MAC Talks - Instructional Design Podcast
by MCC Instructional Design
Mac Talks, Instructional Design and Instructional Technology, focused on Instructional Design in higher education. Hosted by the Instructional Design team at McLennan Community College in Waco, TX. Guests include faculty, staff, students and other IDI's from other institutions. Listen on the drive to work, on the drive home, while you're doing laundry or just lounging out on the patio!Mac Talks - Mac is our Highlander Mascot, and it also stands for McLennan Academic Community. Let's GO!
Episodes
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“Mindset Over Mandate: Why Accessibility Starts with You”
In this episode of MAC Talks, host Claire Wilkison teams up with special guests Claudette Jackson (Director of Accommodations & Title IX) and Katie Vise (Accommodations Coordinator) to dive into the real, raw, and sometimes hilarious truths about digital accessibility in higher education. They...
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Beyond Essays: How Audio Projects Amplify Student Voices
Looking to freshen up your classroom? Join us as Jessica Hobbs shares how podcasting has transformed her teaching approach. In this conversation, Jessica explains how replacing traditional essays with audio projects has engaged her students in ways she never expected. Learn how podcasts have…
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Hacking Hyflex & AI: A Deep Dive with Joshua Sullwold
In this episode, we sit down with Joshua Sullwold, a tech-savvy educator from MCC’s Computer Information Systems department, to talk all things Hyflex teaching, cybersecurity, and AI in education. From web development to cybersecurity, Joshua’s classroom is a digital playground—except when Hyflex...
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Tech Trends in Higher Ed for 2025
Welcome to 2025! The Instructional Design and Innovation team return with what they think are the top Instructional Design and Technology trends in Higher Education for 2025 are and what they think that means for McLennan Community College. Episode Breakdown 1-14 minutes : Icebreaker, getting to...
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PD Resource - Accessibility Law
This episode of MAC Talks is a resource for our Accessibility Law Professional Development course. You don't have to take it to listen though! This episode has been generated entirely by Google's NotebookLM AI software. https://notebooklm.google.com/ To learn more about Accessibility Law or...
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Tim Mousel, The Educational AI Black Belt
Welcome to the latest episode of MAC Talks, where hosts John Ghazzagh and Richard Leslie sit down with Tim Mousel, the AI wizard moonlighting as a kinesiology professor at Lone Star College. Tim talks about how he went from MMA studio owner to AI aficionado, creating game-changing tools like…
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Czech It Out- Interview with our Czech Exchange Students
In this special episode of MAC Talks, we have 3 special guests: Czech exchange students that are taking classes and working at MCC! These amazing students share their experiences here in the US and at McLennan Community College.
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Live from Faculty Summer Institute - A.I. in Higher Education Instruction with Kathleen Hicks
In this podcast episode, Kathleen Hicks, Director of Online Learning for English at Arizona State University, shares her experiences integrating generative AI into teaching and course development. She discusses the challenges and benefits of using tools like Chat GPT to create targeted content…
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The OER Revolution: How Open Licensing is Changing the Game in Higher Ed with Joanna Schimizzi
In this episode, Joanna shares her passion for Open Educational Resources (OER) and how they can transform higher education. Discover how OER empowers educators to freely share, reuse and remix teaching materials to benefit students. Joanna shares her insights on the cost-saving and creative...
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Beyond the Stacks: The Evolving Role of Librarians in Online Education
Join us for an insightful conversation with Michaela McCown, Associate Professor of Environmental Science, and Kristen Cook, Research Librarian, as we delve into the world of embedded librarianship on MAC Talks. As online education continues to grow, librarians are stepping out from behind the...
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Lights, Camera, Education! - with Jennifer Chapman
In this episode, we'll be exploring the world of education with Jennifer Chapman, Assistant Professor of Child Development & Education at McLennan Community College. Join us as Jennifer discusses the nuances of teaching, the attrition of educators, and her compassionate approach to connecting…
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Goodbye, Grades? Hello, Projects! - with Travis Cox
In this episode, we're hanging out with Travis Cox, Associate Professor of Communication Studies at McLennan Community College. Get this - he's tossed the traditional grading playbook out the window. Instead, Travis is all about using projects to see what his students have really learned. And…
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A Chat with Dr. Fred Hills (Part 2)
Part 2 of a 2 Part Podcast. Dr. Fred Hills, Assistant Vice President of Instruction and Student Engagement for McLennan Community College talks with us about High Impact Practices, Student Engagement and Open Educational Resources. Follow us on Instagram, send us your comments or suggestions -...
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A Chat with Dr. Fred Hills (Part 1)
Part I of a 2 Part Podcast. Dr. Fred Hills, Vice President of Instruction and Student Engagement for Mclennan Community College talks with us about High Impact Practices, Student Engagement and what the future of Higher Education looks like. Dr. Fred Hills Instructional Design Team - Richard...
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Networking with Christopher Morris
Christopher Morris talks about being a new instructor in Higher Ed, adding comedy to the classroom (and to the podcast!), the challenges of teaching Hyflex and continuously growing. If you're interested in us covering a topic about course design, or if you'd like to guest star...or both, shoot us...
