I have a pretty diverse collection of musicians on my iPod. Some current artists like Wilco. Some older ones like The Beatles. Even some I am a little embarrassed to admit I have (REO Speedwagon). But the most interesting and conceptually new MP3s in my collection come from a group you may not expect: law professors.
If you want to do well in your classes, some law professors may be just the rock stars you’re looking for. With support from a project of the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI), and on their own, professors at schools across the country are making their lectures and other commentary available as audio digital files, free of charge to anyone with Internet access. It’s easy to download these files, called podcasts, to your computer or MP3 player and hear them at your convenience. CALI’s collection of law school podcasts is at www.classcaster.org.
Imagine listening to your evidence professor’s class lecture from last week during your commute to school. Or going to the gym during the week before finals and having no feelings of guilt for taking time off from your studies. During the workout, through your headphones, your property professor would be explaining the rule against perpetuities just as she did in class.
Even if none of your professors are currently podcasting, you may find it helpful to listen to podcasts from other instructors who teach the same general material. Though you want to be sure to ultimately follow your professor’s insights when answering exam questions, it never hurts to hear a complex topic explained by more than one expert.
Don’t be turned off by the term podcast, derived from the popular iPod. You don’t need an iPod to listen to podcasts. Any digital audio player will work. In fact, you don’t need one of those, either. As long as your computer has Internet access and speakers, you can listen to podcasts using free audio player software such as QuickTime or Windows Media Player.
Benefits of podcasting
In my classes, I notice too many students typing or writing furiously to take down as much of the professor’s lecture as possible. If you miss one concept while trying to type or write about another, you need to track down a classmate’s notes. Listening to lectures the second time around can help students in this regard.
Arizona State University law professor Aaron Fellmeth podcasts lectures for his patent law students. He sees podcasting as a way for students to learn the material without worrying about writing everything down.
“It frees them from the necessity of taking thorough notes in class to the detriment of their abilities to think critically about what I’m saying,” Fellmeth says. “Students who absorb the points made in lectures are far more likely in my classes to learn the subject matter and to perform well on the final exam.”
Portability is one of the most useful aspects of podcasts. It’s difficult to sit in front of a book or computer and study every hour of every day. It’s not safe to review notes while driving. It’s not realistic to read a thousand-page casebook on a treadmill. Yet so many students already do a number of activities while listening to music on their digital audio player. With podcasts of law school lectures, students can go virtually anywhere and learn. They can absorb knowledge while commuting, exercising, working, or eating.
Students are advised to use class podcasts in addition to existing material, not as a replacement. “Ideally, they should review the lectures relatively soon after hearing them to supplement their [in-class] notes,” Fellmeth says. Using podcasts this way, students can sit down soon after a lecture and fill in what they missed in class.
Podcasts also are a good way to review for exams. Many professors agree that some students rely too heavily on commercial study aids and outlines. They feel these materials lack the professor’s individualized approach. When students, especially those who are less adept at taking notes, have the option to listen to a professor’s lecture a second time, they may be able to rely less on commercial outlines.
Addressing concerns
Students and professors alike have concerns about making recordings, especially of live classes, available to such a wide audience. These reservations are understandable because it’s important to scrutinize all changes in a traditional environment such as law school. Here are some of the common concerns CALI hears from students and faculty about podcasting in connection with CALI’s podcasting project and podcasting in general:
“I cannot listen to the podcasts because I am unfamiliar with CALI, or I do not have a CALI password.” Some students may not be familiar with CALI, a nonprofit organization that facilitates the use of technology in legal education with initiatives like its podcasting project. Most students who are familiar with CALI have become so not through the recent podcasts, but through its regularly updated library of 600 online interactive lessons in more than 30 areas of law.
All students at member schools have unlimited access to CALI’s lessons, and nearly all law schools are members of CALI. If you haven’t had a chance to check out the lessons, you should take a look. Most students consider the lessons a great, no-cost way to supplement a class or review for an exam. You can contact a librarian at your school to get the authorization code for access to lessons at the CALI web site, www.cali.org.
In contrast, the CALI podcasts are available to everyone. Many professor podcasts are also accessible on the professor’s own blogs and web sites. Most of these are linked through CALI’s podcast web site at www.classcaster.org.
“Podcasting will reduce in-class participation.” Some students and professors are concerned that students will hesitate to participate in a class that is being recorded and possibly archived. But think of it this way: Students who know a class will be recorded can spend less time worrying about writing or typing the professor’s thought from a few minutes ago and focus more on what the professor is saying at the moment. By freeing up students in this way, podcasts can actually increase participation in class discussions.
If you’re worried about jeopardizing your future Supreme Court nomination because of something you said in a podcasted constitutional law class, tell your professor about your concerns. Your professor can opt for a number of solutions, such as not using full names when calling on students or keeping the microphone out of students’ range and repeating their questions and responses for the podcast audience.
“If the lecture is recorded, students don’t have to attend class.” A common concern of professors is that live podcasting may lead to reduced class attendance. None of the professors working with CALI have reported increased absences. Good law students will use podcasts as a supplement to their classes, not a substitute for attending classes and participating in discussions. Relying solely on podcasts while other students are attending class in person every day would be a huge mistake. It’s true that podcasting can save those students who have last-minute emergencies and are unable to attend a class session. But most law students are serious enough about school to realize that skipping class because a lecture is being recorded can only damage their grade.
“Podcasting will lead to a world without professors.” Some professors may believe that podcasting live lectures ultimately will eliminate their jobs. This line of thinking says podcasting leads to video, leads to virtual classrooms, leads to no need for professors. But don’t expect a world without law professors anytime soon. Nothing can replace the interaction that comes with attending a live class conducted by a professor in a classroom.
The CALI project
Podcasting is very new to most faculty and even some students, but CALI hopes that more people within the legal education community are willing to roll with the changes and embrace it. The technology is accessible, inexpensive, and easy to use.
Initial feedback from students on the CALI podcasting project has been favorable. Pepperdine University law professor Gregory Ogden, who podcasts his Civil Procedure II and Remedies classes, says his students have reacted in a “very positive” way, and some of his colleagues are anxious to try podcasting after inquiring about the small recording device he wears around his neck. Based on the favorable feedback, CALI is expanding podcasting through at least the current academic year.
If you think podcasting would be helpful to you, consider asking your professors to set up podcasts for their classes. If your professor doesn’t want to go through the process of podcast creation but sees the benefit, try asking for permission to record and post the lectures yourself to CALI’s web site. For technical assistance on setting up a course podcast, or if you have any questions, please contact me at agroothuis@cali.org.
Though I admit that a criminal law lecture may not be as groovy as a Beyonce download, only one of these MP3s can help you get a good grade. If you want to hear something new, exciting, and academically valuable, visit www.classcaster.org and download the latest hits from the country’s most technologically innovative law professors.
Austin Groothuis (agroothuis@cali.org)
is communications and marketing coordinator for the Center for Computer-Assisted
Legal Instruction (CALI). He is also a third-year evening student at Chicago-Kent
College of Law.
