Take Note: Teaching Law Students to be Responsible Stewards of Technology

The modern lawyer cannot practice without some deployment of technology; practical and ethical obligations have made technological proficiency part of what it means to be practice-ready. These obligations complicate the question of what constitutes best practices in law school. Today’s law schools are filled with students who are digital natives who don’t necessarily leverage technology in maximally efficient ways, and faculty who span multiple generations, with varying amounts of skepticism about modern technology. Students are expected to use technology to read, prepare for class, take notes, and study for and take final exams. Professors might use technology to teach or assess student work, but students are often asked to leave technology out of the classroom because of professor expectations about distraction and notetaking. All of this is happening as we attempt to prepare students to enter a profession that is infused with both technological capabilities and obligations, including the rules of professional conduct. These capabilities and obligations will continue to evolve, grow, and change alongside companion changes in technologies. It is no wonder that some mixed messages emerge in discussions about technology and law student learning. In some cases, we have attempted to clarify these mixed messages using research regarding best practices for learning, but even these good faith attempts can leave students feeling somewhat muddled. In this article, I revisit a topic I first studied and wrote about ten years ago. Since then, there has been much more research and discussion about the issue of legal technology and some significant changes to the environment in which these discussions occur. My position has only been fortified by developments that have occurred since. I remain convinced that banning technology is bad for law student learning. Now, I am sure it is also bad for their professional development. In fact, we should arguably be inviting more opportunities for technology into the law school curriculum. This article asserts that law schools have a duty to help students develop best practices and good habits about technology while they are in law school. This means granting students a certain degree of autonomy over their own learning while also encouraging thoughtful deployment of technology as a matter of their professional development

The Problem of Intradistrict Inequality

American elementary and secondary school students have dramatically different educational experiences depending on the school in which they are enrolled. This raises an important question: where should we look to determine where any inequalities might lie? This Article discusses five different factors that contribute to inequalities within school districts. Part I addresses each of these in turn: school segregation; resource inequalities; gaps in private fundraising; school district secession; and the limitations of school choice. Taken together, these factors suggest that intradistrict inequalities create a complicated and difficult problem to solve. It is therefore imperative that if we are going to talk about education reform at the intersection of law, policy, and politics, we need to also talk specifically about intradistrict inequalities. Part II thus considers initial steps that might be taken to begin to eliminate some of these inequalities

Say Goodbye to the Books: Information Literacy as the New Legal Research Paradigm

Special issue: Articles on legal research and writin

Scholarly Writing: Ideas, Examples, and Execution

Most law schools now require upper-level students to write a sophisticated legal research paper on a topic of their choice. Scholarly Writing: Ideas, Examples, and Execution guides students through the process of constructing their legal research papers, from topic selection and thesis development to finishing a publishable product. The book walks students through a five-step process for researching and writing scholarly papers and follows multiple published student papers from idea to final execution as a method of illustrating the principles advocated in the text. The book includes up-to-date information about legal research and organizational tools. It also includes “bright ideas” that supplement the text with ideas and examples for student writers. The text may be used as either a required text for a course in Scholarly Legal Writing or a companion guide for students working on scholarly legal writing projects independently

The Theoretical and Practical Underpinnings of Teaching Scholarly Legal Writing

Scholarly writing has long been a part of the upper-level law school curriculum. Like children thrown into the deep end of the pool to see if they can swim, every year, thousands of upper-level law students are asked to write a scholarly paper to satisfy an upper-level writing requirement on a topic likely of little acquaintance to them. For many of these law students, the scholarly writing process is daunting1 given the unknown subject matter, the lack of structured feedback and guidance, and the inability to become engaged or inspired by the project because of the often-isolating experience of writing a scholarly paper. These students, whether they are writing journal notes, seminar papers, independent writing projects, or LL.M. theses, will have varying levels of success with these projects. Like a swimmer who barely makes it to the other side of the pool, some will sink—submitting a weak paper that meets the minimum requirements. Some will reach the other side of the pool more successfully, but only after struggling through long periods of treading water. These students will submit a final paper, but even the well-written papers will not reflect an enjoyable, engaged experience for students. A handful of students will take on the challenge with strong instruction and guidance from an able coach; this group of students will have a uniquely enjoyable scholarly writing experience producing a strong contribution to student scholarship. Some of these students will even see their work published

