Guest Post: The Changing Face of Technology in the Classroom

The only thing that’s constant in this world is change; the last decade has seen a remarkable spurt in not just the growth of technology, but also in the way it’s being used. While the Internet has been around for more than thirty years now, it’s only of late that people are coming up with ingenious ways of utilizing this network that connects the whole world and reduces geographical distances. The Web has progressed considerably since the days of free email and chat software to include social networking sites, blogs, virtual worlds, instant update and other applications that together comprise the phenomenon that’s been christened Web 2.0.

The next stage of evolution saw blogs, which were used to air personal views and opinions, become focal points of discussions through comments and interaction between readers; social networking sites moved on from being places to connect with people you know to a common ground to share information and facilitate business and work dealings; virtual world games morphed into animated versions of real life where one could assume an alias (avatar) and take up an entirely different career, pursue an education, earn money that is accepted in the real world, and so much more.

The change we see is not so much in the technology that’s being used, but in the way it’s being used. Mobile phones, which were once just a mere replacement for standard telephones, are today compact all-in-one devices that are capable of doing just about any task that a sophisticated computer can do. Music players have turned into sophisticated gadgets that provide both video and audio files of lectures and classes. The changing face of technology has revolutionized the way content is delivered to the end user; from one to many, we have gone to many to one where a single student is able to access only what is relevant to his/her educational needs through the use of the Internet, WiFi devices and secure access systems.

Progress, as always, comes with its share of controversy, and not everyone is pleased with the interference of technology with education. Members of the teaching staff are taking exception to the fact that laptops and mobile phones in classrooms can be (mis)used to play online games, surf the net, chat with friends and just about anything except following the lesson and recording important points. As I said earlier, technology itself is not everything, it’s the way we use it – so used in the right way, gadgets and gizmos will carry education to higher levels.

This guest post is written by Heather Johnson, who frequently writes on ITT Technical Institute Online. She welcomes your comments and freelance writing inquiries at: heatherjohnson2323@gmail.com.

Another Motivating Video

 

 

Playing with the things I learned at CALI

• I made a RSS widget for this blog as well as a Facebook app using http://widgetbox.com
• I made a chat for this blog and a chat room for Albany Law tech using http://meebo.com
• I started a Ning group – http://albanylaw.ning.com
• I already have a Facebook page and there is an Albany Law page (but a former student is the admin).
• I have a twitter account but don’t find it that useful.
• Here is the virtual tour of our new courtroom that I made with  http://www.magtoo.com :
  http://www.magtoo.com/tour.do?method=viewMagShow&id=1214398923968  

What I Learned from CALI…

• Edgar Allan Poe was buried in the courtyard outside the U of Maryland Law School (see photo below)
• Bring a laptop!!! I had to handwrite notes and now transpose them to this blog or to OneNote
• Though I learned a lot from the sessions, networking with the techies from other law schools was the most valuable
• All law schools have the same issues regarding faculty use and technology
• Glad I went and hope to go again next year.

 

Day 3 from the CALI Conference

Session 1 – Laptop Encryption – Rutgers School of Law

• recommends encryting ALL staff & faculty laptops
• do it before delivering the laptop
• recommends 2 different software
• CompuSec – http://www.ce-infosys.com/english/products/free_compusec.html
  • on the fly full disk encryption
  • pre-boot authentication
  • pre-boot decryption if needed
  • free
  • can encrypt CD or removeable storage
  • single encryption
  • network stroage encryption
  • easier to encrypt after you ghost the laptop
  • takes TIME (40 GB 3-4 hrs, 80 GB 6-7 hrs)
  • you can customize your log in screen with school logo & info
  • can use the same key for multiple laptops
  • easy to administer
  • additional programs are available
• TrueCrypt
  • free – open source
  • in the settings, you can select full hard disk encryption
  • assigns a random encryption key
  • different for every laptop
  • have  to create a backfile disk (in case there’s a problem) – makes you  buurn a cd and then re-insert the cd before you can continue
  • time consuming
  • this is recommended for an advanced user to do on his/her personal computer 

Session 1 – Can you hear me now? Social Networking – Chicago-Kent State

Slides – http://wiki.cali.org/calicon08/uploads/Sessions/CanYouHearTP.ppt

• myspace, facebook (more popular), linkedin (good for job searching)
• Ning – small social network ex – loudlawlibrarians – can password protect your ning or have students answer a question
• http://lawlibraries.ning.com – join to discuss social networks
• can add widgets such as law library searches
• facebook interface for iPhone
• http://twitter.com – follow and update people
• http://diigo.com – share bookmarks, built-in slide show
• http://tinyurl.com/6bvazw – law librarian in facebook
• http://tinyurl.com/5oo6uv – law groups in linkedin
• beta invites – mashable.com and techcrunch.com