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Engineering a Hyflex-able Class
In this episode of Mac Talks, Paulina Sidwell, a professor at MCC, shares her journey to becoming a professor and discusses the HyFlex mode of teaching that encourages innovation through starting small. Paulina discusses the flexibility and convenience of Hyflex for students, but also the time…
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Katherine's last episode, now with A.I.
In this episode of Mac Talks, Instructional Designers Katherine, John, Claire and Instructional Technologist TJ talk about A.I. in higher education and what to look for this school year. We also discuss Katherine's last day at MCC. If you're interested in us covering a topic about course design…
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The Magic of Quality Online Course Design
This week on MAC Talks, we talk about our process for online course quality and how it's not just an Instructional Design thing. Faculty, directors and deans all play an important role in making sure our online courses meet high standards. We also discuss what we look for as instructional…
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"Find a Way, or Make One"
In this episode we sit down with Felicia Gladden, Professor of Government. We talk about what inspired her to become a professor and what brought her to MCC. Felicia also talks about her teaching philosophies, the challenges she faces with students in a post-COVID world. If you're interested in…
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Breaking Barriers and Building Bridges
In this episode we chat with Starlen Roddy, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Specialist and Adjunct Instructor at McLennan Community College. We talk with Starlen about his background, how he came to MCC and how he became a DEI specialist. We also explore how faculty and staff can create a...
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Riffin' on Research
In this episode of the podcast, we chat with Rachel Kramer, a research librarian at McLennan Community College in Texas. We discuss the range of services available to faculty, staff, and students at McLennan Community College, including research support and access to a diverse collection of...
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Sharing is Caring (with OER)
What is OER? What about the quality of OER content? How do I get started? In this episode of MAC Talks, we speak to members of our OER working group Nick Webb and Mary Sides. They share their insights and experiences on how they have successfully implemented OER in their curriculum, resulting in...
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I Wrote This Title With ChatGPT in 2023
The IDI team talks about what's new for 2023 including a brief mention of ChatGPT and AI. If you're interested in us covering a topic about course design, or if you'd like to guest star...or both, shoot us an email: [email protected] Follow us on Instagram, send us your comments or suggestions…
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Breathing Life into the Flipped Classroom
In this episode, we talk with Marighny Dutton, Director of Clinical Education program and Associate Professor for Respiratory Care Technology at McLennan Community College. Marighny tells us about her journey from MCC student to Associate Professor. Marighny talks with us about how her program...
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Caffeinate, Innovate, Motivate
In this episode, we talk with Boyce Wilson, former MCC student and current Associate Professor of Business Management. We talk about Boyce's varied and interesting background and how that has helped him evolve his work in online teaching. Boyce is not a fan of laundry, and we don't blame him! In...
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Going off the Rails in an Online Class
In this episode, we talk with Jon Fox, Professor in Music Industry Careers here at McLennan Community College. Jon tells us a little about his background, and how he went from learning music to teaching music. We also chat about our favorite concerts and how music shapes the world we live in. In...
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What's up Doc?
In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Kayla Willis. Kayla talks about recently completing her doctorate and recent dissertation. After 2020, students are leaning into online classes more and more, and in many cases it's harder to retain those students. How can we, as a college, help these…
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"What's a MODAL with you?"
In this episode of MAC Talks, we chat with Holly Towns, part-time instructor and College Navigator. Holly talks about her move to Texas, the growth she's experienced while earning two Masters degrees and what she's learning currently as she teaches classes, supports students and works towards her...
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Breaking Bad Discussions
Join us as we welcome Jessica Shelton to the podcast. Jessica is a counselor, and mental health professor at McLennan Community College. In this episode we talk about the importance of discussions in the classroom and how we create and foster these discussions online. We also learn who would play...
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Zen Cat and the Art of Puppetry
Join us as we welcome our guest, McLennan Community College's Professor of Philosophy, Amy Antoninka. We talk to Amy about engaging students in person and online through puppetry, cats and just plain silliness. If you're interested in us covering a topic about course design, or if you'd like to...
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"Don't Stop Thinking About a Sushi Restaurant...or Your Students"
Welcome to the official podcast for the Instructional Design team at McLennan Community College, MAC TALKS! Building relationships in a classroom is a big factor for student success. It works great in a face to face classroom, but how do we do that online? In this episode, we discuss how to build...
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"The best online course I've ever taken did not include Whistling"
Welcome to the official podcast for the Instructional Design team at McLennan Community College, MAC TALKS! In our inaugural episode, we have a short discussion on our best experiences with online courses. We also talk about our guilty pleasure "splurge" item if we were to win the lottery. We cut...
About this show
Mac Talks, Instructional Design and Instructional Technology, focused on Instructional Design in higher education. Hosted by the Instructional Design team at McLennan Community College in Waco, TX. Guests include faculty, staff, students and other IDI's from other institutions. Listen on the drive to work, on the drive home, while you're doing laundry or just lounging out on the patio!Mac Talks - Mac is our Highlander Mascot, and it also stands for McLennan Academic Community. Let's GO!
Hosted by
MCC Instructional Design
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