Social media intern (on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram) on issues related to immigration and access to justice - flexible hours, online and remote, fun and inspiring!

Professor Michele Pistone, Professor of Law at Villanova University — Creator of VIISTA, the first university certificate program designed to train immigrant advocates to represent immigrants in immigration court and before the Department of Homeland Security — is seeking interns in social media and graphic design for the summer. The unpaid job is flexible hours and can be done remotely.

VIISTA’s model is practical, flexible, modular and 100% online. Whether students are eager to put their passion to work for immigrant families, looking for a way to make an immediate impact on the lives of immigrant families, or thinking about a career in law, VIISTA’s immigrant advocacy training can help students change lives and promote justice.

VIISTA launched in August and already has more than 100 students from 32 states. Student feedback is very positive. Students come from all backgrounds. There is a current Stanford college senior who aims to work as a paralegal next year, and eventually go to law school. Other students are recent college grads interested in peace and justice/law/social work/international relations who want to make an immediate impact for immigrant families, first-generation immigrants, children of immigrants, university professors, teachers, retirees or those seeking an encore career, like empty nesters and parents coming back into the workforce.

Now that the program is launched, I want to develop and implement a social media strategy to expand visibility for my research that led to development of VIISTA.  But, I know that I need a lot of support and strategic vision to get there. That's where you can help.

I am looking for one full-time intern (30 hours/week) and/or two part-time interns (10-15 hours/week) to develop and implement a social media strategy. The strategy will involve drafting social media content, responding to posts by others, reaching out to groups and otherwise spreading word about my research that led to the development of VIISTA.

Join me - email a cover letter and resume to professorpistone@gmail.com.

ImmProf: Some Tips for Making Educational Videos

Video guidelines

The goal is to create a collection of short video, each on a discrete aspect of the law.  The video collection is modeled on TED, TED-Ed and Khan Academy – delivered in short, well scripted, rehearsed chunk, made for viewing on the internet (rather than lecture capture that videotapes a lecture designed for classroom teaching). The primary audience is law schools and lawyers.  But it goes beyond that as well; the videos will be viewed by professionals from other disciplines who want to learn the law, by adult learners, by foreign law students, and possibly others.  

Length: no single lesson should be longer than 10 minutes, strive to give yours within 5-7 minutes.  Shorter lessons are welcome; if you can make the point in 5 minutes, then do it.  If you think your topic cannot be explained in 10 minutes, then consider ways to break it out into two or three segments.  But make sure each single video can stand on its own as a discrete topic.

Content:  Remember that successful lawyering requires much more than legal analysis and reasoning (see the attached chart).  If you can, try to bring the other successful lawyering factors into your lesson.  Or devote an entire lesson to one or more of them.  And remember not to mention dates (or anything that will date the video, such a political elections or events in the news) or filming locations. 

Show us the real you:  Relate the topic to your own experience and your own development as a lawyer or law professor.  Share why you like teaching this particular topic; what is it that made you decide to do a lesson on this?  Is it particularly challenging, have you developed a well-organized way to teach it, did you struggle with it as a student, is it exciting because it demonstrates the power of the law, is it something that you wished you had been taught at the beginning of your career, how did you learn it and make it stick, how did you use it in your own professional development and formation.  For example, “this topic was challenging to me when I first started to focus on it because . . .” “this topic excites me because I see how it can be used to . . . “ “I love teaching this topic because . . . ” “I chose to specialize in this area of law because . . .”

Make the complex simple:  We know you’re smart.  We know you know your stuff.  If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be in the position you’re in.  And we wouldn’t ask you to give a lesson for the project.  So, don’t turn us off with abstractions and legalese.  Break complex ideas down, and explain each concept clearly.  Give examples.  Tell stories.  Be specific.  Tell us how these concepts relate to the everyday practice of law.

Connect with the audience:  Make us laugh.  Make us smile.  Make us cry. 

Show the human side of the law:  Each legal principle comes out of controversy involving people, real people – it could be the listener’s neighbor, friend, family member.  The law is full of emotions – emotions on the side of the parties and also on the side of the lawyers.  Yet, we don’t often see that when we read dry cases in books.  Video can make the underlying stor(ies) come alive and help us to understand that law lives and interacts with us and shapes how we act regularly.  Help the audience to understand and humanize the law.

Write out your script: We agree that you’ve taught this topic a hundred times and you can do it in your sleep.  But, this is different.  You want to get this right.  Video is a new medium and the potential reach of the internet is broader than a single lecture hall.  Strive to create the best lesson you have ever given.  