Session 2 – RSS & Widgets – Catholic U

Paul Maharq’s Liveblog – http://zeugma.typepad.com/zeugma/2008/06/cali-day-3-rss.html
Slides – http://wiki.cali.org/calicon08/uploads/Sessions/Widgets-CALI2008v5a.ppt or http://www.slideshare.net/len2day/cali-2008-len-davidson-v2

• they have created a widget for library catalog, library database, ask a librarian
• also installed at Penn State but only .4% have installed the widget on their own site
• recommends using widgetbox.com (but facebook app is poor)
• google gadget only runs in igoogle
• box.net allows for file sharing
• meebo.com allows for chat
• Westlaw has its own widget – go to http://watch.westlaw.com (modules, single source monitor, CLIP)
• other software – yourminis, sproutbuilder (free flash presentations), rockyou.com & slide.com (music slide presentations)
• DuKe, Harvard, Nova Southestern, Santa Clara Law schools have facebook pages
• AALL has a article  by Behrens -”Abouot Facebook”

Session 3 – MacGyver Computing – Brooklyn Law

discussed ingenious ways they solved seemingly unresolvable problems – intersting but not very useful

Closing

Paul Maharq’s Liveblog – http://zeugma.typepad.com/zeugma/2008/06/final-reflectio.html

CALI Conference – Day 2

Keynote – Joel Garreau

Session 1 – Technology Use & Practices: What the students want – ASU

They polled 2Ls and 3Ls to ask them what kinds of technology devices they own and use and what kinds of online tools of services (i.e. MySpace, Facebook, etc) they use

• 100% cellphone, 85% mp3 players, 98% laptops, 54% Facebook
• 64% neveruse MySpace
• 62% iTunes, 52% YouTube
• Flickr, NING, Twitter , RSS feeds- most nver heard of it
• Blogs & Wikis - 30% read, 70% never write
• cellphone text messages – 75%. IM – 50%
• ASC has a Facebook page, uses gmail for email, will have their Masters program online
• 50% Online course, 335 partial online course
• 49% would take course online, 35% prfer synchronous, prefer video, audio & slides
• 79% would use podcasts
• technology course courtroom tech 62% lawfirm tech 91%

Session 2 – iTunesU – NY School of Law

discussed how to set up your site so users can subscribe and use better

• rename podcasts as tracks, and vodcasts as video
• re-categorize all content – social sciences, law
• intro page just have the name of law school not iTunes and have link to law school in a prominent place
• Public part of the site
  • section 1- faculty lectures and conferences
  • should have at least 100 tracks before launching
  • use general categories
  • Section 2 – about the school
  • career services and admissions info
  • interviews with students & admin director, dean
  • virtual tour
  • always describe the podcast feed
  • use distinctive graphics for featured events
  • use repetitive branding (school logo)

  Private content

  • use unique course identifier
  • NYSL contracted with apple to have a single log on for students and faculty
  • designate admins
  • 2 urls – one for students (who can download) and one for faculty (who can publish)
  • create user groups for faculty & students – itunesu_courseid_student &…_faculty
  • can upload pdfs as well as audio and video
  • can play on ipod or on any computer with itunes software

Session 3 – LexisNexis Casemap

•  
  • free software for law school faculty and students (for 3 years)
  • makes the life of a ligator easier
  • used by clinics and to organize legal writing assignments
  • to download, go to: http://casesoft.com
  • composed of a spreadsheet that includes linked worksheets for:
    • all objects (persons, places, things) – do 1st
    • issue outline (heart of casemap)
    • facts (can filter)
    • documents (can be linked)
    • authorities – favorite of students
    • extracts from authorities – links directly to Lexis research
  • at casesoft.com – there is a short webinar for every task in Casemap
  • has been used for 7-8 years in the ligation world
  • This presenter is available for a presentation at any law school

Session 4 – The Wired – Pittsburgh

Video from the HBO series that was filmed in Baltimore

Blogging from the CALI Conference in Baltimore

Keynote – Paul Maharq – Transforming Legal Education - http://simplecommunity.org

Keynote summary from Liveblogger, Gene Koo – http://lsi.typepad.com/lsi/2008/06/liveblogging-th.html
Slides: http://slideshare.net/paulmaharq

Session 1 – When to jump on the IT bandwagon, when to jump off… – FSU College of Law

2 librarians surveyed their law students and came up with some bluntly honest comments, yielding surprising results for those of us choosing new IT applications of all types

• good AALL publication on using wikis
• offer a prize to get good results on students completing surveys
• 63% IM, 82% use MySpace or Facebook
• 98% rarely used Second Life, 89% rarely used RSS
• Google  analytic tools – free – put cod on all your webpages

Session 2 – Our Clicker presentation with UTexas College of Law

It seemed to go well – Dan & got a lot of positive feedback.  UTexas uses Turning Point (one of the conference sponsors.)  The only downside of their clicker system is that it only works seemlessly if you are a PowerPoint user.

