Outline

WHY Use Technology in Law School Teaching?

• Twenty-first century students are increasingly heavy users of technology and generally expect that some technology will be used in law school teaching.
• Technology gives you greater opportunities to be creative and innovative in your teaching.
• Incorporating visual and audio material into your classroom presentations can often make them more compelling to modern students.
• Technology raises your chances of reaching more students with a range of learning styles, and also makes it easier to extend your teaching outside of the classroom.

WHERE to Use Technology in Law School Teaching?

• In-classroom presentation (e.g. PowerPoint, document camera, video, audio, CALI lessons);
• Outside of class to enhance student learning (e.g. online syllabi, electronic quizzes, electronic discussion, e-mail, CALI lessons, Internet bibliographies and resource lists for recommended reading, electronic editing tools for editing of student work);
• For student projects (e.g. mandating electronic discussion; assigning students to build web pages, publish papers online, create in-class presentations using digital technology, and/or edit their peers' work using electronic editing tools; developing collaborative student projects between law schools in the United States or abroad);
• For faculty duties, such as exam grading or committee work (e.g. spreadsheets, graphs, PowerPoint presentations).

HOW to Incorporate Technology in Law School Teaching?

• It is very important to get to know and maintain an excellent relationship with crucial law school staff, such as AV and computer services staff.
• You should find out whether your law school supports any particular course management software (e.g. Blackboard or WebCT).
• You should find out what kind of technology is available for in-classroom presentation in your law school (e.g. wired? wireless? projector? document camera? video recorder? built-in computer?). You should also find out whether you need to request certain rooms for your classes, if not all rooms in your law school have equal amounts of technology.
• If your law school lacks the technology that you need for your teaching, find out whether funding is available to acquire new technology. If your law school has a system of faculty accounts for conferences, books etc., you should find out whether your law school permits any of this to be used for technology such as portable projectors or laptops. You should also find out whether there is any law school funding available for pedagogical development incorporating new technologies into law teaching.
• You should try to stay updated about new technologies for law school pedagogy, as well as the ongoing pedagogical debates about using such technologies in legal education, by browsing some of the many websites and electronic journals relating to technology in law school education/higher education. See the enclosed Bibliography.
• You should attend conferences on technology in legal education, such as the CALI conference in the summer of 2004 and the AALS Workshop on Technology and Pedagogy at the Annual Meeting in Atlanta in January 2004.
• You should seek support and advice from the colleagues who are the biggest users of technology at your institution.
• You should get feedback on your use of technology from your students. If your law school's teaching evaluation form does not include any questions on the use of technology in a law school course, consider distributing a special evaluation to assess student reaction to the use of technology in your course.
• You should remain flexible, relaxed, and confident as you experiment with new technology in your law school teaching.
• You should be creative and keep trying new things. You are limited only by your own imagination.

A Few Warnings

• PowerPoint is easily overused. A little goes a long way.
• It does take some time and effort to incorporate technology into your teaching, but in my experience, it is well worth it.
• There will inevitably be some technological glitches and failures of technology, but students are generally very patient about this, provided that you have a backup plan. For example, if your projector suddenly fails so you can't show a PowerPoint slide, just calmly turn off the projector and move on to draw whatever was on the slide on the blackboard or whiteboard instead. Students will usually only be upset about technological failures if they think excessive class time is being wasted or they see you getting upset.
• If there is Internet access in class, or students have their own laptops, they may sometimes use the Internet or their computers inappropriately, such as to play solitaire, surf the web, or e-mail/IM their friends. You should consider carefully how you feel about such behavior, so that you can institute an appropriate policy that effectively deals with these behaviors.
• Some of your more old-fashioned colleagues may not see the value of what you are doing as you incorporate technology into your teaching. But most of your colleagues will be very appreciative of your efforts, and may often be inspired by what you are doing.