Resources for Law Faculty On Teaching and Coronavirus / Covid-19

Last update 3/11/2020

I have seen many law schools and law faculty sharing information, tutorials, videos, and other information related to maintaining continuity of legal education by moving courses online. This webpage collects those resources and will be updated. If you have something or see something you think should be on this page, email me – John Mayer/jmayer@cali.org or DM on Twitter @johnpmayer – and I will post.

`VIDEO TUTORIALS`

Tracy Norton/Touro Law posted this to HYBRIDJDS@listserv.touro.edu listserv on 3/10/2020

As promised, I’ve recorded several videos to help out with teaching online generally and using Zoom specifically. The first two are quick how-tos on equipment that could be helpful and features that help you and your space look camera ready.

The last two are different recordings of a single conversation between me, Ann Nowak (Touro Law Writing Center Director) and Lynne Kramer (Touro Law Professor, trial ad and negotiations) in which we talk about some practical tips that aren’t covered in most help videos. We also talk about using different features for different types of classroom activities. Ann talks about her very interactive online Law Practice Management course as well as individual meetings for the Writing Center. Lynne talks about trial ad and negotiation exercises. I talk about writing courses and feedback conferences. The first of these videos is what Zoom recorded and is, mostly, what participants would have seen. The second of these videos is a screencast so you can see what I was seeing as I moderated the conversation and how I accessed the different features. At one point, I accidentally leave the Zoom room, so the Zoom video records what Lynne was saying while the screencast does not, because I wasn’t there.

Video 1: Equipment Setup (6 min, 14 sec) – https://youtu.be/7_R4UhSAEEY

Video 2: Zoom Feature for Sprucing Up Your Appearance and Your Space (3 min, 43 sec) – https://youtu.be/p0M4kSk2ozk

Video 3: Zoom Recording of a Conversation Sharing Practical Tips (1 hour, 2 minutes) – https://youtu.be/2BueUNvH_oI

Video 4: Screencast Recording of a Conversation Sharing Practical Tips (same conversation as Video 3, just from the moderator’s perspective) ) (58 minutes, 23 sec)) – Recorded Using Camtasia – https://youtu.be/Xyp7oyIhA0c

Making the Shift to Online Learning: Emergency Preparedness & Instructional Continuity – Video – Online Learning Consortium

Using Live, Online Sessions to Support Continuity of Instruction – Video – Online Learning Consortium

CALI RESOURCES

(Go here to find out who has the authorization code for your law school)

ASYNCHRONOUS, INTERACTIVE, SELF-PACED TUTORIALS

CALI Lessons are the original distance learning. There are over 1000 lessons covering 40 different legal subject areas. A good bet is to look at the Subject Outline for the course you are teaching, find the specific topics you are teaching and assign those lessons to your students. Here is a quick list of CALI’s Subject Outlines with links to CALI Lessons. CALI Lessons take 25-45 minutes to complete, so you could replace part of a class by requiring a lesson and use online time to discuss questions. Contact Deb Quentel – dquentel@cali.org with questions.

TRACKING STUDENT PROGRESS / FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

If you want to track students running lessons and see their scores, then use LessonLink to create a unique URL. When students run a CALI Lesson using your LessonLink , you can see their scores and get an analytics report by students and questions. You can download the data to an Excel spreadsheet too. Contact Elmer Masters – emasters@cali.org with questions.

PODCASTS

Tell your students about our podcasts. We have over 70 podcasts – mostly in Contracts and Secured Transactions. You can find them here.

POLLING THE CLASS ONLINE/REAL-TIME

If you are teaching online using Zoom or GoToWebinar, you can poll your students using Instapoll. This is a free service where you go to Instapoll, create a new poll and then give your students the Pin #. They go to Instapoll and answer your verbal question. You see the results. No one has to login – it’s INSTANT! You can clear the results and re-use the same poll or create a new poll – as many as you want.

FREE CASEBOOKS / SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS

CALI publishes free casebooks and textbooks that you and your students can view and download for free. These books are Creative Commons Licensed, so you can download the PDF, ebook or even the Microsoft Word file. See our bookstore here.

ADVICE FROM LAW PROFESSORS

Excellent LibGuide here from University of Washington Law

Thoughts for Law Professors Contemplating Moving to Virtual Classes – Allie Robbins/CUNY Law

Tips for Teaching Law Classes Online in the Event of a COVID-19 Shut Down of Law Schools – Bridget Crawford/Pace Law

Teaching a Live Synchronous Distance Learning Course: A Student-Focused Approach – Ellen Podgor/Stetson

From the Civpro listserv (From Professor Angela Upchurch/Southern Illinois University Law)

Synchronized communication – If you want to host a class or discussion live online with your students, you might consider using Zoom or Join.me. I have used Join.me for a course and found it easy to use the screen sharing function with my students. I have instructions for helping students use Join.me and would be happy to share those with anyone who contacts me off-list. (aupchurch@siu.edu) Currently, Zoom is offering an extended use of its free trial platform to K-12 educators (I don’t know if they will extend this to University users). https://zoom.us/docs/ent/school-verification.html

Unsynchronized communication (video uploads and discussion boards) – I wrote a short description on how to create simple online videos using free or low-cost programs – https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2711773 (NOTE: OfficeMix is no longer offering educational services, but the information regarding the free tool www.screencastomatic.com is still relevant).

Streamlined version of online “office hours” or other group meetings without video – In the past, I have offered online “office hours” via the Live Discussion feature on TWEN. You can set a time where students can log into the Live Discussion (and you can password protect it if you want to only have certain groups/individuals join). This allows you to have an instant-message chat board on which to interact with your students. My students have really liked this feature in the past and I know friends at other schools who have the same experience. You don’t experience the time-delay associated with traditional message board discussions (or the hassle of a long email chain). However, you don’t have to be “camera” ready (as you do with video chat options and you don’t have to speak if that isn’t optimal) which helps if people are not feeling well. Also, TWEN automatically creates a final transcript that all students can see, including those who aren’t able to join you “live.”

I’ve also used Zoom and the WL live discussion. OF the two, Zoom better mimics the classroom, the “live discussion” feature is super-handy and easy to use. I regularly use it for office hours for 1Ls-3Ls and find some students actually prefer it to traditional office hours since they can be anywhere they have an internet connection and get a transcript.

From Susan Giles/Capital University Law

For faculty who might be making plans that include teaching Civil Procedure remotely, Carolina Academic Press is offering a discounted use of Click & Learn: Civil Procedure (Upchurch, Gilles & Ho). This fully online tool is “turn-key” ready and can either be used to provide complete, self-contained instruction to law students or can be used to supplement any other online teaching faculty intend to provide. With over 2,000 questions Click & Learn guides students through the vast majority of topics covered in Civil Procedure courses, without stripping the rigor out of the course. The students test their understanding as they go, answering questions ranging from basic to mastery level, and receiving feedback and explanations instantly. From the teacher dashboard, faculty can set any assignment as required or simply recommended. Click & Learn also allows faculty to track student performance (individually or as a class) and focus online outreach on those topics where the class is struggling. Faculty members can receive a free account to review Click & Learn at www.clickandlearnguide.com (click purchase).

Students will receive discounted use ($19.95) through the Access Code: ATHOME20. This code would provide students with access to Click & Learn for the remainder of the semester regardless of when they return to face-to-face class sessions.

A Student’s Guide to ‘Working From Home – Imran Malek/Boston U Law 3L