited to contribute questions and comments ahead of time via online form to shape the development of the session, and those in attendance will have the opportunity to ask questions live in response to this plenary session. This is sure to be a milestone moment, so plan to be in the room for this final celebratory episode. TOPcast is still in production of its last season, and the full catalog of episodes will stay online as a community resource. Find TOPcast wherever you access podcasts, or online at topcast.online.ucf.edu.
Dr. Kelvin Thompson, Vice Provost, Online Strategy and Teaching Innovation, University of Louisville
Dr. Kelvin Thompson works to make online and blended learning even better a little bit every day while serving at the University of Louisville as Vice Provost for Online Strategy and Teaching Innovation. Kelvin writes, speaks, and consults within the US higher education community. During his 24+ years at UCF he created a number of resources for use by the broader online community (e.g., the Teaching Online Pedagogical Repository; the Faculty Seminars in Online Teaching; and the BlendKit Course). He also co-hosts the popular “TOPcast: The Teaching Online Podcast,” is co-editor of the SAGE Handbook of Online Higher Education, and publishes The Lift newsletter monthly. Dr. Thompson has held leadership roles within the work of the Online Learning Consortium, EDUCAUSE, and WCET. In 2020, Kelvin was selected as a Fellow of the Online Learning Consortium.
Dr. Tom Cavanagh, Vice Provost, Digital Learning, University of Central Florida
Dr. Thomas Cavanagh is the Vice Provost for Digital Learning at UCF. In this role, he oversees the distance learning strategy, policies, and practices of one of the nation’s largest universities. Dr. Cavanagh is also an award-winning instructional designer, program manager, and administrator. His experience has earned him positions on a number of state and national online learning boards and made him a frequent presenter at industry conferences. His research interests include e-learning, technical communication, and the societal influence of technology on education, training, culture, and commerce. He is also the co-author of The Chief Online Learning Officers’ Guidebook: A Framework for Strategy and Practice in Higher Education and an award-winning author of crime thrillers.
OLC Accelerate showcases groundbreaking research and highly effective practices in online and digital learning across K-12, higher education, and corporate L&D. This event is designed to empower and support leaders, instructional designers, educators, and training professionals by offering a wide range of sessions and activities.
Online Learning Consortium
6 Liberty Square #2309
Boston, MA 02109
617.716.1414