Highlights of the CALI Conference For Me

In no particular order:

• Boulder is beautiful!! So are the new law school classrooms & library.
• I love the 2 screens in each classroom. Laminated directions in a plastic folder on the wall. All classrooms are identical.
• Great article on using DropBox for library document delivery http://tinyurl.com/clxkth courtesy of Tom Boone
• Adobe Captivate seems to be the prefered Screen Capture Video software (over Camtasia) & costs about $300
• Everyone is talking FLASH
• There are other free screen capture software that I want to try(Jing, uTipU) -maybe they are better than CamStudio which I use.
• In addtion to Skype, thre are some other free webconferencing tools, too (sightspeed, oovoo, palbee, dimdim, wengo, paltalk).
• My Thursday & Sat. session choices were so much more useful for me than my Friday ones.
• WestLaw has the best freebies – flash drives, pads, pens, & mice
• I learned a lot about using Google apps and embedding media into TWEN
• I learned about WestLaw watch – subscribing to newspapers, articles and can embed into TWEN
• Great to see that the other Ed. Technologists are facing the same issues and we will be developing some type of sharing/networking site
• I think I want a Kindle…
• A FLIP video camera looks very useful – easy to use and convenient for sharing videos
• You could use Adobe Connect for recording student simulations (they are web-based & saved as flash)
• WestLaw Exchange is evolving and may be a good place to store audio & video files (in the future)
• I hope I remember and have time to use half of what I learned..
• If not, they were recorded and slides posted:
  • iphone slides- http://tinyurl.com/law-iphone
  • 55 gadget slides -  http://w.cali.org/conference/sites/default/files/Cool%20Gadgets.pdf
  • in-house video tutorials – http://w.cali.org/conference/sites/default/files/CALI09_0.ppt
  • ed tech job descriptions – http://w.cali.org/conference/sites/default/files/positiondescriptions.doc
  • Kindle use – http://w.cali.org/conference/sites/default/files/Kindle%20for%20Law%20SchoolsBlueWave1.pptx
  • videoconferencing – http://w.cali.org/conference/sites/default/files/cali.ppt

Live Blogging from CALI Conference – Day 3

Session 1 – Law School Educational Technology Specialist: What is it? – Suffolk Law, Cal. Western, Boston College, Elon U

• 11 job descriptions were handed out
• this session came out of a need – looking for job duties that one should do and looking for a networking group
• survey was sent out thru teknoids
• results & descriptions are posted on cali conference site
• 110 completed survey
• 80% have this position
• faculty love this position and it enables them to use more technology
• neg – too many duties – some not related to ed
• most are new positions – less than 7 yrs
• most report to law school IT or law library director
• most do not supervise any staff but many supervise students
• ed. requirements – many different backgrounds – most associated with the library, many have JD or Ed Tech degrees
• these meet the needs of the position
• most work with IT and relationship works well
• top responsibilites 
  •  training faculty on hardware/software,
  • troublehooting hardware/software issues
  • pedagogical training (how to teach with tech)
  • distance ed support
• goal should be to  bridge IT and faculty – how do you accomplish this?
  • Use faculty that adopt tech as models
  • IT has to make the technology work so faculty are comfortable
  • Collaborate with librarians more
• other responsibilities – many varied – faculty scholarship, av, etc
• software & hardware training – many
• faculty training – most individual training – most can’t get fac. to group training unless required, show & tell at faculty mtg, having faculty train other faculty, must be TOP DOWN
• course management – most say that more than 50% of faculty use it
• post  just syllabus & docs – most say this is the case
• use tech during class time- most say that most faculty do not
• student use required – most do not
• U Texas Law School – Ed Tech page with many handouts for faculty on software
• how do we stay connected? cali, social media, wiki, website? One or more of these will be developed – stay tuned…

Live Blogging from CALI Conference – Day 2

Session 1 – IT & Faculty as Partners in Education – Basic Tools for Change - N. Carolina Central U School of Law

• faculty are key part of testing technology to be used
• SMART boards, screens to the right, mic for each 2 students in all rooms
• student study rooms – vga adapters to  connect to lcd screens, SMARTsympodium
• 90% of faculty use technology
• 100% use TWEN
• 75% use ppt
• 15% use clickers
• 85% use screen capture (video)
• key to partnership – solution driven, minimize tech jargon, IT approachable
• senior faculty partner
  • smart classroom – good for large classes, visual & audio enhancements – 2 large screens, prof wireless mic, student mics
  • goal is engagement – good prof doesn’t worry about competition from students on the web
  • use of techology should be seamless – students shouldn’t notice
  • solution to a malfunction should come after school – just revert to “old school”
  • the problem is with the faculty not IT
• junior faculty partners
  • knowing how to sell it to faculty is important
  • uses clickers – keeps students engaged, assesses students, leads to discussion, enables participation in largr classes, surveyed students & they liked them
  • all classes are recorded (video capture) - encourages students to watch them for review & clarification
  • taught while at a conference – used logme in and skype
  • watched her class via webcam – they were doing a mock trial
  • why she was comfortable?
    • pedagogical goal – good for students
    • supportable & encouraging environment
    • students are customers, must serve the students
    • IT folks must approach the faculty, bring in people to show the faculty the effectiveness of the technology
    • use videoconferencing for interviews
    • use YouTube videos – such as stem cell
    • examsoft – loan laptop to students if they don’t have one
    • dragon naturally speaking – convert voice to text
  • use coursecasting for recording ALL classes - software driven – all content is wmv and you own it – subscription-based
  • located on the portal
  • 600 students
  • $300,000 for new tech to a room

