T  h  o  m  a  s     J  .     T  o  b  i  n

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Author & international speaker on quality in technology-mediated education.

thomasjtobin.phd@gmail.com | @ThomasJTobin | LinkedIn | my calendar


[Photograph of Dr. Tobin]

Forthcoming: See where I'll be speaking next and the research I am working on now.


Speaking Brochure [PDF]: I am an author, speaker, and consultant on all facets of quality when we use technology in higher education: Universal Design for Learning (UDL), evaluating online teaching, copyright, academic integrity, and non-faculty career paths. This brochure outlines keynotes, presentations, and workshops I can offer your campus.


book cover: UDL for FET Practitioners: Guidance for Implementing Universal Design for Learning in Irish Further Education and Training       A FREE UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING BOOK: Thanks to the Irish government and AHEAD Ireland for asking me to write this book for the further-education, community-college, and technical-college sector.

UDL for FET Practitioners: Guidance for Implementing Universal Design for Learning in Irish Further Education and Training (SOLAS, 2021) is free to download [PDF] and offers easy-to-apply advice for practitioners on how to implement UDL, build a UDL community, and showcase good UDL practices from a range of contexts and program types.


book cover: Going Alt-Ac: A Guide to Alternative Academic Careers       CAREER ADVICE FOR ALT-ACs EVERYWHERE: We wrote this book for everyone whose graduate studies trained them only to be professors. There are so many more ways to put your degree to use. Promo Sheet [PDF], Press Release [PDF].

In Going Alt-Ac: A Guide to Alternative Academic Careers (Stylus Publishing, 2020), Katie Linder, Kevin Kelly, and I share practical advice, tools, and prompts to help readers who are considering whether to choose an alt-ac career path, seeking specific alt-ac positions, advising graduate students, mentoring recent professional graduates, or navigating alt-ac career challenges.

We offer experience-based case stories, both our own and those of colleagues across North America who serve and thrive in alt-ac roles. You will find concrete examples designed to help you to pursue, obtain, and excel in a wide variety of alt-ac positions. The book can be used for job-market preparation, as well as a resource for graduate courses on professional development.


book cover: Reach Everyone, Teach Everyone: Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education       THE GROUNDBREAKING BOOK ABOUT UDL: Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework grounded in the neuroscience of why, what, and how people learn.

In Reach Everyone, Teach Everyone: Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education (West Virginia University Press, 2018), Kirsten Behling and I show that, although it is often associated with students with disabilities, UDL can be profitably broadened toward a larger ease-of-use and general diversity framework.

Reach Everyone, Teach Everyone is aimed at faculty members, faculty-service staff, disability support providers, student-service staff, campus leaders, and graduate students who want to strengthen the engagement, interaction, and performance of all college students. It includes resources for readers who want to become UDL experts and advocates: real-world case studies, active-learning techniques, UDL coaching skills, micro- and macro-level UDL-adoption guidance, and use-them-now resources.


book cover: The Copyright Ninja       GET THE COMIC BOOK!: The Copyright Ninja: Rise of the Ninja (St. Aubin Comics, 2017) tells the story of Bill Ullswater, a university lawyer who has to say "it depends" in various ways when his faculty and administrative colleagues ask him copyright questions. Ullswater is frustrated because he knows simple, easy-to-remember-and-use ways to think about copyright in higher education, but he cannot share them in his role as a lawyer.

One evening, at martial arts practice, he learns about nindō (secretly serving others), and the Copyright Ninja is born. In delivering special packets of information to his colleagues, the Copyright Ninja must evade the night janitor, security cameras, and barking dogs.

Will he be unmasked? Will his colleagues keep his secret? Find out in this new comic book for faculty members, librarians, staff members, and leaders in colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.

Check out a sample page from the comic book [JPG], and order your copies today!

U.S. Orders | Canada Orders


book cover: Evaluating Online Teaching       THE BOOK THAT STARTED IT ALL!: Evaluating Online Teaching: Implementing Best Practices (Jossey-Bass, 2015) is the first comprehensive book to outline strategies for effectively measuring the quality of online teaching, providing the tools and guidance that faculty members and administrators need.

My co-authors and I provide practical solutions geared to address challenges and foster effective, efficient evaluations of online teaching. You get rubrics, forms, and worksheets that you can customize to fit the needs of your unique institution.

If the book is useful for you, let me know, and tell your colleagues!


Tom leading a UDL workshop at Northwestern University in 2023


Professional Presentations: I speak and consult on ways to provide access to higher education for the widest range of learners, and how to ensure quality in our curricula, courses, and classrooms--especially online. See videos, session evaluations, and testimonials from satisfied clients!

Professional Publications: My research focuses on issues of quality in higher education: evaluating online teaching, serving learners with disabilities, academic-integrity challenges, copyright in online education, and distance-education program design.


Tom Speaking at the University of West Georgia in 2022


Employment: administrative, teaching, information-technology, and library experience.

Education: degrees, professional certifications, and continuing studies in higher-education administration, information science, English, and project management.


Tom Speaking at the University of Nebraska-Kearney in 2023


Scholarly Publications: original case studies, bibliographies, surveys, and analytical research in Victorian art and literature.

Scholarly Presentations: bibliographic and historical analyses of the nineteenth-century Pre-Raphaelite artistic and literary movement, along with other related topics.


Remote participants in Tom's 2017 workshop for Penn State University Behrend


Voice-Over: voice acting for educational, corporate, and commercial projects.

Community Service: contributions to academic and public service.

Professional Skills and Experience: library, management, online instructional design, health-care administration, voice-over talent, and language skills.

Memberships & Service: scholarly and community advocacy.


Tom speaking at the University of West Georgia in 2014


Philosophy: my scholarly and professional mission of service.

References: contact my current and former colleagues.


Tom Presenting at the 2017 Distance Teaching and Learning Conference in Madison, WI


Résumé [Rich Text]: this document highlights my experience as a distance-education program administrator, librarian, health-insurance-industry professional, and English professor.

Full Curriculum Vitae [Rich Text]: this entire site in one document: all of my education, publication, and work experience. This document includes webmaster duties, creative publications, performances, and art exhibitions not listed here in the online version; it also details complete work experience not directly relevant to academic or professional positions.


Tom speaking at the University of Texas at Austin in 2019


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Last update 15 February 2024. © 2001-2024 Thomas J. Tobin.
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