Law Librarian Blog

Fair Use Blog Used in Legal Writing Class

The Chronicle of Higher Education profiles a blog created by Peter Friedman to supplement his legal writing class at Case Western. Check out What Is Fair Use?, an interesting topical blog for a legal writing course.

Hat tip to Adjunct Law Prof Blog. [JH]

Section 108 Study Group Report

Peter Hirtle reports on the availability of the Section 108 Study Group Report, now available online:

The final report of the Section 108 Study Group, on which I have been serving for three years, has been released.  You will find it, along with an executive summary, at http://www.section108.gov.  The report and executive summary are found as links in the middle of the page; the press release about the final report is to the right.

The report examines what changes should be made to the exemptions for libraries and archives in copyright law in order to address changes brought about by digital technologies.  It may be of interest to anyone engaged in preservation, document delivery, and ILL.

Among the recommendations are:

• Museums should be included for Section 108 eligibility, as they perform many of the same functions as libraries and archives.
• A new exception should be added to Section 108 to permit certain qualified libraries and archives to make preservation copies of at-risk published works prior to any damage or loss. Access to these "preservation-only" copies will be limited.
• A new exception should be added to Section 108 to permit libraries and archives to capture and reproduce publicly available Web sites and other online content for preservation purposes and to make those copies accessible to users for private study, research or scholarship. Rights holders would be able to opt out of this provision.
• Libraries and archives should be permitted to make a limited number of copies, as reasonably necessary, to create and maintain a single replacement or preservation copy. This alteration to the current three-copy limit would, among other things, enable libraries to more securely preserve digital materials, which often involves making copies.

(reprinted with permission) [JJ]

Jarmon's List of Resources for Visual Learners

Many students have higher scores for visual learning than verbal learning when they take learning style assessments. Amy Jarmon (Texas Tech) provides a list of resources for visual learners on Law School Academic Support Blog. [JH]

OEDb's Online College Rankings 2008

OEDb has just published its second Annual Online College Rankings. Data was gathered for eight different metrics — acceptance rate, financial aid, graduation rate, peer Web citations, retention rate, scholarly citations, student-faculty ratio, and years accredited. The top five schools are:

1. Upper Iowa University
2. LeTourneau University
3. Liberty University
4. Nova Southeastern University
5. California University of Pennsylvania

Ah, the only school I ever heard of before reading this ranking was Nova, a school I would expect to see highly ranked. It would be interesting if OEDb followed up this survey with detailed profiles of the top five (or ten) schools.

Some Questions. I'm not real sure about some of the metrics used for this ranking.

Years of Accreditation, why? OEDb explains on its Methodology page, "we looked at how long it had maintained its accreditation status, since a longer period of accreditation implies more name recognition and prestige, as well as the continual competence of the college's administration." Perhaps all those reasons are true but I do not believe they are relevant. If Harvard jumps into the online college game, it would automatically be ranked first. A better metric might be how long the institutions have been offering more than x-number of eCourses.

The Peer Web Citations is interesting. Using Yahoo! Search's linkdomain:example.edu site:.edu -site:example.edu backlink command, OEDb determined how many times a particular college's website is linked to by other college's websites but I'm not sure what this tells us. Is it really "a proxy for a college's relative status among other colleges?"

The Scholarly Citations metric is seriously flawed. OEDb used Google Scholar instead of readily available humanities, social science and physical science citation indexes. Google Scholar simply isn't a comprehensive enough source to produce a reliable indicator of the quantity, quality and importance of faculty published research. From what I can tell, no date restrictions were used so there is a clear bias towards older schools. (I doubt it is necessary to count 25-50-100 year old citations in the context of ranking colleges that offer online courses.)

