Making an Impact through Accessible Online Education with Kristin Palmer

Today, Maria talks with Kristin Palmer, Director of Online Learning Programs at the University of Virginia, where she manages their online site, which showcases diverse courses, certificates, and degrees across the University of Virginia (UVA).

Kristin oversees 52 courses and 7 specializations on Coursera, serving over 4 million students with net revenues of more than 12 million USD. She is also the administrator of LinkedIn Learning and Coursera courses for the professional development of UVA students, faculty and staff at UVA.

Kristin has a bachelors in photography from Rochester University, a masters in Learning, Design and Technology from Stanford University and a doctorate in Educational Leadership and Change from Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara. 

She regularly publishes best practices for teaching online and hybrid courses and provides faculty training through various services, from self-serve how-to guides and videos to one-to-one consultations and workshops. She is an International speaker on educational technologies, innovation, massive open online courses, workforce development and open educational resources. 

Maria and Kristin unpack the design of online learning and distance education programs offered across UVA. They also discuss the community of inquiry framework and share best practices for cognitive, teaching and social presence. 

They conclude their conversation with a deep dive into the African Scholarship Cohort, the flagship program of the nonprofit organization Distance Education for Africa. Kristin shares her experience running the African Scholarship cohort program that offers monthly entrepreneurship courses available for free through a collaboration between UVA and Coursera.

To provide a localized resource for business students and leaders who want to create robust businesses in Africa, Kristin co-published the book “African Business Case Studies Vol 1”, a collection of business case studies written by the participants of the African Scholarship Cohort.

Tune in to learn from an inspirational leader in higher education who is making an impact on the world, helping to alleviate poverty, and promoting gender equity through accessible and affordable online education.

 

 Listen to this episode and explore:

Introducing Kristin Palmer and sharing highlights from today's episode (1:08)

Growing up poor and watching her mother claw her family out of poverty (4:40)

How a professor at Stanford University created new learning experiences for Kristin (5:38)

Reflecting on her teaching experience as an undergrad student (6:42)

Exploring graduate school options and finding the love of her life (8:17)

Sharing her experience working at Hewlett-Packard (10:06)

Completing her Master’s in Learning, Design and Technology at Stanford University (12:52)

Getting into K12 education (technology & curriculum) at Children’s Health Council (13:40)

How Kristin developed learning programs for special-needs students (15:28)

Using the Community of Inquiry framework to build a community of lifelong learners (17:26)

Unpacking the cognitive, social and teaching presence of the Community of Inquiry framework (18:46)

How Kristin found her way to the University of Virginia (UVA) after consulting for The Disney Company (22:21)

How Kristin got involved in co-creating the first online learning programs at UVA (24:56)

The evolution of online learning programs at UVA over the years (26:30)

Discussing on-campus and online degrees and certificates at UVA (29:48)

A deeper look at Coursera and LinkedIn Learning for continuous professional development at UVA (32:16)

How students' learning preferences have evolved amid the pandemic (35:57)

Envisioning the future of teaching and learning at UVA post-pandemic (39:19)

Sharing best practices for the design of