Scholarly Writing: Ideas, Examples, and Execution

Most law schools now require upper-level students to write a sophisticated legal research paper on a topic of their choice. Scholarly Writing: Ideas, Examples, and Execution guides students through the process of constructing their legal research papers, from topic selection and thesis development to finishing a publishable product. The book walks students through a five-step process for researching and writing scholarly papers and follows multiple published student papers from idea to final execution as a method of illustrating the principles advocated in the text. The book includes up-to-date information about legal research and organizational tools. It also includes “bright ideas” that supplement the text with ideas and examples for student writers. The text may be used as either a required text for a course in Scholarly Legal Writing or a companion guide for students working on scholarly legal writing projects independently

The Theoretical and Practical Underpinnings of Teaching Scholarly Legal Writing

Scholarly writing has long been a part of the upper-level law school curriculum. Like children thrown into the deep end of the pool to see if they can swim, every year, thousands of upper-level law students are asked to write a scholarly paper to satisfy an upper-level writing requirement on a topic likely of little acquaintance to them. For many of these law students, the scholarly writing process is daunting1 given the unknown subject matter, the lack of structured feedback and guidance, and the inability to become engaged or inspired by the project because of the often-isolating experience of writing a scholarly paper. These students, whether they are writing journal notes, seminar papers, independent writing projects, or LL.M. theses, will have varying levels of success with these projects. Like a swimmer who barely makes it to the other side of the pool, some will sink—submitting a weak paper that meets the minimum requirements. Some will reach the other side of the pool more successfully, but only after struggling through long periods of treading water. These students will submit a final paper, but even the well-written papers will not reflect an enjoyable, engaged experience for students. A handful of students will take on the challenge with strong instruction and guidance from an able coach; this group of students will have a uniquely enjoyable scholarly writing experience producing a strong contribution to student scholarship. Some of these students will even see their work published

Steps to Success: Crossing the Bridge Between Literacy Research and Practice

Steps to Success: Crossing the Bridge Between Literacy Research and Practice introduces instructional strategies linked to the most current research-supported practices in the field of literacy. The book includes chapters related to scientifically-based literacy research, early literacy development, literacy assessment, digital age influences on children’s literature, literacy development in underserved student groups, secondary literacy instructional strategies, literacy and modern language, and critical discourse analysis. Chapters are written by authors with expertise in both college teaching and the delivery of research-supported literacy practices in schools. The book features detailed explanations of a wide variety of literacy strategies that can be implemented by both beginning and expert practitioners. Readers will gain knowledge about topics frequently covered in college literacy courses, along with guided practice for applying this knowledge in their future or current classrooms. The book’s success-oriented framework helps guide educators toward improving their own practices and is designed to foster the literacy development of students of all ages.https://knightscholar.geneseo.edu/oer-ost/1009/thumbnail.jp

Supporting Self-Regulation of Children with ADHD Using Wearables: Tensions and Design Challenges

The design of wearable applications supporting children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders (ADHD) requires a deep understanding not only of what is possible from a clinical standpoint but also how the children might understand and orient towards wearable technologies, such as a smartwatch. Through a series of participatory design workshops with children with ADHD and their caregivers, we identified tensions and challenges in designing wearable applications supporting the self-regulation of children with ADHD. In this paper, we describe the specific challenges of smartwatches for this population, the balance between self-regulation and co-regulation, and tensions when receiving notifications on a smartwatch in various contexts. These results indicate key considerations—from both the child and caregiver viewpoints—for designing technological interventions supporting children with ADHD