OEDb writes (and I agree): "while this methodology may be imperfect, as is any methodology of this nature, we do want to stress that at the very least it is quantitative and objective, relying solely on hard data as opposed to subjective interpretation." Hopefully, future rankings will eliminate the Years of Accreditation metric and find an alternative for Google Scholar. [JH]

Using Blogs Instead of Propriety eCourse Management Services

OSU law professor Douglas Berman, blogger at Sentencing Law & Policy and Law School Innovation, is using a blog to support his 1L Legislation course this Spring. He has used a blog for course support before. See his upper level Death Penalty course blog. About blogging for his 1L Legislation course, Berman writes

Though the course is a relatively innovative part of the Ohio State curriculum, it is a classic large 1L lecture course.  I am much less confident that this blog (rather than a propriety law-school-support technology like TWEN) will be an ideal tool for me and the students.  But I'll never know the blog potential (and drawbacks) for traditional courses unless I try this out.

I created both course blogs for Berman and each time I've asked him why he isn't using TWEN. Berman wants his students to be exposed to the world outside of Westlaw resouces, the "West First" mentality I referred to in an earlier post. The public can watch this demonstration project by visiting Berman's Legislation Course (at) Moritz College of Law. Check it out.

See also Gene Koo's Blogs as Teaching Tools : CALI/Berkman Lunch Wrapup. [JH]

Should Law Profs Require Student Blog Participation?

That's the question Adjunct Law Prof Blog editor Mitchell Rubinstein asked after noting that Barry Law School Adjunct Professor Marc John Randazza gives credit for student participation on his blog, The Legal Satyricon. The question has created a mini-dust storm in the blogosphere. Check out the comments to Rubinstein's original post and the following posts and their comments:

• Susan Cartier Liebel's post, Knickers Are Twisting Over Innovative Adjunct Telling Students They MUST Blog on Build a Solo Practice
• Scott Greenfield's post, Adjunct Accused of Misblawgary on Simple Justice
• Randazza's Post
• And Rubinstein's follow-up post on Adjunct Law Prof Blog

[JH]

New Learning 2.0 Book: Blended Learning in Higher Education

From Inside Higer Ed:

"As online tools become more ubiquitous inside and outside the classroom, and the growth of distance learning continues, education researchers have begun to focus on how best to harness new technologies. Advocates for the classical lecture experience still exist, of course, but the general trend has been toward incorporating various technologies into the classroom, from course management software to digital photography. One approach, called “blended learning,” mixes traditional “face to face” techniques with cutting-edge developments in theory and technology.

A new book, Blended Learning in Higher Education: Framework, Principles, and Guidelines (Wiley, 2008), summarizes the current theory behind blended learning but offers practical guidelines (with examples) on how to transform existing courses into the new framework. The authors, D. Randy Garrison and Norman D. Vaughan, of the University of Calgary, discuss the ideal conditions for a blended learning experience, how a blog and a wiki can enhance a class and how exclusively face-to-face encounters can lead to short attention spans." 

[JH]

IBM Launches Its First Video Game, Innov8, to Model Business Processes

IBM has launched its first videogame. Innov8 is an interactive virtual world, similar to Second Life, that IBM bills as a Business Process Management (BPM) Simulator to explore Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA).

"Since practically everyone I've encountered in the business sector has a different explanation for what an SOA is and how it works, I'm thinking [Innov8] might be a smart move for IBM," says Wired's Terrence Russell.

Here's the trailer for Innov8:

Ian Williams |VNU.net| writes:

Manchester Business School (MBS) is one of the first organisations in the world, and the first university in the UK, to use the game. "The games reflect our commitment to breaking down the barriers between business theory and practice," said Linda Macaulay, a professor at MBS.

"It is an ideal learning tool for students, for whom gaming is second nature, to tackle real-world business issues in a virtual environment.

"By working with IBM in this way we will be able to give students a headstart to compete successfully in business."

Video game marketing consultants The Apply Group said that between 100 and 135 Global Fortune 500 companies will have adopted gaming for learning by 2012, with the US, UK and Germany leading the way.

"IBM views serious gaming as a new and exciting way to develop the skills that are required as business and IT become more closely aligned," said Sandy Carter, vice president of SOA and WebSphere strategy, channels and marketing at IBM.