Start and end strong:  Start by telling us where you’re taking us and end by reminding us where we traveled.

Rehearse:  We want the audience to engage with you.  Rehearse your lesson, including the intonation, the pauses, the places where you need to provide emphasis and videotape yourself on your webcam delivering the lesson. This is a performance.  It is different from teaching a live, interactive class. So find that hidden actor within and exploit him or her.

We’ll introduce yourself, you don’t have to: The video will have your name and affiliation, and even some cool stuff about you like your publications, areas of specialty and whatever else you want to share with the audience, like your best sport or favorite hobby.  So, don’t bother introducing yourself, we’ll take care of that.

Each lesson stands alone:  Each lesson should seek to teach a single topic.  If there is a related topic, cover it in another video.  But do not cross-reference videos, the computer software will do all of that for us. Each lesson stands alone as a finished product.

What is on screen? Adults’ attention span is about 7 minutes; so think about changing up what’s on screen at least every 7 minutes. Try to use your own materials. If you are using other’s work, get copyright agreements.

How To Use Discussion Boards in Online Course

During the AALS Section on Technology, Law and Legal Education webinar yesterday, I mentioned I would share my “How to” for Discussion Boards.

This is the explanation I give to students for How to use a discussion board.

How to Use Discussion Boards

VIISTA takes full advantage of online discussion boards.  We believe that discussion boards help to:

• Build community;

• Engage in-depth reflection by giving students time to reflect on their thoughts and compose a thoughtful response; 

• Give and receive advice from colleagues (the immigration law community is super supportive and connected; through VIISTA we are modeling how to participate effectively in on-line professional communities);

• Practice expressing and responding to the viewpoints of others;

• Develop writing and critical thinking skills;

• Share opinions and ideas with others and to see the world through the perspectives of others; and

• Practice providing constructive criticism and sharing differing viewpoints.

Tips for Effective Use of Discussion Boards: 

Use Meaningful Subject Lines: Subject lines are often overlooked, yet they can play a key role in effective communications.  Oftentimes, people choose whether to open an email based on the subject line.  Practice using the subject line to your advantage.  

Take Chances:  Online discussions are “rough drafts” so feel free to brainstorm your ideas, even if half-baked.  Use the online discussion boards as places to test your ideas, which you can later refine after receiving comments and feedback from colleagues.  

Share Viewpoints from All Sides of the Debate:  VIISTA Discussion Boards are spaces where you can share beliefs or opinions (even those that you may not yourself hold) in order to begin to see situations from different perspectives.  Immigration is a topic that arouses emotion and fear in many people.  In order to become effective and successful advocates, it is vital to understand differing viewpoints and perspectives.  On our VIISTA Discussion Boards, we encourage you to share viewpoints that you have heard, even if you do not yourself believe them, so that the community can begin to build the tools and responses needed to change hearts and minds about immigration.  Successful advocacy involves being able to argue a point from all perspectives and this type of discussion is a cornerstone of law school courses.  In law school, we often ask students to frame a situation from the perspective of the plaintiff, and then, within minutes, to switch sides and argue for the defendant.  We want you to practice those skills of argument and understanding differing perspectives through the VIISTA Discussion Boards.

Replying to Another’s Post:  When replying to the post of a colleague, strive for quality of thought that seeks to respectfully add to, challenge or confirm the responses to which you are replying. Do not simply state the obvious or summarize.  Aim to add your perspective so that the author can better understand how his or her ideas are being received and any perspectives he or she may have overlooked.

Formatting:  use single space formatting, double spaces between paragraphs. (e.g., hit ENTER key twice).  Sign the contribution.  It is a way to build community and get to know each other.

Discussion Threads: Threads in Discussion Boards allow us to follow the conversation on a topic and see the responses by everyone on that particular topic through one threaded discussion.  Remember to hit REPLY so that your contribution remains in the proper thread.  

Use Names and Specifics:  Remember that people will be coming in and out of online discussions.  Aim to have your reply stand alone to a new reader to the thread.  If you agree with what someone said, add the name of the person with whom you agree.  And repeat back what you agree with.  For example, “I agree with Ahmed that migrants flee for various reasons and that we should not assume they are just seeking to take away the jobs of the native born.”  

Invite Participation:  Use language that will invite people to comment on your posts.  Blogs are great at this.  At the end of blog posts, we often see that the author invites comments below, or uses simple phrases like “I am curious to see if you agree with me” or “what are your thoughts?”  If you seek comment on a particular aspect of your post, ask for specific feedback.

