Laptops and the internet have changed the way law students conduct legal research, prepare for class, and participate in class. By and large, however, most professors stick to the Socratic method and do not integrate technology in the classroom. Professors should join the revolution and use technology to help prepare students become better lawyers.

I am a big believer in practical skills classes. The use of videotaping in those classes was instrumental to helping me learn. Watching yourself is one of the most educational experiences any student can go through. Most students and attorneys will critique themselves more harshly than anyone else will—which is a good thing. The professor’s critique is helpful, but being able to watch yourself is even more revealing.

Professors could also use Skype as a means to broaden the classroom. It probably has some limited applicability, but it has some appeal from any form of international law class, allowing students to communicate with other legal professionals around the globe. Clever institutions could perhaps even hire an adjunct professor from another country, and have them teach a class over Skype.

Even using PowerPoint presentation can help students learn. Use the bullet points as discussion points, or even, dare I say, do not hide the ball and provide students with the big points from each class. Students still need to learn how to apply the law, even if they know what it is.

It goes against the grain to change the law school classroom experience. But professors can use technology to help their students learn more effectively, and ultimately, become better attorneys in the process.

(photo: nyctosf)

Using Technology in the Classroom is a post from: Lawyerist

Today, Adobe releases a new collaborative Presentations application for its free online Acrobat.com cloud-based office suite. This new presentation software brings Acrobat.com one step closer to being a full-fledged online replacement for Microsoft Office. Since all of Acrobat.com is still in a beta phase, none of the products are fully developed — and some need a little improvement. That said, Acrobat.com Presentations has some really cool features:

Simultaneous collaboration on presentations

With Acrobat.com Presentations multiple users can have simultaneous access to a presentation, allowing for real-time collaboration and editing. This eliminates the need to email presentation slides back and forth and also eliminates any problems with version control. The online interface even tells you which collaborators are accessing the document and which slide they are currently editing.

Ability to work on presentations remotely

Because Acrobat.com is an online cloud-based application, you can now open and edit your presentations from any computer with internet access.

Embed videos in your presentations

Acrobat.com supports embedding FLV-format videos into your presentations. This can allow for much more interactive and creative presentations using multimedia.

What is missing from this first release of Acrobat.com Presentations?

One major flaw with this first version of Presentations is the inability to save or export your presentation in any format other than PDF. While you can still display your presentation online through the other Acrobat.com sharing programs, PDF is simply an insufficient method for sharing and distributing most presentations. The folks at Adobe are already on this one.

A second, related, flaw with this current version is the inability to work on Presentations offline. Adobe is currently in the process of developing an offline version of Acrobat.com using their Adobe Air software.

My final criticism of this version of Presentations is the sophistication of the graphics tools. While many users will find the current tools sufficient — especially for simple CLE presentations — some will want more robust tools for graphs and diagrams. I was assured that these features are also in the works.

Recommend additional changes to Acrobat.com Presentations

As you try out Acrobat.com services, you might want to take a minute and head over to the Acrobat.com Ideas section, where they solicit user feedback to develop additional programs and functionality.

Acrobat.com Presentations: a future PowerPoint killer? is a post from: Lawyerist

Like it says here:

Publish Google Docs presentations on your website is a post from: Lawyerist

Geek humor from the dawn of the Internet.

Life After Death by PowerPoint

Add to My Profile | More Videos

How not to use Power Point is a post from: Lawyerist