Thomas J. Tobin

@thomasjtobin.bsky.social

2095 Followers 282 Following

He, him. #ActuallyAutistic higher-ed quality author, speaker, scholar. Going Alt-Ac | UDL x3 | © Ninja | Evaluating Online Teaching +. Books/book me: http://thomasjtobin.com

Chicago buildings obscured by wildfire smoke.
Book marketing image for *UDL at Scale: Whole-Campus Universal Design for Learning* by Thomas J. Tobin. Volume 9 in the "Teaching, Engaging, and Thriving in Higher Education" series from the University of Oklahoma Press. See https://bit.ly/UDL_at_Scale. Background image of a nebula in space, lit up in red and pink tones against a starry black sky.
In a mysterious smoke-filled space, actress Meryl Streep turns toward the camera to reveal she is wearing a large false mustache.
Text: "Leading with our values: creating connection in a time of upheaval. I'm presenting. July 8-10, 2026 via Zoom. #VirtuallyGather26. Fully virtual: accessibility first. Register now: https://bit.ly/VirtualGathering26-register
Be sure to use AI when making your next, I don’t know, meal plan, for example. Definitely do not call your friend who loves to cook and ask her for her favorite recipes or tips or ways to save time making meals, because you will end up talking for longer than you had hoped, hearing, perhaps, about her father’s cancer diagnosis or how lonely she’s been or even what she’s planted in her spring garden and then lost with the early frost.
Tom Tobin points to a graphic of a skull with a giant moustache eating pizza.
Screen copy of Episode 447 of the *Tea for Teaching* podcast, with a vector image of a steaming mug of tea at the top. Text: "447. UDL at Scale: May 27, 2026. The Universal Design for Learning framework is often adopted by individual faculty for particular courses. In this episode, Tom Tobin joins us to discuss the potential benefits associated with an institution-wide adoption of this framework." Audio player controls at the bottom of the screen.
Tom Tobin stands on a stage in a blue suit, giving a keynote speech on "How to lower training and development barriers with universal design for learning."
Five head-shot photos of Tom Tobin in a suit and one cartoon caricature version of Tom (a white man with gray hair, glasses, and a giant black mustache), ranging from 2014 to 2024.
Title side for "Why and How I Use Video in My Online Teaching" with OLT logo and images of host Judith Dutill and presenter Karen Costa.
Screen shot of an article page for "Universal Design for Learning in Project Management" at The International Journal of Universal Design and Universal Design for Learning. Authors Thomas J. Tobin and Christopher Hromalik.
Screen shot of an article page for "Universal Design for Learning in Project Management" at The International Journal of Universal Design and Universal Design for Learning. Authors Thomas J. Tobin and Christopher Hromalik
Cartoon of Tom Tobin in front of a world map showing travel arrows from the US to various other countries. Text: Global friends, I’m a Fulbright Specialist March 1 - April 18, 2028! The U.S. government will pay for me to work with you for free! Want help with tech-mediated teaching, universal design for learning (UDL), observing & evaluating teaching? Call your country's Fulbright office to get started: bit.ly/TTFulbright
Tom Tobin and his orange cat Webster look into the camera in January 2026.
Tom Tobin holds a Star Wars stormtrooper helmet in front of a backdrop of a hangar bay in a spaceship.
Book cover for Transformative Coaching for Faculty and Staff in Higher Education: Powerful Tools to Address Institutional Challenges. Edited By Karen Gonzalez Rice, Susan Hrach, Kathryn E. Linder, and Katherine S. Maynard. Image of the interior view of a pedestrian bridge with rainbow-colored roof elements.
Title slide for "How Educational Developers Can Use Community Power to Scale Universal Design Practices" from Lisa Padden, Thomas J. Tobin, Niamh Plunkett, and Maureen Haran, with photos of each person.
Promo image for Peralta Online Equity Conference May 4-6, 2026. Image of Tom Tobin in a suit: a tall man with gray hair, glasses, and a giant black mustache. Text: Keynote Dr. Thomas J. Tobin, "How To Use Artificial Intelligence to Support Universal Design For Learning." May 5, 9am Pacific, 12p Eastern. Register for this free virtual event tiny.cc/peraltaequityconf.