Proofread:  Note that we will not grade discussion boards on grammar.  Regardless, we want you to practice proofreading your work.  Professionals are always “on” in the sense that we are always being judged by the quality of our writing, even in emails and posts.  So, begin a practice of proofreading before you hit SEND.  Proofreading is essential to effective communication and will eliminate the need to fix, clarify or confirm down the line.

Show Respect:  Treat everyone seriously and respectfully.  We are all seeking to learn and improve.  We learn best through constructive criticism, which appreciates the good and offers suggestions on how to improve, new ways of thinking about a problem, etc.  Here are some resources on etiquette: https://www.webroot.com/hk/en/resources/tips-articles/netiquette-and-online-ethics-what-are-they;http://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html

Logistics for Using Discussion Boards

You may want to create a habit of drafting your submissions first on your computer.  Then, you can copy and paste it into the Discussion Board.   We encourage you to work in this way, first, because it is easier to draft in a word document than it is to draft in a Learning Management System and, second, you will have the saved draft on your computer for future reference. 

After you have written your reflection, review the Rubric - Assessing Reflections.  This document will provide guidance on the criteria that will be used to assess your reflection.  When you feel comfortable with your submission, post your reflection on the Discussion Board.  

You will also be expected to comment on the posts of two colleagues (50 words each).  Before you comment on the submission of your class colleagues, refer to the Rubric – Peer Review.  When responding to the posts of your class colleagues, we encourage you to consider and share alternative positions and viewpoints (even if you do not yourself hold them).  Immigration is a topic that rouses emotion and fear in many.  Like typical law school class discussions, we aim to use the Discussion Board as a space to debate all perspectives, even those that we may not personally hold.  In that way, we can equip ourselves with the tools for effective and respectful advocacy. 

To learn more about VIISTA, visit immigrantadvocate.villanova.edu

Educational Videos for Legal Education

Educational Videos for Legal Education

Educational videos are becoming one of the most popular online learning formats in K-12 and higher education.  It is time for law professors to start thinking about how to incorporate online educational videos into our courses as well.

Since last year, I have been working with law professors to begin to incorporate educational videos into legal education.   Together with FWD.us, a group of law professors recently launched a series of educational videos on immigration law and additional videos are currently being produced.  The videos were made by several law professors from a host of law schools, including: Lenni Benson (NYLS), Amanda Frost (AU), Lindsay Harris (Georgetown), Cesar Cuauhtemoc Garcia Hernandez (Denver), Laila Hlass (BU), Hiroshi Motomura (UCLA), Michael Olivas (U of Houston), Jayesh Rathod (AU), Philip Schrag (Georgetown), Ragini Shah (Suffolk), Juliet Stumpf (Lewis and Clark), Shoba Wadhia (Penn State), Virgil Wiebe (University of St. Thomas), and Michael Wishnie (Yale).

I learned a lot from making these and other educational videos on law and law teaching.  Many of my colleagues have asked for advice on how to get started.  Over the next 3 blog posts I will detail the 3 easy ways to produce educational videos for legal education together with some lessons learned. The three posts will be on (1) Voiceover Powerpoint/Keynote Slideshow, (2) Screencasting (3) Whiteboard Animated Videos.

Post 1:  “Making Educational Videos for Legal Education”

Voiceover Powerpoint/Keynote Slideshow

Both Powerpoint and Keynote allow you to record yourself talking over each slide in a slideshow.  It is quite easy to record an audio narration over a Powerpoint or Keynote slideshow.  Open the slideshow on your computer and speak about each slide at your normal pace.  As you move through the slideshow, your voice is recorded.  Then, when you are done, save the presentation as a movie, a function available on both Powerpoint and Keynote.  Here are useful articles about recording narrations over slideshows.

   Powerpoint help article

      Keynote help article

If you use Prezi, the program does not have an embedded system for adding audio.  You will have to record your voiceover using a different program, such a Quicktime or Garage Band and then import the audio clip to your Prezi.  Here is a quick Prezi that walks you through that process. 

Watch this slideshare for tips on how to make slides pop.  There are also tools such as Haiku Deck that you can use to create your slides before exporting to Powerpoint or Keynote.