Is it just a matter of time until video games become part of a law school education?

Neal R. Axton, Reference Librarian, William Mitchell College of Law

University Business Webinar Today: Is classroom technology working?

Enhanced Classroom Teaching & Learning: How do we know it’s working?
Wednesday, November 14, 2007 at 2pm, EST

This University Business web seminar is free to attend but pre-registration required. For more information and to register, please visit www.universitybusiness.com/webseminars [JH]

Happy Birthday, CALI!

CALI just turned 25, which is like 258.36 in computer years.  The press release is here and a nice walk down memory lane complete with screen shots is here.  My personal favorite is 1996 - excellent graphics!  Congratulations, CALI, and here's to 25 more years. 

[JJ]

Librarians and Publishers Hope to Simplify eResources Negotiations

From the Chronicle:

"For many college librarians, the annual process of placing orders and negotiating licenses for online journals and other electronic resources is far too cumbersome and time-consuming.

"Part of the problem is that libraries often negotiate different license agreements with each entity that provides them electronic content," says Deborah R. Gerhardt, copyright and scholarly-communications director of libraries at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Each license can contain dozens of intricate provisions: Are faculty members permitted to place journal articles on electronic course reserve? Under what circumstances, if any, will off-campus users have access to the material?

Those licenses can take many hours to draft and negotiate, Ms. Gerhardt says -- which means that orders for new journals can sit on a librarian's desk for weeks. Small colleges and publishers, she adds, often lack the legal resources to maneuver through the licensing process.

But relief may be on the horizon. Several weeks ago, a coalition of librarians and publishers began to experiment with a radically simplified method of purchasing electronic materials. Libraries and publishers can now agree to use the "Shared E-Resource Understanding," or SERU, a five-page document that lists a few dozen stipulated points. (For example: "The subscribing institution will employ appropriate measures to ensure that access is limited to authorized users and will not knowingly allow unauthorized users to gain access." (for subscribers) [RJ]

20 Tools to Convert PowerPoints to Flash Presentations

Identifies reasons why you might want to make the conversion and is very helpful because it includes list of known problems. Check it out. [JH]

Learning 2.0

Learning 2.0 is an an online self-discovery program that encourages the exploration of Web 2.0 tools and new technologies. From the site:

This program was originally developed and launched for the staff at the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County in August 2006 with a total of 352 PLCMC participants creating blogs and many additional guests joining in. Since the program's launch, the exercises here have helped other library systems develop programs of their own, the first being the Yarra Plenty Regional Library system in Melbourne, Australia.

If you're interested in duplicating this program for your own staff, please feel free to do so under Creative Commons. And although PLCMC staff have already completed this program, this site will remain up for your use.

See also New Wiki on Libary 2.0: "The "15 minutes a day" approach to new technology is a growing trend in libraries. This wiki page is designed to provide a practical curriculum for any library interested in putting on their own Library 2.0 program. The whole reason for the '15 minutes' approach is that time is of a big concern, and certainly every library won't have time to build a full curriculum of this sort."  [RJ]

A Quick Guide to Gaming in Libraries

From the web page: "Gaming in libraries is a very hot topic this year. We are seeing gaming presentations at library conferences such as ALA Annual and Computers in Libraries, as well as entire symposiums dedicated to the theme, articles are appearing in major papers such as the Chicago Tribune, and libraries are starting to report on their successes. Here’s a quick guide to some of the resources available related to the gaming in libraries meme."

