Web Conferencing: Connect Educators and Learners from all over the world.

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With the ubiquity of web camera’s and mobile internet, people are able to connect with one another from anywhere around the world.  In this workshop, You will learn how a guest speaker from across the country can use their laptop or iPad to present in front of your class. You’ll also experience how they can share Powerpoints and documents, all while taking questions from students.

Available Dates:

Apr. 25, 10am – 11am
Apr. 26, 1pm – 2pm

To sign-up email John-Mark Ikeda at, jikeda@law.berkeley.edu.
Please Specify date and time. If you are unable to make these dates, please contact us and we can make arrangements for a personal consultation.

Clickers without the clicker: Using PollEverywhere to get student responses

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Learn how you can uses the technology that students already have to allow them to respond to questions and take polls in class. Using Poll Everywhere, students can respond to questions using their laptops, smart phones or even by text message. Poll everywhere lets you show the results and even take text responses to questions. During this workshop, I’ll show you how to quickly create questions using Poll Everywhere, display dynamic results, to improve student engagement.

Available Dates:

Apr. 18, 10am – 11am
Apr. 19, 1pm – 2pm

To sign-up email John-Mark Ikeda at, jikeda@law.berkeley.edu.
Please specify date and time. If you are unable to make these dates, please contact us and we can make arrangements for a personal consultation.

Nonlinear Presentations with Prezi

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Traditional slide presentations move in a linear fashion, from beginning to end. While this form is effective for a simple lecture, it is less effective at addressing complex topics. Learn how to easily move through your presentation in a dynamic way with Prezi. While you can still create a linear flow through a Prezi, it is interactive, allowing you to change course quickly and easily. I’ll show you how to make a quick Prezi and talk about the benefits of non-linear presentations.

Available Dates:

Apr. 11, 10am – 11am
Apr. 12, 1pm – 2pm

To sign-up email John-Mark Ikeda at, jikeda@law.berkeley.edu.
Please specify date and time. If you are unable to make these dates, please contact us and we can make arrangements for a personal consultation.

Make Non-Linear and Dynamic Presentations with Prezi

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prezi logo

prezi logo

Prezi rethinks slide presentations. While Prezis can have a linear flow, they also can produce interactive and non-linear presentations. Presenters can zoom into slides for more detail and easily pan from one area to another. Prezis can also be far more creative with the way information is displayed.

Think of Prezi as more like a large canvas, with groups of information on it, rather than just a deck of slides. Images and graphics, even text can be displayed in ways that reinforce the concepts you are teaching. Animations and the ability to dynamically move between content on your Prezi, makes it also more interesting to watch as an attendee.

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http://cmlawlibraryblog.classcaster.net/files/2011/04/prezi.png

Presenting flowcharts or complex systems with a Prezi would transform a static image to an interactive and engaging learning experience.  For more information on Prezi, visit www.prezi.com, or contact John-Mark Ikeda at jikeda@law.berkeley.edu

Create Interactive Presentations with LectureTools

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LectureTools allows teachers to create  slide presentations, with interactive tools to improve student engagement. Leveraging technology that students already own, LectureTools allows students to follow along with slides on their computers, take notes, respond to polls or quizzes and type questions to the instructor.

After class students can study with their notes and the slides that were presented in class and you can respond to student questions that you may have received.

LectureTools requires student to purchase a subscription, which is $15 for a semester. For more information on LectureTools visit, www.lecturetools.com.

If you are interested in using LectureTools in your classroom, we would be excited to support you in this endeavor.

For more information on this and other tools to improve student engagement through interactivity, contact John-Mark Ikeda at jikeda@law.berkeley.edu

Polling Students with Clickers: Professor Weissman Polls Students on the Future of Nuclear Power.

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Professor Weissman taking a poll in his class.A multiple choice question appears on the projector and all of the sudden you hear the clicking of 34 different remotes — each click representing a vote from a student in the class. Steve Weissman stands in the front of the class and after he closes the poll a chart is displayed on the screen. The results are surprising. After a short moment, Weissman initiates an engaging discussion about the results.

Weissman teaches Energy Regulation and the Environment and several other courses here at UC

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iPad App Review: Explain Everything

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Using iPad’s in the classroom opens many new and exciting opportunities. They are portable, easy to use and there are a wealth of apps. One of the challenges that we have encountered though, was finding an app that would allow faculty to not only present Powerpoint files, but annotate them during class. To our excitement, Explain Everything appears to fit that need.

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What is “The Cloud”?

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“What is ‘The Cloud’?”

I’ve been asked that question many times. It sounds friendly, but to many people it is a confusing term. “The Cloud” is a term that refers to things being done, or saved on computers in a remote location. These computers are called servers and since they can be miles away from where you are, you need internet access to use it. If you have used Google Docs or even Gmail in the past, then you already use The Cloud. As people begin to juggle their work computers, home computers, smartphones and tablets, cloud computing is becoming more convenient and valuable. It allows you to keep all of those devices in sync without having to carry around a portable hard drive. All you need is an internet connection.

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The Pros and Cons of Smart Phones in the Classroom

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Image taken from Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Group_of_smartphones.jpg

Campus Technology has a very interesting article on how smartphones can be both a teaching tool and a distraction to students. Titled, Smartphones: Teaching Tool or Brain Candy?, they discuss how faculty can use phones as a asset teaching while giving ideas for managing phones in the classroom.

Here at UC Berkeley law we have a slightly different situation. Since almost all students have laptops, smartphones or tablets, faculty members must deal with these kinds of technology questions daily. While a smart phone  may signify a distracted student, it could also show that a student is researching a topic, or making a note to themselves about something in class. We tend t0 think of these devices as being used for social/entertainment purposes and may not be aware of what kind of potential they have as productivity and learning devices. It’s important to communicate to students what your expectations are for their use of technology in your class. Is it ok for them google search topics in class, or even use Wikipedia?

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Clickers/Polling in the Classroom Workshop

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Clickers are a great tool for creating in-class discussions and improving student engagement. This workshop will offer hands-on training with clickers and discuss effective techniques for using them in the classroom. We will also look at web based polling tools that can be used in place of clickers.

Available Dates

Mar. 21, 10am – 11am
Mar. 22, 1pm – 2pm

To sign-up email John-Mark Ikeda at, jikeda@law.berkeley.edu.
Please specify date and time. If you are unable to make these dates, please contact us and we can make arrangements for a personal consultation.