Please give us a detailed overview of your session and why attendees will be excited to hear about it.
We all know that law school teaches students how to think like lawyers, or how to think critically. In legal research, we try to teach students how to ask good questions about the information or facts they have in order to find the primary resources they need to support their legal argument. All legal instruction relies on students thinking out loud by asking questions. However, during a typical residential class, a few inquisitive students can carry the discussion for the entire class, sometimes to the detriment of other students. How can we engage all our students to think critically and ask good questions? One idea is to use an online discussion forum, such as Yellowdig or Packback.
In two sections of Legal Research III this summer, we are using discussion forum software. Both provide LTI integration with the University LMS – Blackboard. In one section the students use Yellowdig and in the other, Packback. Both incorporate social media features - the ability to mention others in comments and posts, drop hyperlinks from articles, share videos, likes, tags, and the creation of an Avatar. Both allow the instructor to create a point system that can be customized and configured to meet the instructor’s goals. The challenge is for students to earn the required points each week by responding to posts or asking related questions. The points earned each week can be integrated with the Blackboard (or LMS) grade book.
At the end of the course, we will survey our students and provide feedback about the products. We will share our insights about the products and what we have learned as we engage our students through May and June.
Ensure that you let us know:
BEGINNER