Stock Images

Free Images- These two links list several great resources to find free images for your presentations. Make sure to read the terms of use since each site’s terms may vary slightly.

   http://www.digitalimagemagazine.com/featured-article/25-free-stock-photo-sites/

http://www.digitalimagemagazine.com/blog/featured/18-more-free-stock-photo-sites/

Paid images- iStockphoto is the largest and best solution for paid images. http://www.istockphoto.com

Pricing depends on the size and quality of image you need.  Getty Images, which has a lot of professional photography, recently announced that its photos can be embedded for free in certain material.  http://www.gettyimages.com/embed

Lesson Learned:  To improve the visual quality of your Powerpoint or Keynote slideshow, use as many images as you can and try to reduce the amount of written text on each screen.  Research on learning sciences teaches us that learners have both an auditory and a visual track.  When they see an image, while listening to a presentation, both tracks are fully engaged.  This is best for retention and transfer.  When text is on the screen, learners use their auditory track to read the text.  Therefore, if you speak as they are reading the text, your students have to make a choice of whether to listen to the narration or to read – they can’t do both at the same time.

What type of images do you use? Do you have any experience with keynote or PowerPoint? Please share with us! If you know of any additional resources add them in the comments below.

At LegalED, we are also looking for teams of law professors to curate (think book editor) video content for the site.  If you are interested in curating a collection of videos in your subject area, please let me know!  You can leave a message on twitter or email me at pistone@law.villanova.edu

Don’t forget to follow the conversation @LegalEDweb

Post 2:  “Making Educational Videos for Legal Education”

Screencasting

Screencasting refers to a technique where you can record your computer screen while adding a voiceover. It is commonly used for technical training, software training, and step-by-step video tutorials. You’ll likely want to edit the beginning and end of each video segment, so look for a screencasting tool with some editing capabilities. For Mac users, iMovie works well for basic editing.

Tools for Screencasting

•  Jing (Windows or Mac)
•  Camtasia (Windows or Mac)
•   RecordIt (Windows or Mac)
•  Screencast-o-matic (Windows or Mac)
• QuickTime Player (Mac only, basic version is preinstalled)

Lesson Learned: Best practices are to keep each video segment short (evidence suggests 6 minutes or less).  Think of the videos as short chunks of information that can be packaged in many different ways.  If your topic warrants more than one video, then break it into 2 or more, trying to keep each video to 6 minutes or less. 

Have you used Screencasting before? Share your experiences in the comments below and don’t forget to follow the conversation at @LegalEDweb

At LegalED, we are also looking for teams of law professors to curate (think book editor) video content for the site.  If you are interested in curating a collection of videos in your subject area, please let me know!  You can leave a message in the comment section below or email me at pistone@law.villanova.edu

Post 3 “Making Educational Videos for Legal Education”

·         Take a look at the 1st post in this series-Voiceover Powerpoint/Keynote Slideshow 

·         And second post on Screencasting. 

Whiteboard Animated Videos

Whiteboard animations are very professional looking and visually engaging.  However, they require an upfront investment of time in connection with learning the software and planning your presentation.

I have made many whiteboard animation videos.  Here is a link to two whiteboard videos on flipping the law school classroom and here are two on persuasion for lawyers. 

The first time I made a whiteboard animated video, the process was cumbersome and time consuming.  It took about 6 hours to create a 7 minute video.  Now I can do it in much less time, but each video still takes about 2 hours to produce.  I find that because of the significant upfront investment of time, this technology is best for topics that will not change over time. 

Programs to make Whiteboard animations. 

·         Sparkol Video Scribe

·         GoAnimate

·         Powtoon       

Note: *I use Videoscribe.  I have not tested the others.

Lessons Learned: 

1.      Tape the voiceover first: We want the audience to engage with you.  Rehearse your lesson, including the intonation, the pauses, the places where you need to provide emphasis. This is a performance.  It is different from teaching a live, interactive class. So find that hidden actor within and exploit him or her.

2.      Audiotaping the voiceover: Audio quality for videos is important.  See whether you can borrow a microphone from your school or firm’s IT department.  If not, you can use the audio recording on your computer, iPhone, iPad or other mobile device.  Audiotape in a quiet place.  And relax.  It may take a few attempts before you feel OK with the product.  That’s all part of the learning process; in my experience it gets easier with practice.

3.      Upload audio into the program:  Once the audio is uploaded, you can use it to design the video and set the timing of your animation.    Again, with practice, this will get easier.

Do you have any experience with whiteboard animation or want help testing it out? Let us know in the comments below!

Summary/Recap

Screencasting

Voiceover/keynote PowerPoint

Whiteboard Animation videos

If you want to add video to your course materials, the 3 methods discussed in my previous 3 posts each provide an easy way to experiment with video-based lessons.  Thanks to popular online education websites, students are more accustomed to learning from video and many like the ability to go back and review material as many times as needed for mastery.  Our digitally native students also appreciate the convenience that online learning affords. 