LittleBigPlanet. My observations indicate that the only gaming going on in law schools is students playing Texas Hold'em online in the computer lab or the lecture hall. However, some bright LIS student is going to use PlayStation 3's killer application, LittleBigPlanet, to take library gaming into a whole new direction. See Hands-on: LittleBigPlanet and this cute little video: LittleBigPlanet cardboard robot boxing match. [JH]

Critical Reading of Electronic Materials by Law Students

Check out Nova Southeastern law profs Debra Moss Curtis and Judith R. Karp's "In a Case, on the Screen, Do They Remember What They've Seen? Critical Electronic Reading in the Law Classroom," 30 Hamline L. Rev. 247 (2007) [Westlaw]. From the introduction:

In 2005, we produced a well-received article and presentation entitled, "In a Case, In a Book, They Will Not Take a Second Look!’ Critical Reading in the Legal Writing Classroom.” [41 Willamette L. Rev. 293 (2005) Westlaw] The article examined the educational foundations of critical reading, as well as, critical reading techniques. The purpose was to establish that law students need instruction in critical reading. In the article, we offered creative solutions that had been successfully used in our legal writing classes.

In the two years since, we have found it necessary to reconsider the problem of critical reading in the law school classroom, in light of the different formats in which students may be presented with material. Our first article centered on reading cases in a paper format. This article focuses on the different problems that arise when students read electronically - on a computer screen, rather than in a paper format.

Part II of this article discusses the biological and physiological differences readers experience when reading on a computer screen versus on paper. Part III discusses our uses of on-screen reading in the law classroom, and establishes why this is a very real situation law students encounter. In Part IV, we offer solutions for assisting students in their practical on-screen reading skills, as well as, thoughts on how to improve their critical reading in this format.

The Role of Virtual Worlds in Education

Professional Development

Looks like some of us may need to attend a professional development seminar on how to use a Gameboy, Xbox, PS3, Nintendo, etc. All new to me. The only computer games I've played are The Oregon Trail with my step-son (my wagon train usually starved to death) and Links (used to be able to shoot par); the only online game I once played is Texas Hold'em (win some, lose some; not nearly as interesting as real world play at El Cortez in Las Vegas after CALI sessions).

Check out Sharon Stoerger's It's Not Whether You Win or Lose, but How You Play the Game: The Role of Virtual Worlds in Education: Annotated Bibliography. From the introduction:

"Boring" and "dry": these are two words that today's students often use to describe their experiences in school (Prensky, 2001, 2003). Oblinger (2003) asserts that these new students - individuals "raised on the Internet and interactive games" (p. 44) - may have expectations that are not met by the current "skill and drill" system of learning (e.g., Gee, 2003; Steinkuehler, 2005). They, and more specifically the Net Generation or the Millennials (Carlson, 2005; Oblinger, 2003), come into the classroom equipped with different attitudes toward education, as well as a diverse array of technological skills. These individuals want more than the traditional lecture format; instead, they are seeking out authentic and active educational experiences, like those found in video games.

According to the Entertainment Software Association (2007), the typical game player is 33 years old and has been playing games for more than 10 years; 38% of these games players are women. But, this is not to say that younger individuals are not playing games. They are, and as Lenhart, Madden, and Hitlin (2005) report, the majority of teenagers are now using the Internet; further, 81% of these teens (or approximately 17 million individuals) play games online (p. 35). More importantly, though, the exposure to certain technologies, like video games, may have altered the minds of these students, or "digital natives," in such a way that educational theories that worked in the past may not in today's world (Prensky, 2001).

It is important to emphasize that these technologically savvy students are not searching for an easier path; on the contrary, as Steinkuehler (2005) suggests, these individuals are seeking out cognitive challenges via video games. Gee (2003) continues this line of thought, and argues that in the world of video games, "hard is not bad and easy is not good" (p. 165). Therefore, some educators, like Barab and his colleagues (2005), propose a different type of educational model. This alternative is one that blends together games and learning, while adding one ingredient that is typically absent in education - fun. Despite evidence to suggest that there are benefits to the interactions that take place within these rich, complex worlds, the fact is that the educational community has been slow to adopt the use of new technologies in the classroom (Hitlin & Rainie, 2005).

