Q: I'd like to know about how to integrate automation in my virtual classroom. Do you know any tools that help you to create connections between your apps and automate repetitive tasks?

A: Check out the collaborative education tool Teamie - a cloud-based collaborative learning platform. "Use any of Zapier's 500+ connected apps to bring robust information right into your Teamie classrooms, such as articles from a RSS feed, videos from YouTube or Vimeo, and from social sources like tweets and Tumblr posts. You can even use native Zapier apps like Schedule to create specific posts each week in Teamie, or our Weather app to let your classroom know if it's going to rain on any given day." (Retrieved from Alison Groves' post) There are many tools that connect apps and services. Zapier is just one of them. Watch this video about Zapier in action. The article in a PC magazine provides a comparison with similar tools. I guess it is time to try Zaptier for my blog!

Q: I want to make a group activity in my online course more effective. Is it any tool available that supports peer to peer evaluation?

A: CritViz is a custom online tool for supporting real-time critique, conversation, and peer to peer evaluation of student work in large classrooms. More

CritViz software

Q: What technology is available to improve students' writing strategies?

A: There is an option, as I discovered, to contact local researchers at the university who are developing educational technology tools. At Arizona State university we are fortunate to have a Learning Science Institute. Recently I started implementing W-Pal, a writing tutor, in collaboration with Danielle McNamara group at LSI ASU, in the student success class for freshmen. This intelligent tutoring system helps students to make their written communication more effective. http://www.soletlab.com/ I encourage you to expand your network in the direction of artificial intelligence in educational technology - the resources are there.

Q: In my class about student's success I'd like to use My Map tool in Google Maps. How do I create personalized, annotated, customized map?

A: Follow this tutorial : How to create a "My Map" in Google Maps   

Q: Where I can find good quality classroom ideas?

A: The Interesting Ways series continues to be a great example of crowdsourcing good quality classroom ideas

Q: What Social Web applications for creating and sharing mind maps are available? I want students to use mind mapping for group projects to generate, visualize, and organize ideas, and develop stronger problem solving, and decision making skills.

A:  Try bubbl.us https://bubbl.us/ and Mindomo http://www.mindomo.com/

Q: developing online course is a project. Do you know any free project management tools available online?

A: this article gives you a list to choose from: http://www.smashingapps.com/2010/02/15/10-free-tools-for-effective-project-management.html
The additional links are in the comments below:
http://www.oneplacehome.com/
https://launch.unifiedinbox.com/
http://openatrium.com/
http://www.gtdagenda.com/
http://www.teamworkpm.net/

etc.

Q: How learning occurs?

 A: Read more about connected learning here:
A New Culture of Learning by Doug Thomas & John Seely Brown

Q: I am looking for more effective video conferencing technology. What would you recommend?

A: Vidyo - Desktop Conferencing is the answer. vidyo platform is demonstrating never-before-seen video communications. http://www.vidyo.com/about/
For ASU:

ASU has licensed VidyoConferencing as an Enterprise service for use by ASU Faculty, Staff, and guests involved in teaching, learning, administrative functions and research.  ASU’s Vidyo license does not currently include the student body.

http://help.asu.edu/sims/selfhelp/SelfhelpKbView.seam?parature_id=8373-8193-4613&source=Selfhelp&cid=147832

Q: Where I can find free high-quality resources for my courses?

A: The answer is MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching): http://www.merlot.org/merlot/index.htm
It is free and open online teaching community.

Q: Do you know about any alternative aproaches for online teaching in Academia?

A: I would like to introduce you to iversity: http://www.iversity.org/
iversity's approach is both interdisciplinary as well as decidedly international. For the time being, the platform is available in English and German. “In a sense we are going back to the original vision of the World Wide Web: to facilitate the exchange of information and to build a network of knowledge within the academic community,” explains Jonas Liepmann, who founded iversity while he was still at university.

Q: What platform would your recommend for an educator who wants to share his/her teaching practices online?

A: The best way is to create the educational video and distribute it at TED-Ed:

http://ed.ted.com/about

TED-Ed’s commitment to creating lessons worth sharing is an extension of TED’s mission of spreading great ideas. Within the growing TED-Ed video library, you will find carefully curated educational videos, many of which represent collaborations between talented educators and animators nominated through the TED-Ed platform. This platform also allows users to take any useful educational video, not just TED's, and easily create a customized lesson around the video. Users can distribute the lessons, publicly or privately, and track their impact on the world, a class, or an individual student. 

http://youtu.be/FfJ5XG5i2aw

Q: I'd like to create Wiki page for my class. How do I start?

A: Wiki  proved to be a great tool for collaboration. You can request Wiki through ASU Blackboard: http://help.asu.edu/sims/selfhelp/SelfhelpKbView.seam?parature_id=8373-8193-4586 

or build your own outside of Blackboard.

Here is the link to a brief response and resources: https://educators.pbworks.com/w/page/18697857/StudentWikiAssessment
The advantage of using Wiki instead of Google documents is: you can track individual contribution of the student to evaluate his/her participation in the collaborative project: http://community.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:Meighan/Tracking_Contributions:_Recent_Activity