UNK Online
UNK Online
UNK English professor Brad Modlin named 2025 Online Teacher Innovation Award winner
Dr. Brad Modlin, associate professor of English and Reynolds Chair of Poetry at the University of Nebraska at Kearney makes online learning feel anything but distant.
“Online education is not Plan B,” Modlin said. “Instead of saying, ‘I miss xyz about the in-person classroom,’ I like to ask, ‘What tools and pizzazz can the online class offer?’”
His forward-thinking mindset and his creative, student-centered approach to teaching online classes is what earned Modlin the 2025 Online Teacher Innovation Award, presented by the Center for Teaching and Learning, housed in the Office of Graduate Studies and Academic Innovation.
The award was established in 2022 to recognize UNK faculty who demonstrate creativity, flexibility, and excellence in teaching online courses.
“It’s an honor,” Modlin said. “I guess some of my zaniness is paying off!”
Pizzazz and zaniness are part of Modlin’s signature style, but what truly defines his courses is the intentional creativity that drives them.
He starts many of his online classes with “Zoom parties” that include icebreaker questions and soundscapes from IMissMyCafe.com to recreate a relaxed coffee shop environment. Throughout the semester, he opens a “class café” Zoom space where students can drop in and collaborate on projects and assignments, creating opportunities for community building and accountability.
“Increasingly, students are identifying as having ADHD, and I have been researching helpful hacks like ‘body doubling,’” he said.
Body doubling is a practice typically used by people with ADHD of having another person present when completing projects to help them stay on task.
He also believes in student autonomy and creative freedom, offering multiple formats for assignments to be completed. One of his favorites being a video project titled, “How to Write Like [Student’s Name],” where students analyze and explain their own voice and writing strengths. It’s a way for students to learn from one another and see their individuality.
“I tell students, ‘We create the culture we live in,’” he said. “Students, like perhaps everyone in the world, want to be seen.”
His online class culture includes collaboration, flexibility, and personalized feedback. In place of written notes on students’ assignments, Modlin provides audio files to students so they can hear his voice, tone, and encouragement as he works through their assignments.
His students feel the culture he’s created for his online classes. One student wrote, “[This course] fosters a sense of connection between teacher and peers, which I have never experienced as an online student.”
With Modlin’s leadership, passion, and just the right amount of pizzazz, he works hard to ensure his online students never feel like a Plan B.
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