NCCU School of Law Unveils Virtual Classroom

SP
Sandra Phoenix
Mon, Aug 2, 2010 10:34 AM

North Carolina Central University News

July 30, 2010

NCCU School of Law Unveils Virtual Classroom

Moving ahead with the incorporation of technology in legal education, the North Carolina Central University School of Law will unveil its new Virtual Classroom in a brief ceremony Aug. 3 at 4 p.m.

Law School Director of Information Technology Greg Clinton conceived the idea and design for this Virtual Classroom, which will now allow for new opportunities with synchronous learning. Synchronous learning is real-time or live-distance learning from remote or separate locations.

The Virtual Classroom was built in response to the law school's first distance-education course, Legal Writing & Technique. The class, taught by Legal Writing Professor Pamela Newell, utilizes both asynchronous (learning the same information at different times) and synchronous modules. Using Panopto, a software product that will record and play back at a later time, the asynchronous lectures were captured allowing students to access the lectures at their leisure. Assignments were distributed and submitted via TWEN (The West Educational Network) on specific dates. In conjunction with assignment due dates, Professor Newell also held synchronous classes in the Virtual Classroom. Students were able to log in from any location using their computer equipped with a camera, microphone and internet access and interact in real-time. According to students in Professor Newell's class, the best feature of the synchronous classes is the real-time interaction between the professor and other classmates while they are at home, work or elsewhere. The distance education course has allowed students who may not have otherwise been able to take summer school classes and earn school credit.

The Virtual Classroom has a brick-and-mortar component - the teaching space. Located in the lower level of the law school building, this space is custom-designed with two 54" high-definition plasma screens, a cherry table that can accommodate the professor in a seated or standing position, a Smart Technology Sympodium that is used as an electronic white board, and ambiance to make for a familiar teaching environment. The Virtual Classroom connects students using Polycom's Desktop Video Conferencing Solution. This solution allows the law school to connect up to 32 students at 32 different endpoints, 16 on each screen. The professor sees all 32 students, the students see their classmates 16 at a time and everyone sees whoever is speaking.

Raymond Pierce, Dean of the NCCU School of Law, has expressed his exuberance with this most recent accomplishment by the law school's IT team. Pierce said, "Greg Clinton and his team continue to demonstrate themselves as leaders in the arena of technology in legal instruction. His familiarity with legal education coupled with his keen sense of advanced classroom technology continues to provide high-level learning and teaching environments for our students and faculty. The NCCU School of Law IT team is an unquestioned national leader in the field of classroom technology."

NCCU School of Law was featured in EDTECH Magazine and received top national rankings in overall technology in National Jurist Magazine. At the most recent Computer Assisted Legal Instruction conference (CALI) Greg Clinton and several NCCU Law professors were speakers on subjects of classroom technology and its usage.

NCCU School of Law is also in the early stages of developing an environmental law program in partnership with the Vermont Law School with funding provided by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Vermont Law School has the nation's number one ranked environmental law program. "Our abilities with synchronous learning through our new virtual classroom will greatly advance the development of our environmental law program in partnership with the Vermont Law School," remarked Dean Pierce. With this technology we can create one real time classroom regardless of the distance between North Carolina and Vermont."

SANDRA M. PHOENIX

Program Director

HBCU Library Alliance

sphoenix@hbculibraries.org

www.hbculibraries.org

404.592.4820

1438 West Peachtree Street NW

Suite 200

Atlanta, GA 30309

Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (Lyrasis)

Fax: 404.892.7879

www.lyrasis.org

Honor the ancestors, honor the children.

Register now http://www.hbculibraries.org/html/meeting-form.html for the October 24-26, 2010 HBCU Library Alliance 4th Membership Meeting and the "Conference on Advocacy" pre-conference in Montgomery, AL. The Pre-Conference and Membership meeting are open to directors and other librarians.

North Carolina Central University News July 30, 2010 NCCU School of Law Unveils Virtual Classroom Moving ahead with the incorporation of technology in legal education, the North Carolina Central University School of Law will unveil its new Virtual Classroom in a brief ceremony Aug. 3 at 4 p.m. Law School Director of Information Technology Greg Clinton conceived the idea and design for this Virtual Classroom, which will now allow for new opportunities with synchronous learning. Synchronous learning is real-time or live-distance learning from remote or separate locations. The Virtual Classroom was built in response to the law school's first distance-education course, Legal Writing & Technique. The class, taught by Legal Writing Professor Pamela Newell, utilizes both asynchronous (learning the same information at different times) and synchronous modules. Using Panopto, a software product that will record and play back at a later time, the asynchronous lectures were captured allowing students to access the lectures at their leisure. Assignments were distributed and submitted via TWEN (The West Educational Network) on specific dates. In conjunction with assignment due dates, Professor Newell also held synchronous classes in the Virtual Classroom. Students were able to log in from any location using their computer equipped with a camera, microphone and internet access and interact in real-time. According to students in Professor Newell's class, the best feature of the synchronous classes is the real-time interaction between the professor and other classmates while they are at home, work or elsewhere. The distance education course has allowed students who may not have otherwise been able to take summer school classes and earn school credit. The Virtual Classroom has a brick-and-mortar component - the teaching space. Located in the lower level of the law school building, this space is custom-designed with two 54" high-definition plasma screens, a cherry table that can accommodate the professor in a seated or standing position, a Smart Technology Sympodium that is used as an electronic white board, and ambiance to make for a familiar teaching environment. The Virtual Classroom connects students using Polycom's Desktop Video Conferencing Solution. This solution allows the law school to connect up to 32 students at 32 different endpoints, 16 on each screen. The professor sees all 32 students, the students see their classmates 16 at a time and everyone sees whoever is speaking. Raymond Pierce, Dean of the NCCU School of Law, has expressed his exuberance with this most recent accomplishment by the law school's IT team. Pierce said, "Greg Clinton and his team continue to demonstrate themselves as leaders in the arena of technology in legal instruction. His familiarity with legal education coupled with his keen sense of advanced classroom technology continues to provide high-level learning and teaching environments for our students and faculty. The NCCU School of Law IT team is an unquestioned national leader in the field of classroom technology." NCCU School of Law was featured in EDTECH Magazine and received top national rankings in overall technology in National Jurist Magazine. At the most recent Computer Assisted Legal Instruction conference (CALI) Greg Clinton and several NCCU Law professors were speakers on subjects of classroom technology and its usage. NCCU School of Law is also in the early stages of developing an environmental law program in partnership with the Vermont Law School with funding provided by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Vermont Law School has the nation's number one ranked environmental law program. "Our abilities with synchronous learning through our new virtual classroom will greatly advance the development of our environmental law program in partnership with the Vermont Law School," remarked Dean Pierce. With this technology we can create one real time classroom regardless of the distance between North Carolina and Vermont." SANDRA M. PHOENIX Program Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org www.hbculibraries.org 404.592.4820 1438 West Peachtree Street NW Suite 200 Atlanta, GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (Lyrasis) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org Honor the ancestors, honor the children. Register now http://www.hbculibraries.org/html/meeting-form.html for the October 24-26, 2010 HBCU Library Alliance 4th Membership Meeting and the "Conference on Advocacy" pre-conference in Montgomery, AL. The Pre-Conference and Membership meeting are open to directors and other librarians.