Representative submissions. Using a multimedia tool such as Jing or VoiceThread to dissect, just as you would in the classroom, a few representative submissions (such as a research paper containing an ineffective conclusion and one that cites sources incorrectly) lets you address the most common problems efficiently, saving your remaining grading time for more personalized, in-depth student-to-student communications.

"...this is a time-management strategy for overwhelmed faculty. "I'm swamped for time so let me just blast this all out at once. Phew. I've done my part; now the rest is up to them." In struggling to help manage our own information overload, we pass the overload along to our students. I don't believe it's our intention to pass the buck, but you know what they say about good intentions.

h an embedded problem that will emerge through student brainstorming. Think of a real, complex issue related to your course content. It's seldom difficult to identify lots of problems in our fields; the key is writing a scenario for our students that will elicit the types of thinking, discussion, research, and learning that need to take place to meet the learning outcomes. Scenario

The purpose of this experiment was to compare the effects of anonymous and identifiable electronic peer (e-peer) review on college student writing performance and the extent of critical peer feedback. Participants were 92 undergraduate freshmen in four English composition classes enrolled in the fall semesters of 2003 and 2004. The same instructor taught all four classes, and in each semester, one class was assigned to the anonymous e-peer review group and the other to the identifiable e-peer review group. All other elements-course content, assignments, demands, and classroom instruction- were held constant. The results from both semesters showed that students participating in anonymous e-peer review performed better on the writing performance task and provided more critical feedback to their peers than did students participating in the identifiable e-peer review. 

1. The fitness band provides clear, timely data on the user's progress. 2. Next, the fitness band helps users see where their current data sits in relation to their goals. 3. Provides the user with feedback or tips aimed at improving their performance. 4. Finally, the fitness band celebrates milestones using a variety of electronic methods.

Another valuable question is "What else do you want me to know about you?" Many times the answers will require that you take some kind of action. Some students might tell you that they have Attention Deficit Disorder or a different learning disability, that they need to see written notes to understand material, or that they need extra time during exams. You will have to determine how to respond to the answers they provide, but it often is far more useful to have the information at the start of class so that you can work with each student appropriately.

"When it comes to a learner-centered syllabus vs. a traditional syllabus, it's not really a difference so much in content as it is in tone," said Paff. "There's a shift in emphasis from 'What are we going to cover?' to 'How can the course promote learning and intellectual development in students?' So it's going to contain roughly the same information, but the language used to convey the policies, procedures, and content is different in order to foster a more engaging and shared learning environment."

Respondents indicated that a well-managed center for teaching and learning plays a significant role in informal faculty leadership. The center should be centrally located to provide easy access for faculty from across campus.

Reintroducing research--without relying on traditional "research papers"

An open exchange of ideas among faculty of creative approaches for assessing learning other than traditional research paper.

"100 Ways To Use Twitter Twitter is too big to ignore. Right now, there are still many (MANY) in education not using Twitter. They may think it's tough to start using, difficult to monitor, and even a waste of time. But what if they had a categorized list of the top tips to help you use Twitter? From how to follow people to asking for help to the best tools to use, it's all here. I hope you find this list as useful as I have and spread the word (likely via Twitter!)."

"efore the groups are formed and the task is set out, teachers should make clear why this particular assignment is being done in groups. Students are still regularly reporting in survey data that teachers use groups so they don't have to teach or have as much work to grade. Most of us are using groups because employers in many fields want employees who can work with others they don't know, may not like, who hold different views, and possess different skills and capabilities."

"Microlectures (snippets) are simple multimedia presentations that are 90 seconds to five minutes long. They focus on a specific concept or skill associated with the course's learning objectives. Microlectures allow students to access instruction on a specific concept or skill they need to practice."

Loved this quote, "...A GREAT lecture can be amazing and I try in my keynotes to deliver a great lecture. But in my classes it's a different story! I rarely lecture at all anymore. I have those students for 45 hours a term - I don't need to cram anything into an hour. And I know that nobody can create 45 amazing lectures per term. In fact, after polling about 20,000 teachers and professors, the average number of great lecturers on campus seems to be 3 and the total number of great lectures any one person delivers seems to be 3."