Internationally Sought-After Author & Speaker on Equity-Minded Teaching Online & In Person
Flower Darbycelebrates and promotes effective teaching online and in person to advance equitable learning outcomes for all students. She currently serves as the Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Estrella Mountain Community College. Former roles include Associate Director of the Teaching for Learning Center, Assistant Dean of Online and Innovative Pedagogies, and Director of Teaching for Student Success. These roles have allowed her to build on her experience teaching in person and online for over 30 years in a range of subjects including Psychology, English, Technology, Education, Dance, and Pilates. In her current work and publications, Darby empowers faculty to teach engaging classes online and in person in which all students can learn and succeed. Her most recent book is The Joyful Online Teacher: Finding Our Fizz in Asynchronous Classes (2026). She is the lead author (with James M. Lang) of Small Teaching Online: Applying Learning Science in Online Classes (2019) and a co-author of The Norton Guide to Equity-Minded Teaching (2023). An internationally sought-after keynote speaker, Darby has spoken at colleges, universities, and education conferences across the U.S. and globally.
Flower Darby presents on a wide range of timely and relevant topics related to evidence-based best practices to promote equitable and inclusive student learning and success in in-person classes, online classes, and everything in between. She can tailor her presentations and workshops to best meet and event sponsors’ needs and help achieve the goals for the event. Committed to making her time with attendees as meaningful as possible, Darby welcomes prior discussion of ideas, specific topics and/or formats.
About Flower Darby’s Books:
The concept of small teaching is simple: small and strategic changes have enormous power to improve student learning. Instructors face unique and specific challenges when teaching an online course. Small Teaching Online offers small teaching strategies that will positively impact the online classroom. It outlines practical and feasible applications of theoretical principles to help online students learn and includes current best practices around educational technologies, strategies to build community and collaboration, and minor changes that can be made in online teaching practice, small but impactful adjustments that result in significant learning gains.
The Norton Guide to Equity-Minded Teaching offers concrete steps to help any instructor striving to ensure that all students—and, in particular, historically underserved students—have an equal chance for success. The book is packed with actionable tips, grounded in research, for teaching classes online, in person, and everywhere in between.
The Joyful Online Teacher translates theory and research from the academic discipline of Positive Psychology to inspire instructors to better enjoy teaching online, because this mode often feels particularly joy-less. The book focuses on invigorating asynchronous classes with “fizz” – that is, energizing positive emotions and relational online teaching techniques. These ideas apply in person, too, enabling us to better enjoy teaching even in challenging circumstances. More enjoyable class experiences promotes increased student motivation, engagement, and learning as well. It’s a win-win-win!
Praise for Flower Darby’s Presentations:
“Flower Darby’s talk was the perfect start to our conference. She brought an amazing amount of energy, enthusiasm and joy that engendered lively engagement with attendees. Flower’s talk and her authenticity deeply resonated with our audience.”
—Mindy McWilliams, Sr. Assoc. Dir. Assessment and Programs,
Georgetown University
“Flower was the perfect speaker with the perfect content for our event. She brought warmth, empathy and humor at a time when instructors are feeling stretched and uncertain. Her focus on human flourishing was exactly the right topic for our theme (hearts and minds) and created a space for meaningful conversation and reflection. This really set the tone for the day and helped us make a powerful statement about what matters in life and in the classroom.”
—Eric Gardiner, Director of Marketing for the Top Hat
Engage Nashville conference
“Flower’s presentation on empowering students by teaching with AI was highly accessible, energetic, provocative and useful. Some faculty attendees shared that they now felt more encouraged to “go try GenAI out for themselves” rather than being intimidated or overwhelmed.”
—E. Shelley Reid, Ph.D., Executive Director of Engaged Teaching
Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning, George Mason University
“Flower Darby’s workshop helped UTC faculty develop a framework for getting their heads around this new technology and begin thinking about how to create AI-informed assignments for the upcoming semester. The feedback we received from attendees was overwhelmingly positive, and many stated that they felt more equipped to approach the classroom this semester in the midst of what is proving to be a major paradigm shift for higher education. We’re grateful for Flower’s expertise, and we were quick to book her follow-up workshop!”
—Victoria M. Bryan, PhD, Director of the Walker Center for Teaching and Learning University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
“Flower Darby provided an excellent closing plenary at the Universities of Wisconsin OPID Spring Conference on Teaching & Learning. Her presentation set a positive and joyful tone to our annual systemwide conference, sending educators home with many ideas to consider.”
—Fay Yokomizo Akindes, Ph.D.,
Director, Systemwide Professional & Instructional Development (OPID)
Universities of Wisconsin
“Flower’s presentation on AI was a home run. She has an uncanny ability to connect with her audience and to make daunting and sometimes emotional topics much more approachable. Her warmth, insights and ability to speak from experience go a long way in inspiring and motivating faculty to effect change. Looking forward to working with her again!”
—Eric Gardiner, Director of Marketing,
Top Hat Higher Learning Webinar Series
“Flower’s presentation was an absolutely engaging and thoughtfully designed session that met faculty where they are and guided them forward with clarity, purpose, and good humor. The presentation was well-paced, with meaningful opportunities for dialogue, and the content was carefully scaffolded from foundational concepts to more advanced applications. I think we all left feeling reassured and with a stronger understanding of practical ways to use AI effectively. The smaller group conversation was also rewarding and offered an exciting preview of Flower’s forthcoming book, The Joyful Online Teacher, while continuing meaningful discussion about the context-specific challenges and opportunities at our institution.”
—Lillian Reeves, University of South Carolina Upstate
“Flower Darby brought dynamic energy and fresh insight during her visit to Johnson County Community College! Her morning keynote, Joyful Teaching in Every Class, set the tone for an inspiring day. She sparked engaging conversations over lunch with ACUE participants, who recognized her from her videos in the Effective Teaching Practices program. Later, she connected with our new faculty cohort to discuss The Norton Guide to Equity-Minded Teaching, which they’ve been exploring together throughout the year. Her visit left a lasting impression and offered practical ideas to strengthen teaching across our campus.”
—Farrell Jenab, Johnson County Community College
“Flower delivered an outstanding presentation with a strong and relevant focus on AI. Her ability to make complex topics accessible, while encouraging meaningful audience interaction, made the session both informative and engaging. We would highly recommend her for future events.”
—Rachael Dougherty, Director Dept. of Learning & Development,
Daytona State College