Screenshot of the "Centering Centers" podcast episode "It Started as a Name on a Door" with description "It Started as a Name on a Door with Thomas Tobin. In this episode of Centering Centers, we talk with Thomas Tobin about what it means to build a teaching and learning center from the ground up and what happens when that work is shaped by listening, context, and collaboration. Drawing on his recent experience working with a university in the Philippines, Tom shares how a center can grow from “a name on a door” into something that actively supports teaching across an institution. Throughout the conversation, we explore how teaching extends beyond the classroom into everyday interactions across campus, why starting with what people are already doing well matters, and how small, immediate changes can lead to meaningful shifts in practice. We also talk about universal design for learning at scale, the challenges of defining and evaluating teaching, and what it looks like to design for the realities students actually experience."
Tom Tobin smiles in front of a sign for the AAC&U CLASS conference.
Title slide for "Sneaky Inclusive Design, or How to Be Inclusive when You Can't Say 'Inclusion.'" Image of a fussy baby resisting being fed by a spoon, inset image of Tom Tobin (a white man with gray hair, glasses, and a giant black mustache).
In a college classroom, a student in a wheelchair is handing in a piece of paper.
Tom Tobin peers over a spread-out deck of conversation-prompt cards that he is holding.
Buffalo Sabres promo: "we live hockey"
Title slide for "The Art of Strategic Alignment: Supporting Enrollment & Persistence in Any Climate" webinar, April 14, 2026 from Innovative Educators. With photo of Tom Tobin in a suit. Tom is a tall, smiling man with gray hair, glasses, and a giant black mustache.
Tom Tobin peers gleefully over the covers of two books: *A Practical Guide to Teaching Neurodivergent College Students* and *The Joyful Online Teacher.*
The "no kings" logo of a crown with a big red X across it.
Tom Tobin smiles and points to an Ed Tech Day poster with his photo and presentation information on it.
Promo image for Thomas J. Tobin Consulting, LLC. Photo of Tom Tobin in a suit, smiling and gesturing warmly with open arms; Tom is a tall white man with gray hair, glasses, and a giant black mustache. Images of 14 flags from various countries, representing places where Tom has consulted. Text: "Educational developer. Professional consultant. #ActuallyAutistic author & international speaker on quality in technology-mediated education." Images of covers of 6 of Tom's books: *Evaluating Online Teaching,* *The Copyright Ninja,* *Reach Everyone, Teach Everyone: Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education,* *Going Alt-Ac: A Guide to Alternative Academic Careers,* *UDL for Further Education & Training,* and *UDL at Scale: Whole-Campus Universal Design for Learning.* Text: "Booking now for Fall 2026 through Spring 2028 events and long-form consulting. Find out more, get the books (including the brand-new UDL at Scale), or book me: https://thomasjtobin.com.
Title slide for "Using AI To Support Inclusive Learning Without Losing Rigor" webinar, March 24, 2026 from Innovative Educators. With photo of Tom Tobin in a suit. Tom is a tall, smiling man with gray hair, glasses, and a giant black mustache.
Book cover for *UDL at Scale: Whole-Campus Universal Design for Learning* by Thomas J. Tobin. Background of the book cover is a field of night-time stars with a large red nebula glowing in the center.
Title slide for "Using AI To Support Inclusive Learning Without Losing Rigor" webinar, March 24, 2026 from Innovative Educators. With photo of Tom Tobin in a suit. Tom is a tall, smiling man with gray hair, glasses, and a giant black mustache.
Book cover for *UDL at Scale: Whole-Campus Universal Design for Learning* by Thomas J. Tobin. Background image is the visible-light image of the Trifid Nebula, taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope.
Promo slide for AAC&U Conference on Learning and Student Success (CLASS) in Tucson, AZ, April 15-18. Text: "I'm presenting! Join me: aacu.org/class. 9:15a, Sneaky Inclusive Design, or, How to Be Inclusive When You Can't Say Inclusion." Photo of Tom Tobin in a suit, a smiling white man with gray hair, glasses, and a giant black mustache.