                                              

Session 3  – Where the magic happens  – Nova Southeastern

• turn off the light and put a lamp behind your monitor!?
• Firefox has cool add-in
• free software tools
  • flickr for photos
  • photoshop express for editing
  • piclens – 3D viewer
  • animoto – slideshow creator ($10-15)
  • eyespot – video creator
  • palbee – videoconferencing (6 users)
  • Magtoo.com - create a virtual tour – html code provided

VARK – one method of identifying learning preferences – the VARK Questionnaire (www.vark-learn.com )

Session 4 – The Nuts & Bolts of using MediaNotes – Gene Koo (CALI)

Great – very Informative!!  I really understand how to use MediaNotes to annotate video, what to buy to make it happen (and I sat next to Paul Maharq).

• red pen for video
• need a laptop and a webcam (logitech top of the line $100)
• camera comes with the software
• hit start & hit stop when done – video is automatically saved on the laptop
• audio is more important than video so if room is noisy, use a headset mic
• have students review their own - give them a set of tags (concepts – ex: closed question, summary, open question…)
• or give them a video of a TV show or movie to use
• can count # of tags, can filter by tag
• tagging is done by the reviewer, filter is done by the tagger
• to start: select new project, find the video, hit + sign and add comment or create a tag (pick a color) and drag onto event, can import tags
• details checkbox shows comments belwo each tag on right
• can separate video in a separate location or packpage the project (tags & video) and save it
• buy 2 GB USB flash drives to exchange files
• upload load speed to CAI spaces is slow
• CALI is going to set up a chain in the next few months (send an email to the next reviewer, etc)
• software is free for faculty & staff (use CALi id on website to download)
• $20 for law students – price will be coming down
• outside services that charge $2/min to transcribe MP3 audio, you can copy and paste the transcript into event
• uses .wmv, mov or mp3 file formats not flash
• tags are shared in to MediaNotes community (interviewing & counseling tags)
• in March – new harware options will be coming out

Dinner & tour of the aquarium

Retired U.S. Justice unveils video game

REUTERS/Jeff Topping

 

Retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor unveiled a videogame project recently to teach children how courts work.

The Our Courts project will have two parts, O’Connor said. The first is on online interactive civics program designed to be used by children from 7th to 9th grades either to supplement existing courses or as a distinct unit in the curriculum.

The program, developed with Georgetown University law school and Arizona State University, will be distributed free online.

“It will allow students to engage in real legal issues,” she said. Asked to give an example, she said one element would focus on a scenario of a school attempting to stop students wearing a T-shirt with a controversial slogan — a free speech issue designed to elicit argument about the 1st Amendment.

She said the web site at www.ourcourts.org/ should have some initial material by this September and be fully operational with interactive elements a year later.

The second part of the project will be for young people to use in their free time, O’Connor said, noting that studies showed children spend around 40 hours a week using media, including computers, television, videogames or music…

O’Connor said she had seen from her own grandchildren that technology was the best way to inspire children to learn and it was vital to speak to them in their own language.

For the complete story, click HERE.

More Macs in Law School?

We allowed Macs to be used with Examsoft on final exams this spring for the first time.  No problems to speak of.  But I only saw 3 students who dared…

But now Apple is offering  a new carrot :

This offer is good til September 15, 2008 and is available to all students, faculty and staff.

Videoconferencing Survey Results

I completely forgot that I had asked the students in the Semester in Government program what they thought about their experiences with videoconferencing.  They had attended an Albany Law School class every Thursday evening at GW School of Law in DC.

Here’s are the comments from 3 of the 4 students:

On a scale of 1-5,  how effective were the videoconferences? (How well was the content delivered)?
4. The video conferences were effective because they allowed me to interact with the professor and classmates in another state. Although I was not physically in the classroom, I was able to ask questions, listen to speakers and ask questions, and participate in classroom discussions.
3 or 4
4.

On a scale of 1-5,how effective were the videoconferences technically, e.g., clear picture, clear sound? (How well the technology worked)
3. The video connection was clear, but we had problems with sound.
4
3

What do you like about using the technology?
• What I liked about the video conferences is that they allowed me to basically be in two places at the same time.
• It was impressive and a unique approach for academia
• The fact that we were able to participate in the class in real time rather than having to use the Internet or podcast all the time.

What are the benefits of using this technology?
• The benefit of using this technology is having all the elements of a classroom experience without actually being in the classroom.
• The benefits are obvious. The technology allows for students removed from campus to participate in a substantive law class.
• Same as above.

What do you not like about using the technology?
• What I do not like about using the technology is that the sound clarity is unpredictable.
• The video-conference is not nearly as engaging as when you are sitting in a classroom. Too easy to lose focus and work on other material.
• Delay in connection, hard to pay attention sometimes when we are removed from the class.
What would make the video conferences better?
• Better sound quality.
• Shorter classes. 3 hours is too long for such technology. Try sitting there and let me know how it goes.
• Easier to pay attention when we were forced to participate.

General comments?
• Great experience.
• Prof. Bierman did a great job in trying to engage us.