Futures in Digital Learning: From a pandemic-era idea to a Top-10 podcast

For five seasons, Futures in Digital Learning co-hosts Adam Davi and Brian Hale have brought educators, instructional designers and innovators together for lively conversations about the ideas shaping teaching and learning. Their curiosity, humor and easy rapport have helped the UCATT podcast grow from a campus-focused project into a show reaching listeners across and beyond the field.

So when Davi spotted Futures in Digital Learning on FeedSpot’s list of top e-learning podcasts, the discovery came as a surprise. He had followed a link shared by another podcaster and was scrolling for new shows to add to his listening list when a familiar name appeared.

“I was like, ‘Wait, that’s us!’” he laughed.

That unexpected moment marked a significant milestone for the UCATT podcast. FeedSpot currently ranks Futures in Digital Learning No. 9 among its e-learning podcast selections, placing a show that began as an internal experiment alongside established voices in digital learning.

Creating a space for ideas

The podcast began during the COVID-19 pandemic, when remote work made the need for connection especially clear. At the time, Davi was part of the University of Arizona Office of Digital Learning, which later became part of UCATT. He saw podcasting as a new way to give instructional designers a platform and share their work across the university.

“We needed a better way to let our ideas have voices and get the cool things people work on out there to the world—and by the world, I meant the university,” said Davi.

With leadership support and production assistance from the multimedia team, the idea quickly took shape. Brian Hale joined Davi as co-host, and the first seasons focused primarily on instructional designers, with occasional faculty guests. What started as a localized way to highlight colleagues gradually expanded in topic, audience and reach.

Making digital learning approachable

From the beginning, Davi and Hale wanted the show to do more than explain tools or check boxes. They wanted to capture the enthusiasm behind the work and make topics that might sound technical or highly specialized feel useful, human and fun.

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That spirit reflects the culture Hale encountered when he joined the university. He found colleagues who cared deeply about making learning enjoyable and who freely shared ideas for solving design challenges. The podcast became an extension of that culture: a place where guests could talk openly about their expertise without feeling as though they were delivering a formal presentation.

“It’s usually at the 10- or 15-minute mark, when they start relaxing, that the magic starts happening,” said Hale. “That’s when the guest takes that potentially dry subject, and they bring it to life through their own passion.”

The hosts’ conversational style gives guests room to follow an unexpected thread, explain their work in accessible language and let their enthusiasm come through. Hale said guests often arrive nervous but finish the recording surprised by how much fun they had. That ease helps bring topics to life for listeners, too.

Sharing work that deserves a wider audience

Futures in Digital Learning also helps break down the silos that can form around teaching innovation. Davi noted that educators and instructional designers often do inventive work without realizing how valuable, or how interesting, it may be to others.

Across five seasons, the show has explored foundational subjects such as accessibility, research and quality course design alongside unexpected approaches to online learning. Guests have discussed building a Jurassic Park-inspired course experience, incorporating clay into an asynchronous class and creating an immersive Biosphere 2 walkthrough with ThingLink. Each conversation offers listeners a chance to discover an idea they might adapt in their own work.

And the audience has grown with the show. Potential guests now reach out with topics, former guests recommend new voices and listeners tell the hosts that entire departments tune in. Hale once imagined the show might attract only a small circle of instructional designers; today, he approaches each episode knowing that listeners come from across education and beyond the field.

Recognition built on collaboration

For Davi and Hale, the FeedSpot recognition celebrates far more than the two voices heard behind the microphones. Every episode depends on colleagues who produce and edit the audio, develop graphics, publish the show and share it across UCATT’s communication channels.

“This little thing that we do, that has become so fun, is now big enough to get recognized,” said Davi. “It makes me proud because there are a lot of people who go into it.”

The milestone also offers a moment to consider what comes next. The show has evolved from Zoom recordings during the pandemic to in-studio conversations and from a campus-focused project to a podcast reaching a much broader audience. The hosts are now thinking about what Hale calls “the future of Futures in Digital Learning”—how the show might continue evolving without losing the chemistry and curiosity that made it work.

Whatever direction it takes, the podcast’s foundation remains the same: spotlight meaningful work, invite people into the conversation and make digital learning feel engaging and accessible. Its place among FeedSpot’s top 10 e-learning podcasts suggests that an idea created to help one university community hear itself has found resonance well beyond it.