I encourage you to experiment.  As with anything else, this also gets easier with time.  Through experimentation, you will find out what works best for you, and what doesn’t work at all, and each time you try it you will learn and grow.  While producing educational videos does take us out of our comfort zone, you can feel comfortable knowing that you’re not alone in testing these new learning modalities.  Feel free to reach out to me with questions along the way.

Once the videos are produced, please consider sharing them with LegalED (legaledweb.com).  That way, other law professors can see your work and possibly assign them in their courses.  In our view, there is no need for everyone to do this alone.  If we collaborate, together the community can create a dynamic collection of teaching materials that everyone can learn from.

At LegalED, we are also looking for teams of law professors to curate (think book editor) video content for the site.  If you are interested in curating a collection of videos in your subject area, please let me know!  You can leave a message at pistone@law.villanova.edu  

Don’t forget to follow the conversation at LegalEDweb.

10 Things Law Professors Can Do This Year to Learn About EdTech

Top Ten Things Law Professors Can Do This Year to Learn About EdTech

Let's face it, the role that technology can play in the practice of law is becoming more evident – with predictive coding, eDiscovery, and companies like LexMachina that use legal analytics to, among other things, predict the outcome of patent litigation.  But many in the legal academy still cannot conceive of how technology can change legal education.  If you are in that camp or know others who are, let me suggest that we do not dismiss the potential for change in legal education without knowing more about the emerging field of edtech and the forces behind it.  Want to learn more?  Here are ten things you can do this year that might change your thinking about the role of technology in the future of legal education.  The suggestions come from my article, which has other suggestions as well.

1.  Catch up on some important reading.  Read David Thomson, Law School 2.0: Legal Education for the Digital Age (2009).  Also, read the work of Bill Henderson, including A Blueprint for Change, 40 Pepperdine L. Rev. 461 (2013) and Andrew P. Morriss & William D. Henderson, Measuring Outcomes: Post-Graduation Measures of Success in the U.S. News & World Report Law School Rankings, 83 Indiana L. J. 791 (2008). Read David Barnhizer’s article, Redesigning the American Law School, 2010 Mich. St. L. Rev. 249 (2010). 

2.  Read, too, assessments about how technology has impacted and will continue to impact higher education generally, works such as Disrupting College: How Disruptive Innovation Can Deliver Quality and Affordability to Postsecondary Education, and The Department of Education’s Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies. 

    3.  Learn about the millennial generation who are “born digital” and how their more networked and connected lives affect the way they approach learning.  A great book on this topic is by John Palfrey and Urs Gasser of Harvard Law’s Beckman Center on Internet and Society, Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives (2008).  Think about the implications of the fact that between 2000 and 2002, the largest group of first time internet users were between two and five years old, placing the oldest members of this group in college now – and in law school soon.  Begin to understand how the emerging “participatory culture” is changing what one needs to learn to be fully prepared to function in the twenty-first century.  You can do this by reading Henry Jenkins, Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century (MacArthur Foundation). 

    4.  Begin to explore the potential for law schools to employ teaching methods that use technology to a greatly enhanced degree.  For example, read about flipping the classroom, a teaching methodology that blends online lectures (which students view at their own pace as homework) with in-class instruction, as it is used in K-12 education, Jonathan Bergmann & Aaron Sams, Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day (ISTE/ASCD, 2012), or watch these videos on flipped learning in legal education.  By migrating lectures to the web, flipped learning can free face-to-face classtime for active learning, including Socratic dialogues, drafting exercises, simulations and role plays.  

5.  Investigate innovations in adaptive learning, a technique using computer software first to assess what a student knows and then to adapt the content taught to the knowledge level of the student, thus providing a more personalized learning experience for each individual.  Computer-based adaptive learning is already being used by the Kaplan test preparation company for college students planning to take the LSAT and GMAT; by Khan Academy for younger students; and by many companies, such as Knewton, for a wide range of users.  

6.  Consider the impact that gaming can have on education.  Follow the work of Jeannette Eicks (Vermont) and Stephanie Kimbro (Stanford), both of whom are working on projects that involve gaming and law.  Read James Gee, What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy (2003); James Gee, Good Video Games and Good Learning, at http://dmlcentral.net/sites/dmlcentral/files/resource_files/GoodVideoGamesLearning.pdf.  Educational games are available for a variety of topics, including civics, see http://www.icivics.org/ (a game-based website started for former Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O’Connor); climate change, see http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/hottopics/climatechange/climate_challenge/; national conflicts, see http://www.peacemakergame.com/game.php; and even algebra, see http://www.dragonboxapp.com.

