Everyone is writing about how increasingly necessary it is for lawyers to have defined technology skills, and that even digital natives have few of the skills required for practice. Most of these discussions also insist that technology skills should introduced in law school rather than learned on the job. How do we help our students appreciate this knowledge gap? And, how to we begin to bridge it? Can we rely on the old standbys? (“Free pizza for 30 minutes of your time! (and some stealth learning)”). Lots of schools and individuals are exploring and experimenting with innovative programs to teach technology skills.

Lecture capture systems are great for recording classes - a couple of clicks and students get instant access to videos, slides, and more. But these systems are capable of handling even more interactive projects. In this session, we’ll discuss how we used the Panopto video management system go beyond basic lecture capture. We’ll discuss the pedagogical reasoning behind these projects, how we integrated an team of IT and library staff to create recordings, what worked (and what didn’t), and student and faculty reactions.

Rutgers Law School is the second law school in the United States to make the switch to Koha. In describing the process of changing to an open source ILS, Rutgers Law Library speakers will review the reasons that it was the right choice for them. They will give a nuts and bolts description of the entire process including researching the available vendors and products and cost analysis. Discussion will include a breakdown of the implementation process, data extraction, mapping the data and making design decisions about the user interface and functionality. Attendees will be given the tools to evaluate whether Koha makes sense for their organization. Rutgers worked with ByWater Solutions to make the implementation and transition smoother. A speaker from ByWater Solutions will also be available.

Are new educational technologies more effective in helping students achieve learning objectives than the old technology they replace? How IT professionals implement educational technologies, and how instructors use the technology can mean the difference between no impact on student achievement, and higher grades with more engaged students.

Currently there are at least 30 Law Schools and Bar Associations running incubator programs and the number may well double in the next year. The incubator programs for lawyers have only been in existence since 2007 and they generally have two goals—training and support for solo and small firm practitioners and improving access to justice for those often excluded from legal resources... This program will cover the current state of the situation, guidance on how to get involved with the incubator programs, and an interactive discussion of how this could further develop.

With a little over 40 days until CALIcon, we've finalized the list of accepted sessions and notified the authors.   It looks like we're going to have a great program, with topics ranging from assessment to beginning coding to video production to pedagogy to, yes, even powerpoint. Check them out!

Jennifer L. Behrens is the Head of Reference Services and a Lecturing Fellow at Duke University's Goodson Law Library. Since arriving at Duke in 2006, she has taught legal research in the law school's 1L and international student programs, and also teaches upper-level seminar classes on technology in the law office and advanced legal research. She received a J.D. and an M.L.S. from the University at Buffalo, and holds a B.A. in English from Daemen College. She is a member of the New York State bar, and is active in the American Association of Law Libraries, the Southeastern Chapter of the American Association of Law Libraries, and the North Carolina Library Association’s Government Resources Section.

This lesson deals with the formation of contracts under Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code (excluding 2-207 issues). At common law, a contract is formed often by the showing of mutual assent plus a consideration. The rule is reversed under the Uniform Commercial Code, however. Under UCC 2-204, a contract can be formed in any manner sufficient to show agreement, even if the parties leave open terms. This lesson will explore the effect of the difference in formation between common law and Article 2. You can work this lesson as an introduction to the formation of contracts under the UCC or as a review. The material in this lesson may be a more in-depth study of Article 2 than some first year contracts courses require. However, prior to working this lesson, you should have an understanding of the common law on offer, acceptance and mutual assent.

Where are you planning on being in mid-June? Did you answer "At CALIcon in Denver"? If so, don't forget to register for the conference! You'll have to do it sometime and it's super-helpful for us to have some idea of headcounts for ordering things. If you didn't answer "at CALIcon in Denver", WHY NOT? It's the only conference that brings together law professors, technologists and law librarians. I've gotten a sneak peek at the sessions and this one is going to be GREAT!

Not all CALI lessons are linear. To the student they may appear linear and some are in fact linear. But the option to create complex branching questions that allows the student to “choose his own adventure” through responses is available to the lesson’s author.