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Online Learning in the Second Half

Online Learning in the Second Half

By: John Nash & Jason Johnston
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In this podcast, John Nash and Jason Johnston take public their two-year-long conversation about online education and their aspirations for its future. They acknowledge that while some online learning has been great, there is still a lot of room for improvement. While technology and innovation will be a topic of discussion, the conversation will focus on how to get online learning to the next stage, the second half of life.

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Episodes
  • EP 38 - Canvas, Credentials, and the Agentic AI Classroom: Ryan Lufkin, VP of Global Academic Strategy Instructure

    EP 38 - Canvas, Credentials, and the Agentic AI Classroom: Ryan Lufkin, VP of Global Academic Strategy Instructure
    Dec 17 2025
    In EP 38, John and Jason talk with Ryan Lufkin of Instructure about the evolution of online learning, the impact of Agentic AI on education, and how Canvas is shaping the future of digital classrooms. See complete notes and transcripts at www.onlinelearningpodcast.com Join Our LinkedIn Group - *Online Learning Podcast (Also feel free to connect with John and Jason at LinkedIn too)* Guest Bio: Ryan Lufkin is the Vice President of Global Academic Strategy at Instructure, where he works to enhance the academic experience for educators and learners, worldwide. With over two decades in the edtech world, Ryan has experience with every major technology platform that institutions use to deliver education, from the LMS to the SIS, and all the systems in between. A well-known thought leader in the edtech industry, Ryan is a podcast co-host, frequent media spokesperson, and speaker at industry conferences and webinars. Ryan earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Relations/Communications from the University of Utah and certificates in Data-Driven Marketing and Brand Management from eCornell. Resources: Canvas LMS https://www.instructure.com/canvasEduCast3000 Podcast https://www.instructure.com/resources/podcastChole 10 Report https://qualitymatters.org/qa-resources/resource-center/articles-resources/CHLOE-10-report-2025 Theme Music: Pumped by RoccoW is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial License. Transcript: We use a combination of computer-generated transcriptions and human editing. Please check with the recorded file before quoting anything. Please check with us if you have any questions or can help with any corrections! [00:00:00] John Nash: You, you ready? Jason? Anything else? [00:00:02] Jason: Nope. Just taking a drink, that's all. [00:00:04] John Nash: Alright, I'll let you do another one. [00:00:06] Jason: Yeah, that's [00:00:07] Ryan Lufkin - Instructure: Do the vocal exercises, you the [00:00:08] John Nash: yeah, me, Mimi. Red leather. Yellow leather. Yeah. [00:00:12] Ryan Lufkin - Instructure: Yeah. [00:00:13] John Nash: I'm John Nash here with Jason Johnston. [00:00:15] Jason (2): Hey, John. Hey everyone. And this is Online Learning in the second half, the Online Learning podcast. [00:00:20] John: Yeah, we're doing this podcast to let you in on a conversation we've been having for the last three years about online education. Look, online learning has had its chance to be great, and some of it is, but some of it still isn't. And so how are we going to get to the next stage, Jason? [00:00:35] **Jason:**John, that's a great question. How about we do a podcast and talk about it? [00:00:39] John Nash: Perfect. What do you want to talk about today? [00:00:42] Jason: Honestly, and I'm not just saying this 'cause Ryan's in the room, but one of our favorite ed tech tools, Canvas. And we're here today with Ryan Lufkin from Instructure to talk to us. Welcome, Ryan. [00:00:56] Ryan Lufkin - Instructure: Thanks for having me. I love these conversations. Looking forward to it. [00:00:59] Jason: Good. Why don't you just kind of describe the role that you play at Canvas? [00:01:04] Ryan Lufkin - Instructure: Yeah so I'm the Vice President of Global Academic Strategy which means I, I spent a lot of time talking about the trends that are impacting education across the globe. In that role, I travel all over the globe. Honestly, I was in Singapore and Meine Columbia and me. City and all over the United States this year. Talking about exactly the topics that you all focus on as well. How does technology impact learning experience good and bad? And what does that look like? And I've been within Instructure it's funny 'cause I always say Instructure the makers of Canvas because everybody, Canvas is a household name. Fewer people know the company name. [00:01:35] Jason: Right. [00:01:36] Ryan Lufkin - Instructure: But I've been there for seven years now. I've been an ed tech for over 25 years, and I just love the company, love our mission. I love the focus and so it's, it truly is a pleasure to be able to come out and have these conversations. [00:01:47] Jason: Do you, do you work with anything other than Canvas at Instructure? Are you kind of over multiple things there, or? [00:01:55] Ryan Lufkin - Instructure: It's honestly our entire suite. So I think a lot of people know that we bought Mastery Connect, which is an assessment tool. We bought Parchment which is a credentials tool which I, I've watched my kids use I've used myself to send your transcripts when you're applying for college and university and things like that. We've bought Badger the Credentials program. We bought Portfolio, which is a portfolio program. So we, we really, over the last 14 years have grown from just a single product company to a real ecosystem of solutions. And unlike, other companies, we don't buy our competitors we, we buy our closest partners and extend that, that that ecosystem. [00:02:29] John Nash: Yeah, so that's why ...
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    46 mins
  • EP 37 - Agentic AI is here. What does it mean for Online Education? A conversation with Anna Mills.