7.  Monitor the impact that recent decisions by law schools to develop online programs for non-JD degrees has on programs at other schools, such as the decision by graduate tax law programs at, among others, Alabama, Georgetown, NYU, Villanova, and Boston University to offer their programs online. Read Distance Learning in Legal Education:  A Summary of Delivery Models, Regulatory issues and Recommended Practices. Attend a meeting of the Distance Learning in Legal Education Working Group, organized by Vermont Law School professors Rebecca Purdom and Oliver Goodenough.  The group meets three times a year, once in the fall (which is in a few weeks at William Mitchell School of Law), once during the AALS Annual Meeting, and a third time in the spring.  

8.  Monitor the effectiveness and reaction of law graduates who take online bar preparation courses such as Themis. 

9.  Explore some of the new apps being developed for iPads and Androids to teach legal concepts.  Law Stack is an Apple app for legal research loaded with various federal statutes.  Law School Dojo, by Stanford Law’s Margaret Hagan, is an app with quizzes on legal concepts for a range of subject matters, including contracts, torts, civil procedure and international law.

10.  Register for and attend the 2015 AALS Clinical Conference, May 4-7 in beautiful Rancho Mirage, CA.  The theme of the conference is the "New Normal." One of the three tracks for the conference is devoted to the future in the "new normal," both for the practice of law and for legal education. As to law practice, we hope to address how professors can understand the rapid and profound technological change that could well remake law practice and how those changes can advance our work for social justice. We want to explore how changes in service delivery and structure of law practices can and should impact our teaching. And we hope to address how professors can better use technological advances and insights from learning sciences in their teaching. 

The internet, the driver of all the changes and developments noted above, is a technology and a tool that, for the reach and extent of its often disruptive and its often liberating effects, can be compared only with the printing press.  When writing of Gutenberg’s invention, Elizabeth Eisenstein, a careful and meticulous historian of immense reputation, wrote (favorably quoting Renaissance scholar Myron Gilmore) in her two-volume magnum opus, The Printing Press as an Agent of Change, that “’[i]t opened new horizons in education and in the communication of ideas. Its effects were sooner or later felt in every department of human activity.’” As I explain in my recent article, I strongly believe that "[s]o too it is, or sooner or later shall be, with the internet."

Are there things I am missing?  Add them in the comments below.

(this post is cross-listed from Best Practice in Legal Education blog)

Teaching Powerhouse: LegalED & the 1st Igniting Law Teaching Conference

Teaching Powerhouse:  LegalED & the 1st Igniting Law Teaching Conference

Jeremiah Ho

Assistant Professor of Law

University of Massachusetts School of Law

This past April 4th, LegalED’s first TEDx-styled Conference, “Igniting Law Teaching,” went “live” for one entire day at American University Washington College of Law.  I had the great pleasure to be part of the one-day conference that was live-streamed and much-tweeted about during that early-April Friday.  While our individual TEDx-style videos are being edited for summer launch on LegalEDweb.com, for me the anticipation of watching our messages collectively spread our excitement and innovations about law teaching gives me pause to think fondly about that moment this past spring.  In other words, as self-conscious as I usually am about the sound of my own voice and how short I always look on TV, my worry over image is overshadowed by what I think all of our innovations will bring to the conversation about current legal education.    

Speaking honestly for myself, I really wasn’t sure what to make of the Call for Presentations for “Igniting Law Teaching” that a colleague from another law school passed onto me last January.  With all the troubles with law schools these days, and the vitriol toward law professors and teaching, I wasn’t sure how a conference like this would contribute to showing the world that there are good, enthusiastic law teachers and new techniques for bringing effective learning to our students.  Would it capture a collegial solidarity that could possibly convince the outside world that we do think very critically about our work as instructors as I know many of us do?   And could a group of law teachers have anything worthy to share about their experiences in the classroom that just might shift the focus from poor teaching to thoughtful invention and development of our craft?  I had only heard rumors of a place on the internet called, LegalEDweb.com, and only knew of Professor Michele Pistone, who pioneers it, by her solid reputation.  All I could think to do was to give “Igniting Law Teaching” a shot, respond to the presentation call with an abstract for a ten-minute talk about what I do in my law classes, and see what would come out of it.  After all, I love to investigate law teaching and love TED talks—I have wished more law professors would do them.  If Michele or Billie Jo Kaufman had said no to me, then I would have at least thought about my teaching and what would be so bad about that?            

