InfoBrief: Podcasting for Law Professors

Podcasting is one of the newest technologies available to help professors communicate more effectively with students.  It allows the audio recording of classes to be made available online for future reference.   It also allows the recording of class summaries or follow-up thoughts post-class.

Why podcast?  If students know a class is being recorded, they tend to not take dictation on their computers during class, freeing up their minds for greater engagement with the material and class discussion, thus learning more.  Some students need repetition.  Others may mentally miss a portion of class due to stress or distractions. 

To support law students and faculty, CALI has created ClassCaster which allows professors to record and post their classes on blogs for future listening by students.  Of course, these blogs may be used for purposes other than podcasting, possibly as an alternative or supplement to TWEN or Blackboard.  FAQs about ClassCaster are answered here.

More law school podcasting info is available online:

• Professor Ken Kristl at Widener recently discussed the pedagogical power of podcasting here. 
• A discussion of potential resistance to law prof podcasing is here .
• A description of ClassCaster which discusses pros and cons is available here. 
• Law student reactions to podcasting in the classroom is available here. 

Please feel free to contact Cornell Law Library's CALI coordinator, Julie Jones, with any questions.

And I hope everyone is staying safe on the roads today!

Julie M. Jones, JD, MLIS
Research Attorney and Lecturer in Law
Cornell Law Library
340B Myron Taylor Hall
Ithaca, New York  14853
607.255.5858