Q: I have videos in my course for students to watch in preparation to the next class. I have to summarize the video's content in class because I am not sure that students were watching the videos. Is a "flipped classroom" approach effective?

A: A new study from the Stanford Graduate School of Education flips upside down the notion that students learn best by first independently reading texts or watching online videos before coming to class to engage in hands-on projects. Studying a particular lesson, the Stanford researchers showed that when the order was reversed, students' performances improved substantially. More

Q: I heard a new term "gamification". What does it mean?

A: It is new way of incorporating games in your teaching style and mostly applicable for online learning environment. judge for yourself - this article is presenting all arguments for defining "gamification" as the use of game design elements in non-game contexts: bit.ly/o6aX1U

From Game Design Elements to Gamefulness: Defining “Gamification”

Q: What Should Students Learn in the 21st Century?

A: I just heard Charles Fadel's talk at the Learning &the brain conference. You'll find an answer here: https://vimeo.com/50409698
Charles Fadel shares his findings from across many disciplines and groups about what students should learn in order to be prepared for the 21st century. He discusses the exponential growth of technological capabilities, the continued automation of traditional tasks and professions as well as the impact of technological innovation. Looking at the race between technology and education, he urges teachers to consider how best to provide students with higher order skills in order to prepare them for success in the communities and workplaces they will participate in.

Q: How to maximize creativity among my students? What technology is available for that? Do you have some tips to share?

A: I just came across the article "Your creative brain at work" by Evangelia G. Chrisikou. You can read the original at

Scientific American Mind 23, 24 - 31 (2012) Published online: 7 June 2012

http://www.nature.com/scientificamericanmind/journal/v23/n3/box/scientificamericanmind0712-24_BX2.html

or check my presentation about the tips to maximize your creativity based on this article:

http://asuonline.voicethread.com/share/3283120/

Educational technology is here to engage your students in a conversation about creativity and innovation. I used VoiceThread tool to create it: http://voicethread.com/
A VoiceThread is a collaborative, multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos and allows people to navigate slides and leave comments in 5 ways - using voice (with a mic or telephone), text, audio file, or video (via a webcam).

Q: What is Universal Design for Learning?

A: Universal Design for Learning is a set of principles for curriculum development that give all individuals equal opportunities to learn.

UDL provides a blueprint for creating instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments that work for everyone--not a single, one-size-fits-all solution but rather flexible approaches that can be customized and adjusted for individual needs.
http://cast.org/udl/index.html 
http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udlguidelines

Q: There are innovative techniques based on neuroscientific research to engage students and raise smarter, happier and healthier learners. Where I find resources about that?

A: please explore Edutopia website and especially Judy Willis blog:

http://whatworks.wholechildeducation.org/about-blog/