The whole enterprise of igniting the conference was more ambitious than I had assumed, once I heard that I would be part of it.  Although I have been part of several very laudable law teaching conferences in the recent past, the behind-the-scenes collaboration that went into “Igniting Law Teaching” was more intense and passionate than I had ever encountered.  Not only did we all have to prepare the content of our talks—which could be tricky when you’re dealing with things like pedagogy and technology—but the TEDx format really put us all to the test in researching exactly the best way to convey our messages in this media.  Not only that, but the collegiality of those involved was so evident and infectious from the day of our first teleconference in February that I knew this conference was going to be something special to help bring our ideas about law teaching to light.

My own TEDx-style talk was about bringing active learning opportunities into the classroom—especially in the way I build lessons in my doctrinal classes through an approach that attempts both the teaching of a particular law and practical lawyering skills at the same time.  I’ve done this in every law class I have ever taught.  In my presentation, I show how to seamlessly incorporate both skills and knowledge about a law together in lesson planning.  If a teacher can draw out characteristics of a law that can show off a particular skill, then the professor can design lessons that highlight different skill sets for lawyering throughout the semester.  Legal topics in intentional torts lend themselves well to developing fact inquiry skills while a U.C.C. provision in contracts is great for showing statutory reading and construction.  I break the method down into three easy steps:  (1) find the nature of the law avails itself particularly to showing us a certain skill in legal reasoning; (2) gauge the relevancy of that skill for students; and (3) find a point of execution, a place where my students can discover this relevant mimesis through their curiosity.  The video of my talk elaborates more how this is done.  But the synopsis here hopefully conveys an example of the kind of presentations to watch for when all of our videos are launched.  I hope that our talks will inspire creativity in others law teachers out there to share ideas that will benefit our students and make teaching even more worthwhile.

From more familiar topics, such as constructively applying learning theory into our teaching to smart tips about flipping the law classroom and the use of new technologies, the forty or so of us each brought something special to the conversation that day.  The “live” version of the conference that day prompted more than viewings on-line from other law teachers around the country than we had anticipated.  Though I was in physical attendance, I can’t wait to see our presentations again and I’m thankful they are preserved in TEDx-style, because there’s so much to learn from each other.  

Reflections of a First-Time Flipper, by Katharine Schaffzin

            Before I stepped into the session on classroom flipping at the AALS Annual Meeting in January 2014, I had read about flipping and thought it would work well in my Civil Procedure II class.  Because it seemed like quite a bit of work, I had put it off.  When I walked out of the session, I was motivated not only to flip my classroom, but to start the next week.

            Now that my first flipping experience is drawing to a close, I offer some reflections.  First, the plusses – and they are tremendous.  If you have ever wondered how you could cover everything you want to cover in a class, flipping is your answer.  By covering black letter law online in advance of class, you have the freedom to apply that black letter law in class to hypothetical problems, to practice-ready assignments, or simply to a deeper understanding of the law.  You have the freedom to take things to the next level without additional credit hours.  Within a week, I knew that my students were reaching more deeply into the material than they ever had before.

            Students love the flipped classroom.  My Civil Procedure II class was in the perfect position to evaluate my flipped classroom this semester because they sat through my more traditional Civil Procedure I class last fall.  Students feel empowered by having listened to my lecture before class.  They think I’ve given them all the answers.  They have the freedom to watch my flipped lecture online before they tackle assigned readings, after they tackle assigned readings, after class, and as many times as they want before the exam.  I certainly haven’t given them all the answers, but I have made sure that the ball is not hidden. 

            The only drawback I have found in my first flipping foray is in the amount of planning and preparation required.  I jumped right in, flipping many more classes than those that I did not flip.  Each class required me to adapt my traditional lecture notes and powerpoint slides into a simple video (I used my old slides and did a voiceover lecture using Camtasia software – remarkably easy); that was the easy part because it relied on material I had been using for years.  The hard work was identifying what new material I wanted to add to my class time and preparing for our class meetings.  It was almost like prepping a new course.  In hindsight, I could have taken things more slowly and only flipped a class every few class meetings. 

            Another drawback was finding a textbook and supplement to help provide enough material and depth of coverage to get me through the course.  With so many “practice-ready” casebooks and supplements on the market, you’d think that would be a piece of cake.  Unfortunately, “practice-ready” casebooks seem to cut back on the number of topics covered and the depth of coverage, presumably to allow faculty more class time to get to practice-ready assignments.  “Practice-ready” supplements featuring practical assignments are also extremely light on the number of topics covered, to enable faculty to also cover traditional cases in class.  Neither of these options recognizes that the flipped classroom enables faculty to cover the same number of topics with the same number of cases as a traditional classroom with plenty of extra time for practical assignments on any number of subjects.  I opted for a traditional casebook and an in-depth problem supplement that was definitely not intended for a flipped classroom.  In hindsight, I wish I had been less confident that the textbook market could readily fill my needs; had I known that from the start, I definitely would have decided to flip fewer classes all in the first go.