    EP 37 - Agentic AI is here. What does it mean for Online Education? A conversation with Anna Mills.
    Dec 1 2025
    In EP 37, John and Jason talk to Anna Mills about Agentic AI and See complete notes and transcripts at www.onlinelearningpodcast.com Join Our LinkedIn Group - *Online Learning Podcast (Also feel free to connect with John and Jason at LinkedIn too)* Guest Bio: Anna Mills is a leading voice in the responsible integration of AI in education, drawing on nearly two decades of teaching experience and a deep commitment to open educational resources. Her expertise spans AI literacy, academic integrity, and the critical use of AI in higher education, work informed in part by her role as the sole education specialist invited to test GPT-4 pre-release for OpenAI. She is widely recognized for her influential resource curation, national and international faculty development sessions, and published contributions in major higher-ed outlets. Mills also authors the widely adopted OER How Arguments Work and advises multiple AI-focused initiatives—you can find Anna Mills here on LinkedIn. Resources: Anna’s Substack (great summary of Agentic AI and Education / lots of links and resources) https://annamills.substack.com/p/the-time-to-reckon-with-ai-agentsJohn’s LinkedIn post on how Comet Browser can impersonate a student in an online courseJohn’s YouTube video showing Comet impersonating a studentAnna’s LinkedIn post about Yun Moh’s request of Canvas.Annotated reading conversation PerusallHypothe.sis Forbes’ Article “Colleges and Schools Must Block Agentic AI Browsers Now, Here’s Why” https://www.forbes.com/sites/avivalegatt/2025/09/25/colleges-and-schools-must-block-agentic-ai-browsers-now-heres-why/ (not mentioned but a good one!) Theme Music: Pumped by RoccoW is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial License. Transcript We use a combination of computer-generated transcriptions and human editing. Please check with the recorded file before quoting anything. Please check with us if you have any questions or can help with any corrections! EP 37 Anna Mills - Oct 28, 2025 [00:00:00] John Nash: Hey. Quick pause we're collecting listener testimonials, and so if this show has influenced your thinking or your practice in any way, you can share that with us at onlinelearningpodcast.com. There's a link at the top of that page. You can't miss it. Just click that it takes just a second and we'd love your testimonial. [00:00:19] Jason: That's right, just right at the top in kind of obnoxious yellow font, to be honest. But it's a black background and so it's accessible, but still, you should see it at the top. We'd love your feedback. [00:00:31] John Nash: And if this conversation is useful. Take a moment to follow the show so you don't miss any new episodes in Apple Podcasts. Just tap the plus sign on the show page, and in Spotify just tapped the follow button. [00:00:44] Jason: Also, if you like this podcast, we'd love your rating. It helps us in the algorithms kind of bump to the top. So, in Apple Podcasts, you scroll all the way down and find the stars and put the stars in. In Spotify, you hit the three-button menu and then rate this podcast. We'd appreciate. [00:01:03] John Nash: So many steps, but I tell you it's worth it. Alright, to the episode. [00:01:08] Jason: To the episode. [00:01:09] John Nash: I'm John Nash here with Jason Johnston. [00:01:11] Jason: John. Hey everyone. And this is Online Learning in the second half the Online Learning Podcast. [00:01:15] John Nash: We're doing this podcast to let you in on a conversation we've been having for the last three years about online education. Look, online learning has had its chance to be great, and some of it is, but there's still some ways to go here. So how can we get to the next stage? Jason, [00:01:32] Jason: Well, how about we do a podcast and talk about it? [00:01:34] John Nash: I love that idea. What should we talk about today? [00:01:37] Jason: John, there's a lot of a lot of people talking on LinkedIn. This might be the end. [00:01:41] John Nash: Do you think so? Is this where I disclose that I am not actually hosting today, that my Comet browser is hosting for me today? [00:01:49] Jason: This is Comet John. You're doing a great job. It's very, it's almost as believable as the real John, and maybe we're not so bad off after all. But yeah, the, all the talk this week on LinkedIn has been about, agentic AI taking over. The one quote that I took away, I won't name the person, but, on a comment on LinkedIn, said, online asynchronous learning is cooked. And um, I've learned this is not a good thing from my son who uses this term. It can be a good thing somebody can be cooking like in a good way, but cooked means bad. [00:02:24] John Nash: Yep. Yep. So, we have someone in the house today who's going to take us down a path of thinking this through. This may actually be one of the episodes where we may accelerate this one out because this topic is so hot. And so, who have we got today? [00:02:39] Jason: Today we have Anna Mills, and we actually...
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    36 mins
  • EP 36 - Miriam Reynoldson: The Open Letter Shaking Up the AI-in-Education Conversation

