In this space, we occasionally highlight items from around the Web that offer interesting perspectives on college teaching and higher education. Here are some short, thought-provoking pieces about learning and technology that have recently caught the eye of CRLT staff:

• An article from Campus Technology about two professors at Albion College who have developed mobile apps for learning in a liberal arts context. These tools, one for a chemistry course and one for a literature course, provide intriguing examples of interactive course materials that allow students to practice and get feedback on their learning. 
• A blog by Teaching Professor author Maryellen Weimer about recent studies assessing the effects of "multitasking" on student learning. She compiles data showing that students who engage in text messaging, social networking, and internet searching during classes learn less and perform more poorly, concrete evidence for what many teachers know from experience.

CRLT has also published an Occasional Paper on a related topic, discussing best practices for using laptops as an effective tool to promote student learning. You can link to the pdf here.

U-M Faculty, are you interested in...

• evaluating the impact of innovative teaching strategies in your courses?
• using academic data to understand and improve student learning?
• supporting your department's assessment efforts by documenting how students learn key concepts?
• presenting or publishing research about your teaching?

If so, you might want to apply for an Investigating Student Learning (ISL) Grant from CRLT. These grants fund faculty (or faculty-student teams) who wish to investigate aspects of student learning in U-M courses or departments. This year, the Provost's Learning Analytics Task Force will be providing additional funding, allowing a greater number of grants to be awarded on a wide range of topics and approaches. Read more »

A few weeks ago, in a post about the Rackham-CRLT Intercampus Mentorship Program, we promised to share stories from some of the program's former participants. This guest post from Sarah Gerk tells what an amazing professional development opportunity the program can be. For more details about the program--open to any U-M graduate student or postdoc--see this page. 

It was only about a year ago now that I nervously sent an email to Charles McGuire, Professor of Musicology at Oberlin College, to ask if he would be interested in becoming my mentor. Little did I know then that the relationship initiated with that email would become one of the most helpful of my career--not only because it provided me invaluable experience with and advice about teaching, but also because I was lucky enough to get an amazing job out of it.