            If you are interested in enhancing student learning in your classroom, I would tell you to just go ahead and flip it!  Take it slow and do it.  Once you start, you will know without a doubt that you are doing the right thing for your students.  If not now, when? 

By Katharine T. Schaffzin, Associate Professor and Director of Faculty Development

University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law

Top 5 Things to Consider When Flipping Your Law School Class

There is a lot of talk these days about flipped learning, blended learning, online learning and lots of other ways to integrate online content into law school courses. There are a lot of advantages to blending online and in-class instruction. For one, it frees up class time for law students to begin to gain exposure to essential lawyering competencies during each course while still covering the doctrinal material that professors hope to assign during a typical semester. 

Top Five Things to Consider When Flipping a Law School Course

1.    What topics do you want to flip?

Before you begin, identify the topics that you typically cover for which the flipped classroom model would make the most sense in the course.  

2.  You don’t have to produce all of the videos.

Don’t be reluctant to assign video content produced by other professors. Like other teaching and scholarly activities, such as writing an effective article, practice guide or even blog post, the production of effective and engaging video content takes time.  As a result, I often assign my students to read law review articles and casebooks prepared by other professors.  Assigning videos prepared by other professors is analogous. Indeed, by assigning material prepared by others, our time is freed up to spend on more active teaching activities.

3.  Begin with planning what will be “flipped in” rather than what will be flipped out.

Plan what you want to do with the additional face-to-face time with students that blended learning will afford.  This is the point of having a flipped classroom.  For example, consider adding new activities into the classroom (such as interviewing, negotiation or drafting exercises) that hone practical lawyering skills and competencies.  

4.  Produce chunked, short video content.

Research shows that effective videos do not exceed 8 minutes in length, and some are even shorter. Break up a longer subject matter into a few chunked segments, making sure that each video addresses a discreet legal topic. Remember to make the video engaging and to speak clearly and concisely.

5.  Hold the students responsible for watching the videos.

Start each class with an assumption that the students watched the video. That will create an expectation for the group. Start the class by expanding on the videos lessons and assigning activities/discussions that ask students to use the theories learned from the videos actively through role plays, simulations, small group work or Socratic dialogue.

Best of luck innovating legal education.  Let us know, in the comment section below, how it goes for you.  What works?  What could be improved?  What insights can you share with the community?

And if you want to learn more about blended learning and other innovations in teaching pedagogy, consider attending LegalED's first conference, Igniting Law Teaching, on April 4th at American University, Washington College of Law, in Washington D.C.

Why Law Schools Should Embrace Online Technologies

Note: below is a preview of the talk I am giving tomorrow at AALS in NYC.  I am speaking on the Curriculum Committee Program, along with Warren Binford (Williamette), Todd Rakoff (Harvard), Deborah Ramirez (Northeastern), and Ellen Suni (U of Missouri-Kansas City).  Really looking forward to the discussion.  If you're around, please come by; it's from 1:30-3:15, tomorrow, Fri. Jan 3rd.

There are several reasons why law schools should begin to incorporate more online learning into our teaching.  One of the main reasons is that we will begin to develop expertise within the academy on how these technologies can best be used.  The edtech market is booming – in 2013, investment in K-12 alone, was close to half billion dollars.  In higher education we have Coursera, edX, Udacity.

There’s something happening here, and we have to know what it is. Yet few in the legal academy are looking into how we can use technology to reconceptualize our own overall approach to teaching.  If we embrace online technologies now, we will begin to develop expertise within the legal academy about how to best use newer technologies for legal education.

This is important because it will put us in a position to incorporate insights gained from the learning sciences into our teaching – like the importance of feedback and assessment.

Online materials can provide feedback – through quizzes and other assessment tools.  And when the materials are online, student who have not mastered them can go back and watch the videos again and redo quizzes, as many times as needed to reach mastery. This gives students much more control over their own learning and provides all students with the tools to master the relevant material before graduation.

And, when students learn online, we can learn how our students learn.  Now, students take a test at the end of the semester, yet it is hard for us to use the results to assess our own teaching.

In the future, data relating to every keystroke, every video watched, skipped, fast forwarded, rewound, will be collected and available for evaluation.  We can use that bigdata to evaluate what works and then to iterate based on the results.

But we can’t even start to learn about how these technologies work until we have the underlying teaching materials – LegalED is working to develop that library of resources. Because we can’t begin to flip the classroom if we have no materials to use for doing it.