Control-Alt-Incomplete? Using Technology to Assess Digital Natives

Law students matriculating today were “born digital.” As digital natives, they have never known a world without digital technology, and therefore, they think and process information differently than previous generations. Although law school student bodies have changed, law school assessment methods have remained static, with students nearly universally being evaluated entirely by one exam at the end of the course. Best Practices, the Carnegie Report, and more recently the ABA, have acknowledged that this system of evaluation is contrary to learning theory and that periodic assessment of student learning is crucial to improving the performance of both students and teachers. Nevertheless, change has yet to occur. It is time to change. Using technology to assess student learning is one way to begin effectuating this change. Digital Natives are comfortable with technology and expect to have it integrated into the curriculum. Moreover, incorporating technology as a means to assess student learning will help prepare future lawyers for the realities of law practice today. Technology also allows law professors to conduct meaningful assessments of large numbers of students more efficiently. This article therefore introduces several examples of how to use a number of today’s technologies - both inside the classroom and outside the classroom - in the hopes of initiating further exploration into effective means of using technology to assess student learning at the course level

Control-Alt-Incomplete? Using Technology to Assess Digital Natives

Law students matriculating today were “born digital.” As digital natives, they have never known a world without digital technology, and therefore, they think and process information differently than previous generations. Although law school student bodies have changed, law school assessment methods have remained static, with students nearly universally being evaluated entirely by one exam at the end of the course. Best Practices, the Carnegie Report, and more recently the ABA, have acknowledged that this system of evaluation is contrary to learning theory and that periodic assessment of student learning is crucial to improving the performance of both students and teachers. Nevertheless, change has yet to occur. It is time to change. Using technology to assess student learning is one way to begin effectuating this change. Digital Natives are comfortable with technology and expect to have it integrated into the curriculum. Moreover, incorporating technology as a means to assess student learning will help prepare future lawyers for the realities of law practice today. Technology also allows law professors to conduct meaningful assessments of large numbers of students more efficiently. This article therefore introduces several examples of how to use a number of today’s technologies - both inside the classroom and outside the classroom - in the hopes of initiating further exploration into effective means of using technology to assess student learning at the course level

Digital Pro Bono: Leveraging Technology to Provide Access to Justice

(Excerpt) Part I of this Article explores the United States justice system’s failure to adequately serve all people irrespective of wealth and position. Next, Part II discusses the ABA’s call to leverage technology to increase access to justice. Part III explores ABA Free Legal Answers Online, the program that the ABA pioneered to help confront the justice gap in the United States. Subsequently, Part IV illustrates how law schools can leverage technology to increase access to justice for low-income communities while providing pro bono opportunities for attorneys and students in their state. This Part highlights Massachusetts as an example of a state that has adopted the ABA Free Legal Answers Online platform and how students and alumni at a Massachusetts law school partnered with a nonprofit organization to be part of a solution to the access to justice problem. Finally, Part V briefly concludes by emphasizing the role that law students—as future leaders of the legal profession—can play in closing the legal aid gap

Three Views of Visiting

A panel discussion among legal writing instructors of the pros and cons of accepting visiting teaching positions at other law schools

Writing Lockdowns: A Path to Mindful Writing

As is often said, lawyers are writers. Thus, good writing is critical for success in the law. Yet even the best writers sometimes struggle. The writing process may include peaks and valleys, starting out in the “forest of delusions of grandeur,” and then traveling into “crippling insecurity-ville.” Along the way, procrastination and writer’s block may contribute to feelings of being overwhelmed when writing efforts stall and deadlines loom. Layer on the fast-paced digital world of constant multi-tasking and hyperconnectivity to e-mail, social media, and text-messaging, and writers can be left feeling distracted and frazzled while their focus decreases and their stress rises. Now more than ever, writers need to find ways to practice mindful writing. Mindful writing means focusing on the task at hand, not dwelling on past writing projects or worrying about future ones. It may seem simple enough, but it isn’t easy. Being a mindful writer, focused on the present, is a skill that can be learned with practice, and it pays big dividends in the legal profession

Digital Pro Bono: Leveraging Technology to Provide Access to Justice

(Excerpt) Part I of this Article explores the United States justice system’s failure to adequately serve all people irrespective of wealth and position. Next, Part II discusses the ABA’s call to leverage technology to increase access to justice. Part III explores ABA Free Legal Answers Online, the program that the ABA pioneered to help confront the justice gap in the United States. Subsequently, Part IV illustrates how law schools can leverage technology to increase access to justice for low-income communities while providing pro bono opportunities for attorneys and students in their state. This Part highlights Massachusetts as an example of a state that has adopted the ABA Free Legal Answers Online platform and how students and alumni at a Massachusetts law school partnered with a nonprofit organization to be part of a solution to the access to justice problem. Finally, Part V briefly concludes by emphasizing the role that law students—as future leaders of the legal profession—can play in closing the legal aid gap