Grading papers via e-mail facilitates immediate performance feedback, which allows us to have papers returned to students sooner than usual because we do not need to wait until the class meeting to return their papers. Because the students have e-mailed us their papers, we can easily store copies of their work for as long as we like. By doing so, we can quickly refer back to a particular paper when writing a letter of recommendation. All of these benefits, and others, can free us to focus our efforts on providing quality feedback on their thoughts and writing style rather than wasting our time providing tedious feedback on grammatical errors and other minor concerns. Challenges As with all new technologies, there are associated challenges, however, most, if not all, have practical solutions.
Viruses can be a challenge to avoid.
The best way to protect yourself is to purchase and install an anti-virus software program and enable it so that it automatically scans all files that are opened. Also, be sure to update the virus software often as new viruses are created every day. Compatibility issues can also become frustrating because students have different types of computers and various word processing programs. Another consideration is to have students submit papers using their UCI or official university accounts. If a student does not pay his or her America Online account, then the instructor may not be able to communicate with him or her.