    EP 36 - Miriam Reynoldson: The Open Letter Shaking Up the AI-in-Education Conversation
    Nov 11 2025
    In EP 36, John and Jason talk to Miriam Reynoldson of Melbourne, Australia, about the Open Letter From Educators Who Refuse the Call to Adopt Gen AI in Education. See complete notes and transcripts at www.onlinelearningpodcast.com Join Our LinkedIn Group - Online Learning Podcast (Also feel free to connect with John and Jason at LinkedIn too) Guest Bio: Miriam Reynoldson is a learning design specialist, educator, and design facilitator working across higher ed, VET, and professional learning. She is currently completing an interdisciplinary PhD exploring the value of learning beyond formal education in postdigital contexts. Miriam researches and writes about education, sociology, and philosophy, and teaches educational design at Monash University. You can connect with Miriam at https://www.linkedin.com/in/miriam-reynoldson/ or her blog https://miriamreynoldson.com/ Resources: The Open Letter: https://openletter.earth/an-open-letter-from-educators-who-refuse-the-call-to-adopt-genai-in-education-cb4aee75The Library of Babel listserve space: https://lists.mayfirst.org/mailman/listinfo/assemblyThe Design Justice Network: https://designjustice.org/Michelle Miller’s “Same Side Pedagogy”: https://michellemillerphd.substack.com/p/r3-117-september-15-2023-reflection Theme Music: Pumped by RoccoW is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial License. Middle Music: Hello (Chiptune Cover) by RoccoW is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial License. Transcript We use a combination of computer-generated transcriptions and human editing. Please check with the recorded file before quoting anything. Please check with us if you have any questions or can help with any corrections! Miriam Reynoldson EP 36 [00:00:00] Jason Johnston: Miriam, you are part of an open letter from educators who refuse the call to adopt gen AI in education. Would you, for us, summarize what this letter's about before we get into the details? Miriam: So it's a really short letter. It's a 400-word statement that essentially positions a certain stance for educators, in saying, "I choose not to use GenAI to teach, to assess to build my course materials. And I do not want to sell these products to students to do their work, either. John Nash: I'm John Nash here with Jason Johnston. Jason Johnston: Hey John. Hey everyone. And this is Online Learning in the second half the Online Learning Podcast. John Nash: Yeah. We're doing this podcast to let you in on a conversation that we've been having for the last almost three years now about online education. Look, [00:01:00] online learning has had its chance to be great, and some of it is, but a lot still isn't. And so how are we going to get to the next stage? Jason Johnston: John, that's a great question. How about we do a podcast and talk about it? John Nash: I think that's a great idea. What do you want to talk about, today, Jason Johnston: Today I'm not sure we've covered this at all. How about we talk a little bit about AI for a change, right? John Nash: Never Jason Johnston: That's a joke. Never heard of it. Well, I'm Just very excited today to be talking with Miriam Reynoldson. We connected on LinkedIn, and she is somebody I just really wanted to have this conversation with around ai. She's an instructor and a student, a learning designer in Melbourne, Australia. Welcome, Miriam. Would you maybe just introduce yourself to our listening audience a little bit? Miriam: No worries. I am a bit difficult to introduce because I really don't know where I am. I'm kind of juggling multiple identities at the moment and across multiple universities. So, [00:02:00] probably my primary identity in this conversation is mostly my teaching at Monash University. I'm also doing my PhD exploring non-formal learning in digitally mediated spaces at RMIT. I do a little bit of teaching there as well, and I'm also a digital learning design specialist. Jason Johnston: That's great. Yeah, we on LinkedIn and we'll probably talk a little bit more about how that came about, but a lot of it was around an open letter that you are part of an open letter from educators who refuse the call to adopt gen AI in education. And we'll include the link if anybody wants to preview that before we get into the conversation, we'll put the link in our, podcast. But Miriam, can you talk a little bit first about, how this open letter came about, what led you to do that and who you letter? open letter. Miriam: Yeah. The dirty secret really is that I was having a bit of a chat to a friend [00:03:00] of mine in Ohio, Melanie Dusseau, who as the first signature on the letter. And she had sent me a link to this letter that had been put together by Literary Hub in the us a consortium of publishers. And it was essentially a position from the public publishing industry. We don't support the use of AI to replace our authors, our editors or any part of the work that we do in furthering human creative expression. And I went to Melanie, "Why...
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    54 mins
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