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For me, March is largely about basketball...watching my son's 7th grade team win their regular season, going to Las Vegas to join friends and watch the Mountain West Conference tourney for the third year in a row, and running our SC&I brackets for the men's NCAA tourney. If I add in the other bracket challenges in which I'm participating, my own efforts to shoot hoops 3 times per week, and following my favorite team (the Denver Nuggets, who are on a 13-game winning streak right now), it is a bit crazy. But this March is filled with a new type of madness.  Now that my new book ( Anonymous Agencies, Backstreet Businesses, and Covert Collectives: Rethinking Organizations in the 21st Century ) is out, I find myself still busy trying to help with efforts to announce the book and otherwise market it to relevant audiences.

I thought I'd share a few key links related to my forthcoming book on Hidden Organizations: 1. It is very exciting to see the marketing information for my book now available on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Anonymous-Agencies-Backstreet-Businesses-Collectives/dp/0804781389 . The book will be available in traditional hard cover as well as a Kindle edition, and both should be available by March 27. 2. I am teaching a 1-credit special course to first year university students this spring about Hidden Organizations. The link for the course description is here: http://byrne.rutgers.edu/seminars/courses/anonymous-agencies-backstreet-businesses-and-covert-collectives-identifying-hidden-organizations-in-society .  In the class the students are going to be doing some very preliminary research on a hidden organization they choose and then presenting that back to the class via a poster display, YouTube video, or formal class presentation.

I am currently on sabbatical as a Visiting Professor in the Business School (Management and Organisations group) at the University of Western Australia in Perth, through August 2013. During this time I am collaborating on research examining the evolution of global communities of practice and global teams at Alcoa. I think this will provide interesting extensions of my research on global team collaboration as well as social media use in global organizations.

This installment in the @5min Video series is on: "7 Tips for Facilitating Your Online Course” Description: Facilitating an online course is much different than teaching a traditional face-to-face course. And while the design and development of an online course is critical to the success of your course, how well the instructor facilitates the course throughout the semester is equally important in creating a community of learning with your students. “Facilitation” is what happens when the semester begins and the course goes ‘live’ with students actively taking the course.

This installment in the @5min Video series is on: " Pinterest -  for Teaching and Learning!" Description: Looking for innovative ways to engage students in learning that incorporate social media? Pinterest is a virtual “pinboard” (akin to visual bookmarking) that has become a popular social networking, marketing, and publishing site for a source of inspiration and innovation on contemporary topics such as reading, cooking, design, travel, technology - and even education!

Journal of Applied Communication Research Special Issue Communication and Design Submission Deadline March 15 2013 The purpose of this special issue is to promote design as a mode of scholarship in the field of communication for theorizing about design and practicing design as it relates to communication. Manuscripts are invited that address this broad purpose in any area of communication study. Design is central to the communication discipline and to communication-related professions, but the work of designing remains largely invisible in the field’s teaching and research.

This installment in the @5min Video series is on: "Want to Engage Students in Learning? Try ‘Flipping’ Your Classroom!” Description: As an instructor, are you interested in finding ways to increase student engagement in the classroom? “Flipping the classroom” offers one solution towards this goal, which is based on the idea of shifting in-class lectures (and supporting resources) out-of-class to an online delivery (e.g., eCollege or Sakai) to allow time for in-class activities where students can interact with the instructor and each other on a specific activity or project.

This installment in the @5min Video series is on: "Designing a Collaborative Presentation Rubric." Description: A common assignment in both undergraduate and graduate courses is for students to work collaboratively in small groups to create a presentation that may include using technology (for example, a PowerPoint presentation) and then present it to the class. When it comes time for instructors to grade group presentations, it can be both challenging and tricky.

This installment in the @5min Video series is on: "Designing a Discussion Board Rubric." Description: As an instructor, do you find it difficult grading students’ participation in discussion boards? Do you give one “cumulative” discussion board/participation grade at the end of the semester, rather than grading each discussion board as a separate assignment?

  Aakhus, M., & Laureij, L. V. (2012). Activity, materiality, and creative struggle in the communicative constitution of organizing: Two cases of communication design practice. Language and Dialogue , 2 (1), 41–59.  

  Aakhus, M., & Bzdak, M. (2012). Revisiting the Role of “Shared Value” in the Business-Society Relationship. Business & Professional Ethics Journal , 31 (2), 231–246. (

This installment in the @5min Video series - lyndaCampus is LIVE! Quick link to site :  http://lynda.comminfo.rutgers.edu Description : In these recordings I want to briefly show you how you can add lyndaCampus to your course. While you can always share the link above with any SC&I affiliated student, staff member, or instructor, you can also easily add lyndaCampus to your eCollege or Sakai site as well.

This installment in the @5min Video series is on: "Designing a Research Paper Rubric." Description: As an instructor, is a “research paper” assignment a key assessment in a course that you teach? Do you find it difficult and/or time consuming to grade students’ research papers?

This installment in the @5min Video series is on: "An Introduction to 'Rubrics' for Assessing Students’ Coursework." Description: As a course instructor, a re you looking for ways to reduce the amount of time it takes to grade students’ work?   Would you like to reduce the amount of instances that students argue about their grade on an assignment?

This installment in the @5min Video series is on Prepping for the Upcoming Semester. Description : With just a few weeks left before the semester is upon us, I wanted to send out the "Prepping for the Upcoming Semester" document we use in Instructional Design and Technology Services (IDTS). In Stephen Covey's Time Management Matrix, the sweet spot is Quadrant Two - Important, but not Urgent tasks and activities.