Online Teaching & Blogging

TWEN Course Site

Best Practices Blog

In addition to teaching Albany Law School’s first online course, Patty Salkin will be blogging about her experience.

lst Post: Getting Ready for On-Line Teaching

2nd Post: Organizing Technology to Teach On-Line

3rd Post:  Setting Goals and Evaluation for an On-Line Course

4th Post:   Course Design – Technology Meets Substance in On-Line Curriculum Development

5th Post:  On-Line Discussion Boards Create a New Arena for Engaged Learning Environments

6th Post:  Integrating Internet-Based and Teleconferencing Resources into On-Line Teaching

New Westlaw and Lexis Platforms in 2010

Westlaw launched an entirely revamped online search service called WestlawNext on Feb. 1, 2010.

All the links relating to WestlawNext are posted on this page - http://legalcurrent.com/2010/01/29/legal-links-of-the-week-westlawnext/

Lexis plans to follow with its own revamped platform later this year.

Both platforms are aiming to be easier to use and more aesthetically pleasing.

LexisNexis also unveiled at LegalTech in New York this week its newest offering: a partnership with Microsoft.

Lexis will now be integrated into Microsoft Office products, allowing users to do legal and general research directly while working in Microsoft Word, Outlook and SharePoint. Users, who must have a Lexis subscription, need only click on a Lexis tab in the ribbon of utilities available in Microsoft Office 2007 and the forthcoming 2010 version to start researching, Shepardizing cases or even gathering information from Bing or Google search engines. There is no need to navigate separately to the Web and log on to Lexis or a search engine.

Here’s how it works from the press release:

While reviewing a Word document or an Outlook e-mail message, Lexis for Microsoft Office users can seamlessly access content and resources from LexisNexis, the open Web, or their law firm or corporate files. Key features include:

“Search” – A single search box that delivers one-click access to the vast collection of legal content from LexisNexis, the open Web and the user’s internal company information database. Results from all sources are displayed in a window next to the active document.

“Background” – This function provides background information on “entities” such as people, companies, organizations and cases mentioned in the text of a Word document or Outlook message. It automatically indexes the working document with hyperlinks to relevant information from internal, LexisNexis and Web resources. Upon clicking the hyperlink, the information is displayed in a side pane within the Microsoft Office applications. The Background feature will also display full Shepard’s® reports and apply Shepard’s® SignalTM indicators directly to the cases cited within the text of the document. Full text versions of case law, news and information cited within an e-mail message or Word document can also be accessed through the lexis.com® resources directly within the Microsoft software application.

“Suggest” – Similar to the Background function, this functionality interacts with any text in a Word document or Outlook message. By manually highlighting text, the user can prompt a search that will pull up relevant information from internal, LexisNexis and Web resources. The content is displayed in a side pane within the application

and the Westlaw vs Lexis competition goes on………..

More Iphone Apps for Law Students

 iPhone now offers a BARBRI Alternative for Calif. Test Takers that cost $1000. (Will NY be far behind?)

There is also a  new iPhone app from Fastcase which makes  it possible to perform legal research just about anywhere—and both the app and the research are free.

Other iPhone apps:

• Black’s Law Dictionary 8th Ed with Audio Pronunciations
• CLE Mobile From West LegalEdcenter
• The Constitution of the United States with Audio Narration

 

WordPress even offers an iPhone app to be able to post and upload content  to one’s blog.

Two Useful Free Tools for Staff Development

As new technologies emerge, it is crucial to offer staff development opportunities to faculty so that they can learn to use these tools.  To meet the challenges of their busy schedules, an alternative to face-to-face workshops needs to be  implemented.

That’s where Jing and Screencast.com come into play.

Jing by TechSmith  is a fast and easy way to capture images and create videos of what you see on your screen. You can use this software to capture screen shots to create directions that can posted online or e-mailed.

Here’s one on “How to embed a YouTube Video in TWEN.”

You can also use it with a microphone to add audio to the video capture of the screen. In other words, making an instructional video that can be shared.

Here’s one on “How to embed a Slideshare.net  ppt in TWEN” – http://www.screencast.com/t/MTU5MDI2 

Screencast.com is TechSmith’s media hosting solution that Jing uses to securely host your content.  The video that is created with Jing is a flash video.  With Screencast.com, you can upload your Jing video and provide others with a weblink to watch the instructional video or you can embed the video into a webpage.  You can also shore screenshots images here.

Both of these tools are FREE!

 (For an additional cost, you can purchase upgraded versions with more storage space and more options.)

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From this blog  post, I just learned about another FREE screencasting application called Screenr.  It is different than Jing in that you do not have to download any software; it is entirely web-based. It captures what you do on your screen and then converts it a web video format and can post a notification to Twitter. You can then download the video as an MP4 movie file and upload to an iPhone or iPod.

Here’s my first one: http://screenr.com/bZd

Using the Smartboard in the Law Classroom

 

Last semester, we offered a training to faculty and staff on using our two SmartBoards.  One of the most interesting uses was to annotate video clips. Here’s the video that explains it: 

 

Other classroom uses explained at the training are shown in the videos below:

• with Powerpoint –
• with Word -
• with timelines & web pages-
• recording the class-
• some cool tools -

Law School 2.0 Revisited

 

In a post on February 21, 2009, I wrote about a new book out called Law School 2.0. I read it at that time and it influenced my thinking about the use of technology here at the law school. 

