I've thought for a while now that a great solution to the absurd cost of physical textbooks would be to include an iPad or Kindle with student tuition and load it with ebook versions of all of their textbooks for their given program. This should be done at a fraction of the cost of traditional printed textbooks.

Regarding overcoming the issue of immediacy, I think a lot of instructors feel pressured by their students to get assignments graded and handed back in an immediate fashion, and end up burning themselves out.

I have found that putting students into groups really helps them in their learning. I believe they feel more immersed/involved in the process when it becomes more "hands on", as it tends to while working in a group setting.

The issue of extra credit has come up for me a couple of times. In both cases, I had a student who was failing my course come to me near the end of the term and ask for extra credit so she could pass. In both cases I said no to this request due to her poor grade being a result of not coming to class and not doing any of her assignments. Does everyone think I made the right decision in those cases?