Live Blogging from CALI Conference- Day 1

Keynote - John Palfrey – Harvard Law Library

• digitize, digitize, digitize
• open acess to all content -DASH
• collaborate and share
• organize content – collaborate & share
• team up law librarians with faculty
• re-introduce contemplative space for students
• stop competing in library collections – c0mpete in services provided
• post library collections on the web = share & collaborate!!!
• post unique materials & share, post public domain materials
• avoid redundancies – use consortiums – work together
• unite repositories – Google??- other search engines?

Alan Kaye -” the best way to predict the future is to invent the future.”

More live blogging – http://lsi.typepad.com/lsi/2009/06/liveblogging-calicon09-john-palfrey-keynote.html#more

Session 1 - Creating in-house video tutorials – Lindsay Matts -William Mitchell School of Law (MN)

• Best Practices in E-Learning
  • no longer text-based
  • many types of instructional media
  • media elements are important – text, graphics, audio
  • 6 principles
    • multimedia  – adding graphics to words can improve learning – pictures, org charts, graphs, transformational (change), interpretive (explain)
    • contiguity – placing text near graphics can improve learning
    • modality – explaining graphics with audio can improve learning
    • redundancy -explaining graphics with audio AND redundant text can hurt learning (read off the screen)
    • coherence – gratuitous visuals, text, audio can hurt learning
    • personalization – conversational tone & pedagogical agents can increase learning
  • questions to ask before creating the screencast - goal, audience, time frame?
    • goals – inform, peform procedure or perform principles
• Products
  • Jing – by techsmith – free – www.jingproject.com – 5 min only- very easy – hosted in screencast.com or export not both - swf only – cannot edit – $15/yr – record from webcam & can export
  • UTipu www.utipu.com – free – hosted – 20 min – add notes & text – pulbic or private – can edit voice, can’t edit video,  swf
  • Adobe captivate – expensive – her fav – no time limit  $700 per license – 30 day free trial – canadd text boxes or audio and annotations, can edit , many file types-
  • Camtasia – similar to Captivate – less expensive
  • Animoto – fun slideshow with music 30 secs
• Existing tutorials
  • www.atomiclearning.com – expensive
  • www.lynda.com
  • www.cali.org
• Mics
  • headset
  • mic off webcam
• Host solutions
  • TWEN – needs to be small
  • LexisNexis Blackboard – 3 mb
  • YouTube
  • on school’s server

Social Networking session recording -

Upcoming CALI Conference

Keynote Speaker is John Palfrey, Professor of Law and Vice Dean of Library and Information Resources at Harvard Law School, as well as a Faculty Co-Director at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society.

Here are some interesting sessions that I hope to attend:

• “IT and Faculty as Partners in Education-Basic Tools For Change”
• Classroom Simulations and Technology Integration
• Multimedia applications: Creating Tools for Instruction and other Law School activities
• Ning: DIY – Building a Social Network from Scratch
• Creating in-house video tutorials to enhance campus training sessions
• Educational Technology Specialist – What Is It?
• Firefox Add-ons for Legal Research
• Videoconferencing Without Busting Your Budget
• Captioning media
• Information Overload
• Teaching with cloud and flash computing
• Flash-based Distribution of Skills Training Video
• Multimedia Tools for Law School
• Video Podcasting: Live from the desert!!
• Using New Media Tools for Recruitment: How we use Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter
• Coursecrafting: (def.) Mashing up legal research, moot court, skills training and instructional technology into something new and innovative!

and more…

 

Looking ahead to CALI Conference 2009

The 19th Annual Conference for Law School Computing (a.k.a. The CALI
Conference) will be held at the University of Colorado Law School in
Boulder, Colorado on Thursday-Saturday, June 18-20, 2009.

The conference will be held in the brand new Wolf Law Building which
was dedicated in September of 2006 and features state-of-the-art
classrooms and high-tech facilities that fit the theme of the
conference that focuses on technology and innovation in legal
education.

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

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