Sample Article (Excerpt)

CALI – COMPUTER-ASSISTED LEGAL INSTRUCTION:

Bustling bazaar or just a flea market?

© Lynne Rhys-Jones.  All rights reserved.

 

Introduction

In law school, as in all academic pursuits, one’s reputation may surpass one’s performance.  The same, I’m afraid, may be said for software programs. 

As a legal research teacher, I am familiar with the most important legal resources available either through hardbound books or online.  However, I have not always been so diligent with some of the more obscure resources. 

One of the resources I should have learned more about and didn’t – until now – is something called “CALI.”  All I knew about CALI was that it contains sample law school tests on various subjects, and that all of our new students get a free CALI CD-ROM.  Fortunately or unfortunately, our students are not all highly motivated, so no student has ever asked me to show them how to use it.   As a result, I haven’t taken the time to learn it myself.

But because CALI is fairly well-known and well-thought-of, I’ve had a twinge of guilt every time a student asks for the CALI CD-ROM – I know where to find it, and I even know the password, but that’s all.  Every once in a while a professor would mention it, but it seemed pretty clear that they didn’t know – or even care -- much more than I did.

So when I was asked to write a column about an electronic resource, I saw an opportunity to ease my guilt and get an assignment done at the same time.  I chose CALI.

This article describes CALI’s history and purpose, discusses the basic functions available on CALI, and then describes my experience learning and using it.   After discussing the program’s strengths and weaknesses, I offer some recommendations for those who might one day encounter CALI in their travels.

Background

“CALI” stands for Computer Assisted Legal Instruction.  The project was first conceived in 1972, and continued more formally in 1981 through a partnership between the University of Minnesota Law School and Harvard Law School.   (About CALI 2001).  The purpose of CALI is to offer students a database of legal instruction exercises.  These can either be downloaded or obtained directly from the Internet.  Nearly all the lessons contain interactive elements such as quizzes.  Thus, essentially, CALI is a database of interactive lessons for law students.  Currently, CALI contains approximately 180 such lessons.  (About CALI 2001).     

According to CALI documentation, the objectives of CALI are to:

·       coordinate distribution and use of computerized instructional materials;

·       support authors in the development of new instructional programs;

·       sponsor research for advancing quality and effectiveness of exercises;

·       establish standards for hardware, software and courseware; and

·       support and coordinate the sharing of information relating to computer applications in legal education and law.

(Source:  About CALI 2001).

Lessons are written by law professors, law librarians, law students, or other law school professionals.  In some cases, lessons are commissioned, but CALI does accept unsolicited lessons.  (CALI Authoring 2001).

Law Schools who join CALI receive CD-ROMs for distribution to students.  These CD-ROMS are capable of connecting to the Internet for updates.  The lessons can be downloaded to a computer hard drive, or they can be accessed via the Internet.

Features of CALI

The primary resource available on CALI is, of course, the collection of lessons.  CALI does offer other resources, however.  The most notable is a program called CALI Author, which allows one to create lessons.  Lessons can be submitted to CALI or posted on an individual website.  In addition, CALI hosts an annual conference on technology in legal education that is well-attended by law school technical professionals.  This review focuses on the lessons, rather than on the author functions.  This is because after two frustrating hours I could still make neither heads nor tails of CALI Author.  The program is dreadfully unfriendly and confusing, and the manuals aren’t much help.

The lessons

The focus of CALI is on the lessons.  What little I had heard about CALI usually had to do with students using CALI to study for law school exams.  Since law school grades are typically based on one exam for the entire semester, I assumed that I would find general review exams for law school courses – a review of contracts, or a review of evidence.  I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Although the lessons are categorized by general subject, most lessons address a narrow and specific point of law.  For example, among the lessons under the heading of “Property” were such things as “Distinction Between Real Property and Personal Property”; “Negative Easements - In Contrast with Affirmative Easements”; and “Fee Simple Absolute”.  (CALI index 2001).  A few of the courses offer a broader overview, but not many. . . .