Cartoon of Tom Tobin, highlighting his gray hair, glasses, and giant black mustache.
Tom Tobin smiles in a suit and time in front the stage in the theater of the University of the Cordilleras, where a title slide for the Fulbright Specialist program orientation is displayed behind him.
The U.S. Declaration of Independence, a handwritten document from the 18th century.
Title slide for "Restoring Positive Rights: The Freedoms to Learn, Teach, & Run Our Institutions" session from Liz Norell, Kevin Gannon, and Thomas J. Tobin, showing the title, photos of the presenters, the AAC&U logo, and a background image of a mural showing people navigating the education system as if it the board game Life, with hidden taxes, secret cheats, and unexpected challenges.
Hands carefully cup the flame of a single candle burning in the darkness.
Title slide for the "From Accessibility to Access" keynote, with a picture of Tom Tobin in a suit (a white man with gray hair, glasses, and a giant black mustache) and the Maricopa Community Colleges District logo.
Josh Allen talks to a reporter after a Bills win.
Screen image of Magna Publications Teaching Professor conference web site showing a pre-conference workshop on "Scaling Up with Universal Design for Learning . . . and How to Get Colleagues to Join You" from Thomas J. Tobin on June 5 from 1:00p - 3:30p. Text: "To help make educational materials and practices inclusive and useful for all learners, this interactive workshop radically reflects on how instructors and designers can adopt Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in order to create learning interactions that provide students with more time for study and practice in their busy days: broaden our focus beyond learners with disabilities and toward a larger ease-of-use/general-inclusion framework. Our workshop will contain three scaffolded elements: an overview of UDL, how to scale up UDL efforts beyond individual actions, and how to talk with colleagues in order to establish UDL communities of practice. Together, we’ll work through beginner, practitioner, and advanced-level UDL applications." Photo of Tom Tobin, a white man with gray hair, glasses, and a huge black mustache. Text: "Thomas J. Tobin is an internationally recognized scholar, author, and speaker on technology-mediated education—especially copyright, evaluation of teaching practices, academic integrity, accessibility, and universal design for learning. Tobin helped found the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Teaching, Learning, and Mentoring. On Ed Tech Magazine's Influencers Dean's List, honored with the Wagner Leadership Award in Distance Learning Administration, and one of Eduflow’s global Top 100 Learning Influencers, Tobin serves on the boards of Advances in Online Education, InSight: A Journal of Scholarly Teaching, the Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, and the Oklahoma University Press Teaching, Engaging, and Thriving in Higher Ed series.
A cartoon image of Tom Tobin says "I'm going to be a #Fulbright specialist in the Philippines during February, 2026. What should I know before I go?" A world map is behind him, showing an arrow between the United States and the Philippines.
An orange cat sits on a human lap and makes a derp face.
Screen grab from the EDUCAUSE 2026 annual conference site, with "highlights" and a photo of Tom Tobin and three new friends at a table, under the word "connect."
Tom Tobin smiles as he reads "An Educator's Guide to ADHD" by Karen Costa.
A card with text "May your holidays be merry and bright! Season's greetings from the Doctors Tobin: Mary Ann, Tom, and Purr-fessor Webster." The card shows a porch lit with holiday lights and a Christmas tree visible through a window, with inset images of Tom & Mary Ann Tobin standing against the Chicago skyline, and Webster the orange cat underneath a holiday tree.
Cover page of Thomas J. Tobin's speaking brochure, with a picture of Tom in a suit, topics ("Alternative-Academic (Alt-Ac) Careers, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Evaluating Tech-Mediated Teaching, Copyright in Higher Education, Leadership Consulting, Academic Integrity"), and quotes from satisfied previous customers.
Tom Tobin smiles over a plate with a cheeseburger and a lobster tail on it.
Tom Tobin smiles at dinner.
Title slide for "Universal Design for Learning (#UDL) for IT Professionals" EDUCAUSE Learning Lab, with photo of Tom Tobin in a suit.
A lit holiday tree.
Twenty people smile for a selfie in front of a blank wall.
Four presenters stand in front of a photo of the Parthenon
Tom Tobin smiles in front of a photo of an airplane.