The articles that are summarized in this bibliography examine a wide variety of topics including immersion, creation (versus memorization), and game innovation, as well as Csikszentmihalyi's (e.g., 1993) concept of flow. Many of the authors take a constructivist rather than an instructivist approach to the topic and draw from the work of scholars, such as Piaget and Vygotsky. One theme that is repeated throughout many of these articles is the lack of empirical research and the reliance on anecdotal evidence that suggests conceptual learning. While the focus of the articles included in this collection is primarily on the positive aspects of educational gaming, references to concerns, such as violence, bias against girls, and game addiction are included, as well. In general, this annotated bibliography is an attempt to pull together and examine a corpus of the available literature on the topic of virtual worlds in educational settings. It is by no means an exhaustive list of resources; rather, it includes some of the more commonly cited sources related to the use of this type of technology for the purpose of teaching and learning.

[JH]

Ohio Online Education Boom

In 2005, over 42,000 of the state's college-goers or 10 percent of the students enrolled in public universities, took at least one class online in 2005. 

The Ohio Learning Network, a wing of the state's Board of Regents, recently published a study about Ohio’s online higher education efforts.

The study found that half of the online learners were full-time students, and two-thirds of them were women.

• Two-thirds were female.
• Half were 25 or older.
• Half were full-time students.

In Ohio, as elsewhere, many campus officials report that their online offerings are growing more popular with traditional students looking to squeeze extra credit hours into a semester. 

Much of the information for this story is from the Columbus Dispatch story by Bill Bush.

Karen R. Schneiderman, Research and Instructional Services Librarian, Drexel University College of Law Library

Blackboard Launches Scholar, a Social Bookmarking Service

From the press release: Scholar is "a free, innovative social bookmarking Web service, aimed at connecting faculty and students and enhancing teaching and learning. This new tool enables millions of Blackboard users -- including faculty, students, and administrators -- for the first time, to connect on a regular basis across institutions, and share resources. Scholar allows members of the Blackboard community to save and classify bookmarks and searches, share resources with faculty, students and administrators from other institutions, automatically update courses with dynamic content feeds, and enable student contributions to course collections." [JH]

Forum on Legal Education in a Networked World at Harvard Law School

The Berkman Center is hosting a forum on the impact of technology and the Internet on legal education and training on December 7. Web-, pod-, and virtual-casting of this event is expected. Check out Gene Koo's announcment on the Law School Innovation blog for more details. [JH]

Professional Reading: The Pedagogy of Online Dialogues

The Pedagogy of Online Dialogues: an empirical study of asynchronous discussions at Harvard Law School (pdf) is Gene Koo's “3L paper” submitted in spring 2002 in completion of his J.D. studies at Harvard Law School. Drawing from surveys and textual analysis of discussions happening adjunct to classes at Harvard Law School, the author examines how computer-mediated intra-class communications fit within or challenge traditional legal pedagogy. Although the data set is small, Koo preliminarily conclude that online discussions can either defy or reify existing cultural dynamics within the law school classroom such as unequal gender participation. Koo provides practical guidelines for how professors can conduct online discussions to encourage better participation; suggest technological improvements to the medium itself; and identify areas for further research.

Gene Koo is a Fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society as well as Director of Online Training at Legal Aid University. Gene maintains a personal blog, video vidi visum : virtual and contributes to the Law Professor Blogs Network's Law School Innovation blog. [JH]

Automated Podcasting for Educational Use

David Aldrich, Bradley Bell and Tim Batzel of the University of Washington have written Automated Podcasting Solution Expands the Boundaries of the Classroom, a paper that looks at an automated podcasting solution for educational use. The authors review design considerations for a university podcast program and include an overview of the University of Washington's podcasting architecture.

Cross-posted on Law School Innovation blog. [JH]

Yale U. Plans to Offer Some Course Materials, Including Lecture Videos, Free Online

From the Chronicle:

"Cameras are rolling in Yale University classrooms this fall, as part of a project to make video recordings of several courses available free for anyone to view online.

Yale is the latest institution to pledge to create "open courseware," in which detailed material from courses is placed online in the hopes that it will be used by educators and students elsewhere."

Check out the rest of the story [sub req]. [RJ]