A  recent comment by Professor Lynch to a post on the Best Practices blog mentioned this book again in relation to our creation of an online course. 

It inspired me to re-read Law School 2.0. 

The first time I read it, I focused on the chapters about laptops in the classroom, podcasting, and student response systems.  This time, I concentrated predominantly on wikis and the use of online pedagogy to teach law. 

One  important thing I gleaned: 

After you set an educational goal for each module of a course, you then select the technology that supports the goal the most effectively. 

Different technologies are used for different activities because the learning objectives to be met are different.  

To share knowledge offered in the classroom through the Socratic method,  in an online course, a PowerPoint presentation with audio is an effective tool. 

Week 1 - Narrated PPT

Similarly, a narrated presentation with embedded quizzes is a great way to make sure students are engaged and learning.  

Ethics Virtual Training

To encourage classroom interaction and discussion, TWEN’s discussion forum works well, especially if the professor posts questions that relate to course materials and reading assignments and requires the students to read and respond to other students’ postings. 

Discussion Forum

Another tool where students can interact with each other and share knowledge is the Wiki. Students are able post information to a central location and edit and make changes to that content. 

Wiki 1 - State Resources

Other tools that can be used to stimulate engagement are: live discussions, online polls, online quizzes, synchronous classes via Adobe Connect or other webconferencing tool. 

Matching goals and technology is obviously important for online courses, and it is important for face-to-face classes, as well. 

  

Is anyone reading this?

My New Year’s resolution was to post more frequently on this blog.  So I am.

I often wonder if any one reads my posts.  I decided to check out the stats offered by WordPress and was pleasantly surprised.  People are reading my blog!!!

Below are the number of views as of January 20, 2010. They do not include my views.

So the answer to the question is…

Yes, I will post!

More on Our Online Course

As noted in a previous post, Professor Salkin  has been writing about her experience  in teaching our first online course on the Best Practices blog.  In one of her post’s comments, someone asked:

How necessary is a fulltime instructional technologist?

That’s me.  The reader may be  thinking that my position is being used full-time for supporting the online course.

Here is Prof. Salkin’s response:

Regarding the instructional technologist, Darlene is not assigned to this course anywhere near full-time. I think it has been helpful that she has been absolutely responsive to me and to the students in the class when issues arise (all of which have been minor). In figuring out ways to manage inquiries, she set up a discussion board just on technology questions/issues. This way, if more than one student has the same question, they may find an answer quickly without having to seek out Darlene. Also, working together in advance of classes starting, Darlene helped me to think through the organization of the TWEN site to make sure we use it in the most user-friendly manner, and she developed and posted the technology-related requirements students would need (e.g., which version of Adobe Acrobat did they need, etc.) and she put together and posted on the home page a memo with Tech Support information for course participants. As the days go by, I am hoping her time on this course is reduced. Check her blog (linked on this site) as she has been discussing the technology issues from her perspective with this course. In short, is it a benefit to the course that her position at Albany Law School is full-time – absolutely. The position enables not just this course, but lots of other innovations in legal education.

What a perfect answer!

Top 20 Must-See Movies for Law Students

According to this month’s Jurist magazine, although films are not always an accurate depiction of real life, they are often used as teaching tools to engage law students.

Here are the Top 20:

#1-7

#8-20

 All of these movies are available on DVD and many of the legal scenes are posted on YouTube.

For example – Evidence & Cross Examination in  “My Cousn Vinny”

The Best Practices Blog posted on this topic, as well.  Click HERE to read professors’ comments about using films in the law school classroom to ENGAGE students.

A Classroom Experiment

 

 In the past year or so, many law schools have concluded that laptops and access to the Internet may have become a distraction or hindrance to student engagement in the classroom.  Some law professors such as, at Villanova Law School, have banned laptops in class. Albany Law School has decided to turn off Internet access in the classrooms as did the University of Chicago School of Law.

Here’s an excerpt from the statement from the Albany administration to students:

… We are setting up a four-week trial period in which wireless Internet access is shut down in the classrooms from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, starting Tuesday, January 19 (no Monday classes because of MLK Day). This will not impact access to the Internet outside the classrooms.

For those faculty members who use the wireless network as a teaching tool, ITS will have the ability to turn on access during their class time on an automated basis, when requested by the faculty member.

At the end of the four-week trial period, we will evaluate the results and determine, with your input, whether we should continue the program. Thank you!

Will this ban have a positive impact  on student learning?? 

Do we need to also look for other solutions that will help professors maintain the students’ attention in class?

Are there other ways to increase student engagement besides turning off the Internet?

How often will ITS have to make exceptions and turn the wireless back on in classrooms (per faculty request)?

Stay tuned for more on this subject (after the 4 week trial period)…

First Week of Government Ethics Online

Course activity for week 1

 I won’t be posting every week  on the course activity but I was curious to look at the TWEN stats for the first week. 

• There are 22 students in the course.
• Week One Discussion (which had 5 topics) was “Read” 594 times and posted to 156 

Discussion Forum

• The Calendar (with assignments) was viewed 350 times
• Course Materials (links to readings & ppt w/audio) 349 times and the syllabus 50 times

Week 1 - Narrated PPT

The students have chosen their state through the sign up sheet function and have begun wiki #1 which is due this week.  Some students have even begun Week 2 readings & discussion questions. 

Wiki 1 - State Resources

 So far so good. 

 The students seem to be working hard.  They are able to use TWEN to navigate through the course content and complete the assignments.