New Book on “Clickers”

Jossey-Bass has just published a book  for teachers on how to make the best use of  “clickers:”   “Teaching with Classroom Response Systems: Creating Active Learning Environments” by Derek Bruff, the assistant director of Vanderbilt University’s Center for Teaching. You can read an interview with the author from Inside Higher Ed right here and you can watch a video demonstration of clickers here.

Criminal Law class 2-26-09

This is timely as we try to publicize our use of clickers at Albany Law School and encourage professors here to use them in their classes.

You may notice in the photo above the professor’s excitement that the students were tricked into thinking C was the correct answer.  The correct answer (in green) was B and last year when this question was  used, it was a student that proved to this professor that the answer was indeed B not C as the professor thought. Again this year, there was quite a lively exchange, thus CREATING,as the book’s title says, AN ACTIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT!”

The March Newsletter of Engaging Technologies will feature a blurb about my Clicker article  published in The Law Teacher (p13) and put a link to it in their blog as well as links to a blog post about my CALI conference presentation on clickers – http://blog.engaging-technologies.com/2009/02/cps-clickers-in-law-school-classroom.html

I also have video footage from several Criminal Law classes that I plan to edit and then create a Clicker promotional video . I want also invite faculty members to see for themselves the Clickers in action in this Criminal Law class.

Using the “Flip” to record clinic interviews

Our clinic is always looking for new ways to use technology – YEAH!

Here’s the latest comments from a Law Clinic listserv about using the Flip camera for recording  live client  interviews:

• If you’ve got experience using the Flip video camera (price is right and the reviews are excellent), please let me know.  We’ve used other, bulkier, video options in our clinic in the past, and are considering other options. 
• They’re terrific!  The resolution is excellent.  Easy to upload.  And inexpensive! As for time, you can upload easily, then re-record, but only 1 hour at a pop.

Legal Education and Technology II: An Annotated Bibliography

The second edition of Pearl Goldman’s excellent annotated bibliography is now available on SSRN — invaluable for anyone interested in the impact of technology on legal education.  

Below are the topics included:

Communications Technology
Information Technology
Instructional Technology
Artificial Intelligence
Electronic Course Materials
Film and Television
Presentation Technology
Simulations and Games
Tutorials (CAI or CAL)
Miscellaneous Instructional Technologies
Curriculum
Clinical Legal Education
Doctrinal Courses
Skills Courses and Programs
Distance Education and Distance Learning
Pedagogy 
Law Schools
Administrative Considerations
Law Faculty
Law Libraries and Librarians

Cool Cartoon on Law & Technology

from http://courtoons.wordpress.com/2009/02/02/twitter/

Law School 2.0: Legal Education for a Digital Age is out!

I got my copy in the mail today!! Inside the book was a postcard that said:

Dear Darlene,
           Since we share many of these interests and concerns, I thought you might like to have a copy of my new book.
Best regards,
David

I can’t wait to read it and implement his ideas with  the faculty at Albany Law School.

There is also blog associated with the book and my blog is mentioned: lawschool2.0.com

Here’s an excerpt from the introduction of the book:

This book describes how the perfect storm of generational change and the rising cost and criticisms of legal education, combined with extraordinary technological developments, will change the face of legal education as we know it today.  Its scope extends from generational changes in our students, to pedagogical shifts inside and outside of the classroom, to hybrid textbooks, all the way to methods of active, interactive, and hypertextual learning.  And it describes how this shift can – and will – better prepare law students for the law practice of tomorrow.

But legal education has successfully resisted systemic change for many years.  Given that dubious track record, the only way significant change can reasonably be expected is if something is different this time.  Fortunately, there is something different this time: the ubiquity of technology.  Since the MacCrate report in 1992, the internet has achieved massive growth, and a generation of students have grown up with sophisticated and pervasive use of technology in nearly every facet of their lives. 

As I read David Thomson’s book, I am sure I will be quoting it frequently in future posts.

Update on Government Ethics at a Distance

http://albanylaw.acrobat.com/bierman
URL for the Feb 12, 2009 recording: https://admin.na3.acrobat.com/_a795806695/p96506281/

Five weeks done – 10 to go!

As mentioned in a previous post, this semester, we have 6 students interning Washington DC who need to take a Government Ethics class here at Albany Law School.  Last year, we used our videoconferencing codec and coordinated with similiar equipment at George Washington Law School.   This year, this option was not available to us.

We decided to have the students in DC use webcams in their apartments and we would use Adobe Connect here to have them virtually attend class.

Each week, we faced challenges but it seems to be working. 

The positives:

• It is easy to set up and easy to adapt to a professor’s style.
• It is web-based so no software is necessary.
• Voice over IP works well.
• We can see the DC students on their webcam and can project them on the screen
• Students in DC can see the professor and hear the students in Albany as well as the professor.
• The class can easily be recorded and the URL posted.
• DC students text their answers or questions which can be seen on the screen & on the professor’s laptop.

The negatives:

• DC students can only see the professor and only if he/she stays in front of the camera
• The audio for the DC students (due to bandwidth issues) only works sporadically so they prefer to text.
• The professor does not share any digital content such as pdfs, websites, ppt slides, use the whiteboard or polling functionality so much of the Adobe Connect product is wasted.
• We are always worried about bandwidth issues.

All in all, Adobe Connect offers a promising solution  for sharing digital content and audio/video transmissions of lectures for those students who cannot attend classes in Albany and have access to the Internet.

 

Is the LCMS Still Relevant? (inspired by ELearning Newsletter)

Changing the notion of learning content, access and management

One of the most interesting aspects of …technology has been the role of the learning content management system (LCMS). The LCMS was originally envisioned as a flexible platform to enable learning content to be easily created, stored and managed, customized for each learner, and published and consumed in multiple learning formats.

Over the last eight years, the industry has changed dramatically. Rapid e-learning tools were developed and many of these companies developed content management systems, as well. Now, other technologies (e.g., software as a service, mobile, learning portals, search and collaboration, and social networking tools) are changing the notion of what learning content is and how it is accessed and managed.

Today, content takes many forms, is sometimes self-published, and almost always needs to be accessed quickly.

Consequently, the role of the LCMS must evolve. ..customers will realize more value from a system that better supports less structured and more collaborative forms of knowledge sharing. ..

The notion of learning content is changing. We believe that the traditional LCMS will continue to play a niche role for some time. However, the market’s sophisticated content needs are fast outpacing these systems.

This article hits home as we look at the same issues and compare the technology options: Westlaw’s TWEN (our LCMS), our intranet, a portal, a blog, our website, Facebook, Classcaster, Westlaw’s Exchange (document sharing option), Concourse (syllabus management tool,  iTunesU, AdobeConnect, Google, etc.

We’re on Facebook!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Albany-NY/Albany-Law-School/24484208786

This social networking site offers photos from recent law school events, event listings, notes on successes and a place for discussion or commenting on law school topics.  So far 216 people are “fans.”  It seems also that many alumni have started their own Facebook groups.

Leaving the Videotape World

We experimented last semester with using a webcam to record student simulations and it was very well received by both the professor and the students.

Next is to transition from recording on videotape for school events.  This week used a digital videocam to record a faculty interview, captured it onto a computer and rendered as as .wmv so that it could uploaded to our website.  Now instead of going to the faculty room to watch a videotape on a TV/VCR, faculty can watch the video on their laptops at their leisure.

Here are the reactions so far:

• Great idea!!!!!!
• How cool is that!!!

Next step is recording 2 events this week.  Plans are in the works for new recording equipment and procedures….